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Visiting Hoi An is a magical experience. A walk through beautiful ancient town sends you back centuries in time. The sounds and smells of the bustling market, the colourful old colonial buildings and the backdrop of lanterns hanging overhead. It’s like no where else on Earth.
However, compared to other cities Hoi An can still feel, well… a little ‘rustic’ shall we say. It’s still developing and some visitors might find it’s lacking in the luxuries and comforts of home. We thought that too, until we stayed at the Almanity.
Staying at the Almanity Hoi An is a truly holistic experience, for both body and mind. It defines what a luxury wellness resort should be.
Personally, I had no idea a hotel stay could be this therapeutic. After many years of full time travel, I have stayed in my fair share of hotels, but none have catered to my personal wellness in the way that Almanity did. Every detail from check in to departure day was designed to relax, rejuvenate and restore my mind, body and soul. From the color therapy to daily yoga, each part of the stay was crafted to improving my state of mind and enhancing my wellbeing.
To sum it up, it was a huge relief.
We recommend the Almanity Hoi An
to travelers who:
- Have an interest in yoga, meditation and spirituality
- Enjoy daily spa treatments and pampering sessions
- Like to eat organic foods, herbals teas and enjoy a healthy diet
- Need a detox from the daily pressures of life
- Are looking for a more luxurious side of Hoi An
What Makes The Almanity Hoi An Unique
The entire approach the resort was like nothing I had ever experienced before. This is the kind of place you can check into, let all guards down, and just let them take care of everything.
Color Therapy
Each day there is a new feature color that comes with it’s own mantra and theme to help balance/mind by addressing a certain feeling or need. For example we checked in on Thursday which was green. We were given green bracelets and noticed that certain items around the hotel or in our room were green to match with the day. The theme of green day was ‘Refreshing’ and the message the color brings was ’Joy’. It was such a nice added touch and really contributed to the overall wellness experience.
Daily Massages Included
I had never been to a spa-inclusive resort before! In fact, many of the upscale hotels I have stayed in charged crazy amounts for their spa treatments, sometimes even more than the room rate itself. Not only are the nightly rates at the Almanity super reasonable, but they are made even more attractive with daily spa treatments included. It created an entirely different vibe around getting a massage. In other resorts I would feel guilty for spending money, or regret not going and missing out. In true wellness fashion, Almanity doesn’t want those negative emotions effecting your stay, so they include the spa for guests!
Herbal Tea Journey
Every day the room was stocked with multiple detox and herbal teas, all with different healing benefits to the body. They had enough tea bags and fresh honey for us to have tea at least 3 times a day.
Noni Tea – for digestion, hypertension and detox.
Ginger Tea – for cold treatment, lowering blood pressure, and digestion.
Artichoke Tea – for healthy support of liver, gall bladder, reducing cholesterol.
Sweet Herb Tea – a detox type tea suitable for diabetics.
Chrysanthemum Tea – for healthy support of vision, nerves, lowering inflammation.
Dandelion Tea– good for alcohol detox, preventing cancer, treating pimples and skin
Organic Farm
The Almanity resort set up their very own organic farm over 3 hectares of land. This helps to ensure that they are only delivering top notch ingredients for the on-site meals and beverages. I loved the idea that the food I was eating at the resort came from a local organic farm. They also allow tours throughout the farm so you can see first hand how the food is grown.
Yoga Classes
Every morning they host a free yoga class to start the day off right. We had our own yoga mats waiting in our room for us as well. The yoga studio is a very beautiful and relaxing space.
Tai Chi
At 4:00pm in the afternoon, just outside the spa entrance, the hotel comes to a stop and participates in Tai Chi. It’s not only beautiful to watch, but very beneficial to join in. I loved how fluid all the motions were, plus the calming sounds of the gong.
The Rooms At Almanity
Almanity Hoi An has 138 rooms with 6 different room types, all uniquely different
My Spirit
My Mind
My Energy
My Heart
My Soul
My Alma
We stayed in the ‘My Energy’ room that has a balcony overlooking the pool. The room itself was HUGE, very modern and was insanely comfortable.
Mattresses at hotels in Vietnam are NOT known for being very soft, but this bed was super luxurious! It was hard getting out of in the morning! The bed was on a wooden platform that lit up and has a chaise lounge at the end of it, facing toward the TV.
There was a dressing area with his and hers closets, a desk, and side bar for making tea. The bathroom sink was behind a cloth curtain and had a glassed in shower on one side and the water closet on the other side. Lighting could be bright when needed, or tuned down to a very subtle mood-lighting.
The entire feel was very minimalist, calming and romantic. Loved this room and would book this type again for sure.
My Chi Wellness Spa
Daily spa treatments are included at their huge and lovely on-site spa! At 40 treatment rooms, they are actually the largest spa in all of Vietnam.
