8/4/2019 Emeraude Classic Cruises feature on Explorer Magazine

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8/4/2019 Emeraude Classic Cruises feature on Explorer Magazine

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34 35www.explorer-magazine.com www.explorer-magazine.com

Travel (www.exotissimo.com), this is a common insight relayed by Viet-

nams visitors. One o the main eye-openers or tourists is that Vietnam

has had a rich history beore the better known last two centuries, he

says. The country has its very own historical characteristics dating

even urther back than 1000 years.

Not surprisingly, some hotels are plumbing the countrys depths or

legacies that have little to do with conict. One o these is the our-

year-old Nam Hai Resort (www.thenamhai.com) in Hoi An, which put

together a sel-reerential walking tour o its villas and grounds.

The Nam Hai, named Best Hotel in the World by Travel + Leisure

in its 2008 design competition, was conceived as a modern interpre-

tation o the Vietnamese nha ruong, or house o panels. Available

as a podcast, the tour introduces guests to a plethora o well-mined

inormation about traditional Vietnamese architecture, home lie, and

customs which were reected in the design and construction o the

Nam Hai: its dropped ceilings, platorm beds, even the choice o rangi-

pani trees to line the pool.

For many travellers, Vietnam requires a long, inter-continental

haul, says John Blanco, general manager o The Nam Hai. Once

here, many o our guests dont wander ar rom the resort. Our Design

Tour is an opportunity or these olks to get into the depths o Vietnam-

ese culture without ever leaving the Nam Hai.

Dusting O ColonialismWhile many o the countrys visitors are eager to absorb these relatively

unknown aspects o Vietnamese lie, tour operators admit a large slice

o the countrys tourists still arrive with eyes keen to make out vestiges

o the last, deep-rooted war with America. Those who look beyond the

battles usually set their sights on French Indochina.

The romanticism associated with this era is nowhere more alive

than in the capital city o Hanoi. I there is any hotel in the country that

can claim the historical birthright o French inuence, it is the 110-year-

old Softel Legend Metropole Hanoi. The hotels amiliar white aade,

green shutters, aged wooden stairs, and exquisite urnishings transport

guests back to the frst hal o the 18th century, when Hanoi was a

ourishing metropolis, and the Metropole the avorite playground o itselite.

Yet even the Metropole the most visible reminder o Hanois

French heritage -- is in the business o showcasing its past or the sake

o its guests. In 1999, Andreas Augustin, ounder o The Most Famous

Hotels in World organization, undertook a our-year search or pieces

o hotels history, which were scattered over a century and several

continents.

Augustins fndings are showcased in a history book, The Softel

Legend Metropole Hanoi, which can be ound on desks in the Metro-

pole suites -- ediying reading or any guests who have not yet been

swept away by the Metropoles grandeur.

The books pages are brimming with stories o visits by characters

like Charlie Chaplin and Somerset Maugham, and serve up a delightul

collection o old advertisements, photographs and postcards. Bio-

graphical excerpts round out Augustins lyrical prose, shedding new

light on old Hanoi.

Augustin describes the book, now in its fth edition, as an ongoing

history project. Kai Speth, general manager o the Metropole, under-

scores the books relevance. The Metropole is more than just an il-

lustrious hotel, he says, It is an integral part o the city and a landmark

where many historical events took place. Augustins book brings its

story to lie or contemporary guests to experience and enjoy.

The idea encapsulates what is best about heritage tourism: its abil-

ity to dust o what was thought lost, and set it in a place where it can

be appreciated again.

I youre set on exploring Vietnams most vibrant metropolis,

Ho Chi Minh City, JJ Explorer Tours has a three day two night

package that includes return economy class fights between

Hong Kong and Ho Chi Minh City and two nights with breakast

at the Vien Dong Hotel. From HK$2,348 per person, conditions

apply. www.jjexplorertours.com/PackageDetail/?ID=2963

Vietnam

Artful RenderingsThe Emeraude is not the only popular property to have an identity

mined rom a distinct moment in Vietnams history, but it is one o

a handul o hospitality properties that are utilizing art to fll the last

intangible gap in their guests experience.

Theres a growing segment o savvy travelers who want to

experience countries on a deeper, more enduring level, says Chris

Duy, general director o the Lie Resorts(www.life-resorts.com). By

presenting aspects o local heritage on site, we help visitors make the

authentic connections theyre looking or.

Fred Wissink, a 33-year-old photographer rom Canada seems

to slide into the category described by Duy. A Mac user and Minolta

collector, hes dropped into the Heritage Bar at Lie Heritage Resort

Hoi An this evening, ollowing a beach trip to nearby Danang.

Theyre building hotels like crazy on the strip out there, he says,

gazing up at one o the bars brass lamps. But even with its quirks, I

much preer the character o the Old Town.

As a UNESCO Heritage Site, the ormer port city o Hoi An is

spared the real estate mania taking place just a ew kilometers away

rom its moss-growing stone streets. In the wake o Vietnams rapiddevelopment, many repeat tourists have been taken with a severe

case o nostalgia. For them, well-preserved cities like Hoi An are a ha-

ven; a place where the bold march o progress peters into a leisurely

amble.

While outside, a crop o modern boutique hotels make orward

strides with clean minimalist lines and state-o-the-art pool villas, in

2009 the Lie Heritage Resort proudly took two steps backward,

hanging the walls o its Heritage Bar with a rare collection o

medium-ormat, black-and-white photographs o Hoi An taken

during 1950s and 60s. Alongside images o the towns

quiet, tree-lined streets, are those o the people who

carved a living on the banks o the Thu Bon River:

weavers and jewelers hard at their crat, laborers waiting

or a are, fshermen casting their nets at dusk.

The lighting is exquisite, Wissink says about one

o the shots, but its the subject matter thats really

arresting. Youre eel that youre looking through a sort

o time warp; yet its interesting to see how little has

changed.

Much More Than WarSix hundred kilometers and a world away rom

the Heritage Bar, in teeming Ho Chi Minh City, the

Saigon Saigon Bar at the Caravelle Hotel (www.

caravellehotel.com) perches over evening trafc in

Lam Son Square. In the quiet minutes beore the

dinner rush, its difcult to picture the bar flled with

journalists, the echoes o explosions rather than

motorcycle horns wating rom below. Difcult, until

one picks up the hotels recently published book,

Caravelle Saigon: A History, which presents such

images in ull color and clarity or the reader.

Entering the Caravelles bright, ashionable lobby,

theres no indication the hotel was once a character

in the grisly epic that made world headlines or more than a

decade. Caravelle Saigon: A History traces the transorma-

tion o Saigon rom a backwater village into the Paris o

the East, the development o the citys hospitality industry

(strongest selling point: air-conditioning!) and the hotels

role through the wars 15 nerve-racking years.

The Caravelles history makes it part o the abric o

Ho Chi Minh City and Vietnam in a way very ew hotels

can claim, says John Gardner, the hotels general man-

ager. The book is not just a vivid memoir; the revelation

or most guests is that theres so much more to the

story than just the war.

According to George Ehrlich-Adam o Exotissimo