I’m surprised this got an 80/100 based on everything you explained in the video. Will pass on An Lam in the future, thanks for another great video, Kevin!
Comes down to how I break down the scores. I try my best to give credit where it is due, but some oddly performing properties prove that sometimes well defined metrics don't translate the experience all that well.
Watching and understanding the words you use to explain a certain situation and the impressions you had, is truly refreshing. Still, very very very polite 😁
Great job, Kevin. Your filming, your editing, your analysis, but chiefly your storytelling -- and your outstanding command of the language -- make every video of yours extremely enjoyable. Thank you very much for that. As for the resort, it appears to be totally negligible. I saw nothing appealing to me in the architecture or the decor, and then the way you describe the service is the last nail on the coffin. As I was watching and listening, I was wondering if you'd stayed or are planning to stay at an Aman resort. What do you think about that brand?
First, thanks very much, appreciate that. As for Aman, I've had the same answer about them since I began the channel. I don't appreciate hotel brands that have a baseline (expensive) rate no matter where in the world they operate. For example, A Six Senses, Oberoi, One & Only, etc... their properties vary widely in price- as it should be- since surely operating a hotel in Thailand is not as much as in the French Riviera. The example from Aman that turned me off so much is their property in Vietnam, Amanoi. Pre-covid, $700-800/night was a common, more or less standard rate for them. At that time, still consistently the most expensive resort in Vietnam. In mid 2020, they nearly doubled their rates when Vietnam closed their borders. Since then, they've never come back down to earth and now hover in the $1000-$1650 range depending on season. I've lived in Vietnam for many years, I understand local operating costs well and Amanoi is simply a money grab. Since then I've researched other Aman properties and **some** of them fall into the same category. Long story short, I'll never stay at a property that I feel is way overpriced. It sets the review up for failure since my scores are relative to price. If and when an Aman comes along for a price that I think matches the destination/location/experience, it will surely be on my list (as with any other brand).
Another excellent video 😊 Really enjoyed hearing about the background story and conversation as you were checking out - sounds super frustrating! At least the garden was beautiful 🌴
This was so good, it amazes me how much information you could include to provide context and review the hotel in 2023 in a normal video length. When can we expect a TG business class review?
@@tfft Looking forward to it, I have star alliance gold with Thai but super it's annoying that because of their state they are very strict with spending miles, it's very difficult and many features are unavailable.
‘Hard Product’ - Excellent ‘Soft Product’ - Diabolical How can they charge premium money for this? Your narrative is defo important for those of us who might think ‘mmmh, looks very attractive’ etc .. thanks yet again Kevin .. 🙏
Great video - as always. Looking foward for more Vietnam related vids, one of my fav countries but unfortunately very underrated for travel. No locks and the dogs everywhere is a no go for me.
Great great video as always Kevin. I think this resort defines some of Vietnam unfortunately. There are some truly amazing hotels and resorts, but then some just miss the mark by so far.
This resort is in a category I like to call "We could do it just like x resort but save a lot of money building it and make just as much profit..."... my theory is confirmed in my next video, which used to be the old An Lam... where the finishes are so beautiful and well kept. Thanks for watching 🩴
I’m waiting for VN to ease their tourist visa policies before I do more content from central Vietnam. Right now there simply aren’t enough tourists since it’s made difficult for them to enter. Perhaps next year.
As the boat arrived at the hotel, i just though "Welcome to the Thunderdome..." and then the dogs showed up. Hard to see how this one competes against the L'Alya (looking forward to that one).
Hey Kevin, love your vids! I watch them all and could never do what you do. One comment/suggestion - perhaps if a hotel fails to achieve >75% score in any 2 categories (in this case Food & Amenities), perhaps it be categorized in a new category called “Not Recommended”. Mathematically your score of 80 is correct. But if 2/5 categories are so bad, I’m left thinking “I don’t even want to go there, despite the 80 score”. What do you think?
