The Gran Melia chain is a Spanish owned chain of luxury hotels worldwide. This sophisticated oceanfront resort and its villas combines Mediterranean style with Vietnamese hospitality. Come and see what makes the Villa Le Corail, a Gran Meliá Hotel in Vietnam's Nha Trang so special.
It's after 7pm when we arrive at Nha Trang train station from the city of Quy Nhon. Even so, it's a smooth transfer as our butler from the Anantara The Vietage train makes sure to connect us with our driver and before long we are on our way to the Villa Le Corail, a Gran Meliá Hotel.
There are 95 villas at Villa Le Corail and it is an all villa hotel. The drive from the train station takes around 20 minutes and we arrive at the hotel around 8pm. The resort hotel is located on a pristine beach amid the lush tropical landscape of Fairy Mountain with sweeping views of Turtle Island and the ocean. It is the Gran Meliá chain's first Vietnamese property.
Guests can book the villas on a bed and breakfast basis or a half board basis with lunch or dinner included. All of the staff make us feel very welcome with a hand on the heart gesture and smile.
Our butler Amy introduces herself and us and our bags are whisked away to our 1 bedroom villa with pool. The hotel opened in 2023 and has just been renamed Villa Le Corail. All of the villas have pools and they just differ in the number of bedrooms and if they have a garden or lagoon pool.
The Room
The accommodation is spacious and luxe. The first room is the expansive dining room and lounge room with modular lounge, tv and a clever swinging coffee table. The dining table is large enough to seat 8. There is also a WC right near the front door for guests. The room is also spotlessly clean.
This leads into the bedroom which is large with a very comfortable king sized bed with monogrammed pillow cases. The bed linen is soft and smooth and the pillows are good quality affording us a wonderful night's sleep.
Behind the bed is the walk in closet with plenty of space for luggage. There are also indoor and outdoor slippers, robes and a safe. What is a nice detail is that not only is there a hairdryer but there is also a hair straightener in the room. Also instead of an iron, there is a clothes steamer which I prefer.
Opposite to the closet is the bathroom that has double sinks, a large shower, toilet and a standalone bath. The bathroom has Spanish touches like toiletries from brand Carner in Barcelona with a comprehensive amenity kit.
From the bathroom there is an outdoor shower too so you can bathe amongst the foliage.
There is air conditioning in all areas of the room with two panels: one for the living room and dining room and another for the bedroom and bathroom. Bikes are provided upon request with your butler. There is access to the pool from both the bedroom and living room area. One thing is that there is not much privacy when in the pool for our villa and anyone in nearby villas could look in on us.
Bathing Ritual
The Bathing Ritual is an extra service that you can order from your butler. They will have it prepared for whenever you want it, usually after dinner. It consists of a lovely rose petal bath beautifully laid out with music and candles. On the table beside the bath are bath salts, loofahs and a wax sealed note from your butler. And afterwards herbal teas and cookies to lull you into a peaceful slumber. It's a gorgeous way to go to sleep. There's a small mini bar available with drinks and chocolate.
The Restaurants: Hispania
We drop our bags and head straight to dinner. One of the things that the hotel is known for is its gastronomy and it has Spanish Michelin chefs like Marcos Morán behind the hotel's signature restaurant, Hispania. Marcos is a fifth-generation chef currently overseeing Casa Gerardo, his family’s one-Michelin-starred restaurant founded in 1883, as well as two other Hispania locations, including its Michelin-starred restaurant in Brussels. Hispania is Nha Trang's first Spanish restaurant. There are two entrances to Hispania. Most hotel guests enter through the lobby but entering from the outside makes the most picturesque entrance.
The restaurant's chef pass is an architectural feature with chef Javier Gonzalez Salido in the kitchen tonight. The menu is full of Spanish favourites like classic Paella, croquettas and Jamon Iberico.
We start with the mini sourdough loaf with a crisp crust and soft centre. It comes in three thick slices with aioli and extra virgin olive oil reminiscent in aroma of green tomato and herbs. The amuse bouche comes with a caramelised puff pastry that is paper thin with a small glass of blended gazpacho.
Everything seems to be thoughtfully picked from the decor to the plates with the floor and plates. We enjoy the croquettas with a delicious centre of melted cheese and a dab of Iberian ham on top as well as truffle aioli. Mr NQN who usually doesn't enjoy deep fried food, eats one with much relish then devours another straight afterwards.
The cold almond soup is poured into the centre of a ring of red tuna tartare. The soup is surprisingly sweet and creamy and the basil oil gives it a nice pop of flavour.
They wheel out the trolley with the paella pan. Our lovely waitress removes the prawns and fish and dishes up the rice placing the prawns on top. It’s the perfect sized serving for two especially as part of a three course menu.