Both days we opted for a couples room so we could have massages together. The quality of the massage was top notch and the rooms were very comfortable. I was happy to learn that they only use 100% natural products, so we didn’t have to worry about breaking out from low quality oils.
Afterwards they made us tea while we relaxed in the main spa area. We had the option to take a sauna or a steam as well.
On top of our massages we elected to take the guided meditation class with the spa director from India and it was AMAZING! I have always been so intimidated by meditation (can’t get my mind to stop running) but he was able to make it a truly relaxing and restorative experience! It’s gotten me very interested in continuing on with it.
The gym (although I didn’t use it) was the biggest and nicest I’ve seen in Hoi An! It has every piece of equipment you would be looking for, had AC and was spacious. Again, Hoi An is not a place known for their quality of hotel gym’s, so it was a nice surprise to see such a western type quality set-up.
The Pool
The grounds of the hotel are simply gorgeous and picturesque. Every detail in the design makes the entire resort a remarkably zen place.
My favorite area of the hotel is the pool. It’s set amongst lush gardens and swaying palm trees, with a waterfall making it sound as relaxing as it looks.
The pool area doesn’t get a ton of sun, but I’m slowly starting to like the shade more anyway. (Too many years in South East Asia will do that to you!) It still peeks out once in a while for anyone who is working on their tan, but otherwise you can enjoy a shade lounge chair. They serve drinks and food in the lounge chairs as well if you don’t want to give up your seat.
The Food
Breakfast Buffet:
The breakfast buffet has everything you could ever want. Western, Italian, Japanese, French, and Vietnamese. You can get everything from kimchi, to sushi, to waffles, to omelettes. Yogurt parfaits, salads, noodles, and breakfast meats. They even had these adorable miniature Banh Mi sandwiches and cute mini banana smoothies.
Each morning I made a huge salad and then a small side plate of all the other goodies like carrot cake and mini waffles. Hubby has a fresh omelette cooked just the way he liked it.
Lunch:
The menu is the same regardless if it’s lunch or dinner, and it’s filled with everything you could want. They have lots of healthy dishes if that’s your thing, but the menu also allows room to indulge. You can get anything from soup and salad right up to pizza and burgers.
One day for lunch I got the Vietnamese dish of lemongrass chicken and rice and chilli. Another day I ordered a quesadilla to my sun-lounger while I was poolside. (Strangely enough, the ‘quesadilla’ didn’t have any cheese in it at all? I found this super weird because a quesadilla literally means ‘cheese tortilla’, maybe they missed the memo on that one?)
Healthy Drinks:
They have a GREAT healthy drinks, smoothies and juice menu here. I loved being able to get a freshly made celery, apple and lime juice each day. They even greeted us at check in with a carrot-passion drink. All the fruits are so delicious and they have options that sneak in some greens as well.
Set-Menu Healthy Dinner:
On one of the nights during our stay we opted for a multi-course healthy set menu. It was wonderful because they made super healthy food taste so good! I liked not having to feel guilty about indulging this way and added to the overall wellness theme of our stay.
All courses were filled with greens, lentils, lean grilled meats and fruit for dessert. I absolutely loved not feeling the usual ‘guilt’ that comes with a multi-course dining experience. It was filling, but didn’t leave me feeling weighed down afterwards.
The Location
Almanity Resort Hoi An: 326 Lý Thường Kiệt, Phường Minh An, Hội An
The Almanity is the perfect escape from the busy streets of Hoi An, and feels like a super exclusive retreat in the middle of the city.
It’s located just a few blocks north of ancient town, which is an easy walk to get to. Directly across the street there is a 7/11 type convenience store for any soda, snacks or personal items you might need. Taxi’s are always parked out front if you need to go further, or just use the Grab app.
Note: When I first came to Hoi An I thought it would be a great idea to stay IN ancient town. Little did I know that there really aren’t any hotels directly inside the ancient neighbourhood. There is also a ban on cars to be pedestrian friendly, so even if you do find one, you might be struggling with luggage. The evenings in the very heart of ancient town are also extremely crowded. Not really a place I would want to stay overnight. I really liked how the Almanity was removed from the craziness, but still had easy access to it when I wanted.
To Wrap It Up
The BEST place I’ve stayed for health and wellness. Everything about this place caters to improving your mind, body and soul. It changed the way I look at hotel stays forever. It makes me wonder, why stay anywhere that DOESN’T offer this type of restorative and holistic service? I loved it and I can’t wait to return!
If you want to book a room at the Almanity Hoi An, they have the best deals directly on their website
If You're Headed To Hoi An…
We have a ton of helpful articles to make your trip to Hoi An amazing:
Hoi An Massage Guide – Everything you need to know with prices
Restaurant Guide Hoi An – The best (and cheapest) places to eat
Airport Transfer To Hoi An– How to get to Hoi An from Da Nang
Things To Do in Hoi An – With locals secrets
We want to thank the Almanity Resort for hosting our stay. As always, our opinions and recommendations are completely our own.