The color in the top right corner of the videos thumbnail indicates this. It’s something I used to do a while back and just started doing again recently. Purple = Favorite, Teal = Recommend, Yellow = Not Recommended, Red = Avoid. I’ve never advertised it. Kind of a frequent viewer in the know thing.
we stayed at L'alya resort when it was branded as An Lam resort in 2015. It was expensive back then costing AUD$1000/night . It was a pleasant experience but not memorable
@@tfft agreed with you have you review the following resorts & hotel in Vietnam- Banyan Tree Lang Co,Sheraton Can Tho ,The Reverie Saigon & Intercontinental PhuQuoc?
Hi Kevin, I want to thank you for your independent, non sponsored reviews. Awesome job. I am currently travelling with my father in South Vietnam. Tomorrow we will stay at Park Hyatt Saigon thanks to you. My wish for you and all readers: keep enjoying life with your family. Eat and sleep well, and try not be stressed about silly things or person. Some suggestions for you, dear Kevin: Can Tho, Azerai (tonight is our last day. Fantastic resort) Nha Trang, Intercontinental (will check-in 10.-12..June, and let me know if you think if it's not a bad idea to grab a beer, hihihi) Saigon, Vinpearl Landmark 81 (12.-14. June) By the way, do you have an email where I could contact you? All the best, Hank from Switzerland
My email address is on the About page of my Channel. Email addresses can’t be posted here. Unfortunately I’m not in VN at the moment. Hope you enjoy your trip!
You know how you often say in a video, "So what are we thinking?" I'm thinking there is no amount of "kumbaya" that would get me to stay at this resort!! It's a hell no for me, l just don't get it, lm scratching my head thinking why? 🤔. I'm genuinely surprised you went back for round 2, l admire and appreciate your determination to review this property, but "room for improvement" is being very generous. Side note lm always very sceptical of restaurants that have excessively large menus, it usually means they do none of the dishes well, but that might just be me 👍
I think this is one of the times when my scoring fails to convey the message properly. When broken down, I do think 80/100 is correct… but if I’m thinking of the property/experience as a whole, it FEELS like a 68-72/100 haha.
The same quiz runs 3 weeks in a row. Each week it gets easier lol. This was the easiest one. When you can make a correct guess at the first round, I’ll consider a prize 😉
Best beach resorts Thailand or Vietnam? Always fancied Vietnam but feel i wouldn't find any better beaches and resorts than the ones Thailand has to offer.
HI KEVIN when you show the room rates you pay i presume you are paying in US Dollars just so i can convert convert to aussie dollars thanks kevin keep up the great vlogs love them , lee.
So sad, I hate dirty rooms no excuse for it especially at that price. I have same bad luck like this a lot including a serviced apartment I arrived at for 10 weeks in KL. NOT 1 of my requests has been filled different room to what I had booked and not returning calls. So disappointing. Trying to plan my next venture after here I don't know how you do it. I cant get things to line up, stresses me. Great video again although negative. Thank you 🙏👍
Except for one specific brand in Bangkok, I avoid serviced apartments like the plague lol. Rare to find one that has high cleanliness standards. Thanks for watching 🩴
Thanks for another in-depth review Kevin. Based on your analysis I’d be giving this resort a miss. By the way, as a non dog person I find the examples of these animals roaming freely to be a red-flag health and safety issue. My wife who is allergic to dog hair would find it intolerable! Cheers from AKL, NZL.
Understood- Vietnam has lots of stray dogs, luckily the vast majority are friendly, but yeah seeing them in a restaurant was a big turn off. Thanks for watching 🩴
Took me far too long to realise the text in Vietnamese at the bottom of the menu must have said something like 'prices listed are x1000' - unless everything really did cost fractions of pennies! 🤣
I’m surprised this got an 80/100 based on everything you explained in the video. Will pass on An Lam in the future, thanks for another great video, Kevin!
Comes down to how I break down the scores. I try my best to give credit where it is due, but some oddly performing properties prove that sometimes well defined metrics don't translate the experience all that well.
I'm getting secondary annoyance listening to padlock-gate and the managers ineptitude! Great video as always, Kevin.
Thanks very much 🙏🏻
Watching and understanding the words you use to explain a certain situation and the impressions you had, is truly refreshing. Still, very very very polite 😁
Yupp, especially when it’s a small resort like this- my intention is always improvement, not terminations… so I choose my words wisely.
Great job, Kevin. Your filming, your editing, your analysis, but chiefly your storytelling -- and your outstanding command of the language -- make every video of yours extremely enjoyable. Thank you very much for that.
As for the resort, it appears to be totally negligible. I saw nothing appealing to me in the architecture or the decor, and then the way you describe the service is the last nail on the coffin.
As I was watching and listening, I was wondering if you'd stayed or are planning to stay at an Aman resort. What do you think about that brand?
First, thanks very much, appreciate that.
As for Aman, I've had the same answer about them since I began the channel. I don't appreciate hotel brands that have a baseline (expensive) rate no matter where in the world they operate. For example, A Six Senses, Oberoi, One & Only, etc... their properties vary widely in price- as it should be- since surely operating a hotel in Thailand is not as much as in the French Riviera. The example from Aman that turned me off so much is their property in Vietnam, Amanoi. Pre-covid, $700-800/night was a common, more or less standard rate for them. At that time, still consistently the most expensive resort in Vietnam. In mid 2020, they nearly doubled their rates when Vietnam closed their borders. Since then, they've never come back down to earth and now hover in the $1000-$1650 range depending on season. I've lived in Vietnam for many years, I understand local operating costs well and Amanoi is simply a money grab. Since then I've researched other Aman properties and **some** of them fall into the same category.
Long story short, I'll never stay at a property that I feel is way overpriced. It sets the review up for failure since my scores are relative to price. If and when an Aman comes along for a price that I think matches the destination/location/experience, it will surely be on my list (as with any other brand).
@@tfft You've made a very clear point. Thanks for taking the time to reply.
Happy trails!
Another excellent video 😊
Really enjoyed hearing about the background story and conversation as you were checking out - sounds super frustrating! At least the garden was beautiful 🌴
Thanks very much 🙏🏻
This was so good, it amazes me how much information you could include to provide context and review the hotel in 2023 in a normal video length. When can we expect a TG business class review?
Haha before I started the video I had one thought in mind… “full story, under 30 minutes” 😊
TG Business video coming out the end of September.
@@tfft Looking forward to it, I have star alliance gold with Thai but super it's annoying that because of their state they are very strict with spending miles, it's very difficult and many features are unavailable.
Excellent review and commentary. Thanks
Thanks very much 🙏🏻
‘Hard Product’ - Excellent
‘Soft Product’ - Diabolical
How can they charge premium money for this? Your narrative is defo important for those of us who might think ‘mmmh, looks very attractive’ etc ..
thanks yet again Kevin .. 🙏
Appreciate that! Thanks for watching 🩴
Perfect review thank you very much for doing these lookbacks
Thanks for watching 🩴
Great video - as always. Looking foward for more Vietnam related vids, one of my fav countries but unfortunately very underrated for travel. No locks and the dogs everywhere is a no go for me.
More to come! Thanks for watching 🩴
Great great video as always Kevin.
I think this resort defines some of Vietnam unfortunately.
There are some truly amazing hotels and resorts, but then some just miss the mark by so far.
This resort is in a category I like to call "We could do it just like x resort but save a lot of money building it and make just as much profit..."... my theory is confirmed in my next video, which used to be the old An Lam... where the finishes are so beautiful and well kept. Thanks for watching 🩴
Thanks for a great video.
Thanks very much 🙏🏻
An amazing and serene place, now I understand why my husband Guillermo follows you. Keep it going Dr Eva
Appreciate that very much! Thanks for both of your support 🙏🏻
Thank You ✈️
Thanks for watching 🩴
It’s good I’m watching this video. I would give this resort a miss next time when i travel back to VN.
Thanks for watching 🩴
Hi it’s beautiful… have you visited six senses as well? Do we need to pay extra for their boat pickup and drop?
Sure have, it's on the channel.
Thanks for the review. I did have high expectation of visiting this resort but seem it’s not worth it so maybe will try Lalya instead
Yes 100% I’d goto Lalya instead.
@@tfft Thank for your reply. And by the way, any chance of you coming to Hue of Vietnam?
I’m waiting for VN to ease their tourist visa policies before I do more content from central Vietnam. Right now there simply aren’t enough tourists since it’s made difficult for them to enter. Perhaps next year.
Longer than expected talking and explaining however much appreciated pointing out the nitty gritty
Thanks for watching 🩴
Think I'll pass on this property. Thanks for the info + video!
Thanks for watching 🩴
Thanks was good 😊
Thanks for watching 🩴
Am I the only one who feels that the spherical structure of Sen Deck Bar looks unfinished from the outside?
Perhaps they were going for a partially deconstructed spherical restaurant vibe 😂
@@tfft : 😅😅😅😅
Thank you for coming to Vietnam
Thanks for watching 🩴
As the boat arrived at the hotel, i just though "Welcome to the Thunderdome..." and then the dogs showed up. Hard to see how this one competes against the L'Alya (looking forward to that one).
Yah, it doesn't haha. Thanks for watching 🩴
Hey Kevin, love your vids! I watch them all and could never do what you do. One comment/suggestion - perhaps if a hotel fails to achieve >75% score in any 2 categories (in this case Food & Amenities), perhaps it be categorized in a new category called “Not Recommended”. Mathematically your score of 80 is correct. But if 2/5 categories are so bad, I’m left thinking “I don’t even want to go there, despite the 80 score”. What do you think?
The color in the top right corner of the videos thumbnail indicates this. It’s something I used to do a while back and just started doing again recently. Purple = Favorite, Teal = Recommend, Yellow = Not Recommended, Red = Avoid.
I’ve never advertised it. Kind of a frequent viewer in the know thing.
@@tfft Oh wow! I never noticed that before. I’ll be sure to look out for that going forward. Thanks Kevin
we stayed at L'alya resort when it was branded as An Lam resort in 2015. It was expensive back then costing AUD$1000/night . It was a pleasant experience but not memorable
Wouldn’t be top of my list if it cost that now lol. I’ve never paid more than half of that per night. Thanks for watching 🩴
@@tfft agreed with you have you review the following resorts & hotel in Vietnam- Banyan Tree Lang Co,Sheraton Can Tho ,The Reverie Saigon & Intercontinental PhuQuoc?
1. No, but might
2. No and won’t
3. Not yet, but will
4. Filmed Already
I love Vietnam ❤
Agree!
Hi Kevin, I want to thank you for your independent, non sponsored reviews. Awesome job.
I am currently travelling with my father in South Vietnam. Tomorrow we will stay at Park Hyatt Saigon thanks to you.
My wish for you and all readers: keep enjoying life with your family. Eat and sleep well, and try not be stressed about silly things or person.
Some suggestions for you, dear Kevin:
Can Tho, Azerai (tonight is our last day. Fantastic resort)
Nha Trang, Intercontinental (will check-in 10.-12..June, and let me know if you think if it's not a bad idea to grab a beer, hihihi)
Saigon, Vinpearl Landmark 81 (12.-14. June)
By the way, do you have an email where I could contact you?
All the best,
Hank from Switzerland
My email address is on the About page of my Channel. Email addresses can’t be posted here. Unfortunately I’m not in VN at the moment. Hope you enjoy your trip!
You know how you often say in a video, "So what are we thinking?" I'm thinking there is no amount of "kumbaya" that would get me to stay at this resort!! It's a hell no for me, l just don't get it, lm scratching my head thinking why? 🤔. I'm genuinely surprised you went back for round 2, l admire and appreciate your determination to review this property, but "room for improvement" is being very generous. Side note lm always very sceptical of restaurants that have excessively large menus, it usually means they do none of the dishes well, but that might just be me 👍
I think this is one of the times when my scoring fails to convey the message properly. When broken down, I do think 80/100 is correct… but if I’m thinking of the property/experience as a whole, it FEELS like a 68-72/100 haha.
Also, Between Fusion and Lalya, which one would u pick?
I think my L’alya videos speak volumes on their own.
please provide the link for the first video. Thank You
First video of…?
@@tfft the resort in this video..
@@kenrbp6347 the "video" that he explained in this video that he decided not to make?
Sorry Kevin, you are going to have to change the ‘quiz at the end’ again 🙄
Would it be Alila Seminyak in Bali, if so are you sure there is no prize? 🤣
The same quiz runs 3 weeks in a row. Each week it gets easier lol. This was the easiest one. When you can make a correct guess at the first round, I’ll consider a prize 😉
@@tfft 😩😂
So sad for them. It should be a delicate resort with high quality sevice. Hope they will change to be better
Hopefully!
Best beach resorts Thailand or Vietnam?
Always fancied Vietnam but feel i wouldn't find any better beaches and resorts than the ones Thailand has to offer.
My favorite is coming out in tomorrow’s video. Many would argue Six Senses Con Dao and the Regent Phu Quoc are the best in the country.
HI KEVIN when you show the room rates you pay i presume you are paying in US Dollars just so i can convert convert to aussie dollars thanks kevin keep up the great vlogs love them , lee.
I forgot to write USD on this one (fixed already) but yes, my rates are always in USD. Thanks for watching 🩴
So sad, I hate dirty rooms no excuse for it especially at that price. I have same bad luck like this a lot including a serviced apartment I arrived at for 10 weeks in KL. NOT 1 of my requests has been filled different room to what I had booked and not returning calls. So disappointing. Trying to plan my next venture after here I don't know how you do it. I cant get things to line up, stresses me. Great video again although negative. Thank you 🙏👍
Except for one specific brand in Bangkok, I avoid serviced apartments like the plague lol. Rare to find one that has high cleanliness standards. Thanks for watching 🩴
That full phone mailbox, and error… 😂
The intonation of the robot voice was everything! Even SHE was surprised an error had occurred! Haha
Thanks for another in-depth review Kevin. Based on your analysis I’d be giving this resort a miss. By the way, as a non dog person I find the examples of these animals roaming freely to be a red-flag health and safety issue. My wife who is allergic to dog hair would find it intolerable! Cheers from AKL, NZL.
Understood- Vietnam has lots of stray dogs, luckily the vast majority are friendly, but yeah seeing them in a restaurant was a big turn off. Thanks for watching 🩴
I agree, cats I'm fine with, but I don't want to be barked or growled at whilst strolling around the resort.
That was a crime scene hotel room, you should have called the cops 😅😅
I assure you, no matter what I said they wouldn’t have come lol
@@tfft 🤣🤣
Took me far too long to realise the text in Vietnamese at the bottom of the menu must have said something like 'prices listed are x1000' - unless everything really did cost fractions of pennies! 🤣
Yes, typical of menus in VN.
Sayang sekali hotel ini tidak terawat dengan baik, tapi Vietnam memang istimewa
Thanks for watching 🩴
Shame the resort is such a mess and lacking the basics. Overall a very fair review.
Thanks very much 🙏🏻
Seems to be almost meet standard until dog in restaurant. No Wayyyyyy 😢😢😢😢
Thanks for watching 🩴
That pizza did not look good
To be fair though, for those that enjoy moist cardboard and under ripe tomatoes, it’s kind of a winner.