The grouper is perfectly cooked and sitting on a bed of soft leeks with a pickled chicken escabeche and dark roasted hazelnuts that give the fish a lovely crunch.
This dessert is like a fancy way to cleanse your palate with a mix of tartness and sweetness. There are billowy clouds of cream, tart citrus sorbet and crumbs and slices of mandarin.
The dark, bittersweet chocolate is made into thick, creamy mousse squiggles, light chocolate cream and thin chocolate sheets. Tiny cubes of brownie and strawberries and crunchy praline hazelnuts change each bite.
The Restaurants: Natura for Breakfast and Lunch
Rooms are booked on either a bed and breakfast arrangement or a half board arrangement that combines either breakfast with lunch or dinner at Natura restaurant. I struggled with jetlag so I missed the first day's breakfast but went on the second day. There is a huge selection of food and the spread even includes a chocolate fountain.
There is plenty to choose from including excellent crisp and buttery pastries (the chocolate dipped croissant was a favourite) as well as simit breads that you can stuff with a range of meat and seafood cold cuts. The hot selection has a good selection of sausages, crispy bacon, hash browns, eggs as well as Korean and Asian options including pho and steamed and sticky rice and bulgogi. My favourite was the freshly made banh mi. I added some extra salad and chilli to this and it was fantastic and all I really wanted.
Mr NQN helped himself to fruit and the pastries. There are also fresh juices and a range of coffees and teas. I ordered an iced latte and a young coconut juice.
If the buffet selection isn't enough there are also a la carte selections from the Huevos Rancheros to Spanish churros with chocolate sauce. I did try and order some waffles with the chocolate fountain but these never came and they switched off the chocolate fountain 45 minutes before breakfast ended.
For lunch the menu is split between Western and Vietnamese starters and mains and all desserts are a mix of the two. Guests are invited to pick an entrée, main and dessert of their choice. The inside is air conditioned while the outdoor has views of the Nha Trang Bay and the lagoon.
The Vietnamese beef salad is excellent, particularly for this warm, humid weather as are the prawn tacos. You can throw a dart anywhere on the menu and you'll be well rewarded. We sip on refreshing young coconut juices.
Another stand out is the Piri Piri chicken that is spicy and juicy and perfectly on point. It is served with chips and a tomato and onion salad as well as a pot of delicious jus. The Iberico pork cooked in Vietnamese caramel and served with steamed rice is also fantastic albeit on the smaller side.
Another day we were decided to try some more Western options and opted for the buddha bowl which was absolutely delicious, wholesome and healthy.
And for dessert don't miss the Vietnamese banana cake or the white chocolate mousse. Both are beautifully presented and delicious. The banana cake is probably my favourite version ever of the classic Vietnamese banana cake.
The Restaurants: Shibui
The next night we dined at Shibui restaurant which offers both a la carte and omakase menus. Sushi chef Binh Nguyen has been working for 14 years. We tried their 7 course omakase menu for D2,200,000.
Each course of omakase is a surprise so there is no menu provided. Instead we watch Chef Binh create each course for us. We start with some lemon pepper tea and Japanese potato salad topped with caviar.
The next course is a trio of canapés. We start with the tomato and edamame purée cup in a paper thin pastry. Then the octopus has a surprise addition of truffle with the tender octopus. My favourite is the salmon sashimi with spicy mayo and caviar on a deep fried crunchy nori square. I eat this in four bites so I can prolong the experience.
The next course is blue fin tuna with sea grapes. The tuna is so fresh and each bite is luscious and the simplicity really highlights the flavour of the tuna.
Both of our favourite course is the sashimi with three types of sashimi that are so buttery and melt in the mouth. They are paired with soy sauce and a sesame dipping sauce. The chutoro is divine but then so is every bite.
The next course is red snapper and flounder nigiri with caviar and flying fish roe. After this are two dainty maki sushi filled with cucumber avocado and crab with prawn and ikura roe atop. After this is Hokkaido scallop dish with salmon roe and radish and a rich deeply flavoured lobster sauce that has XO sauce vibes. Then comes out the small but perfectly formed Kagoshima A5 wagyu beef sandwich with mustard, cabbage and shaved egg yolk on top. It’s so luscious yet it doesn’t feel oily, just perfectly juicy. It is savoured in just a few long savoured bites.
With Asian degustations, there's usually a rice or soup course just to make sure everyone is full and they give us a dashi based soup with Nha Trang seafood and Da Lat mushrooms.
And to finish is a scoop of black sesame ice cream with a sheet of milk foam cracker on top! But they're not done with us and there's also a cocoa butter shell "Pebble" filled with a liquid yuzu centre.
The Bar: Thiera
The hotel has a bar located right next to the lobby area called Thiera. At 6pm they invite guests to head there for a complimentary cocktail or mocktail. I have the Blue Lagoon curacao with apple juice and lime juice while Mr NQN has the Astro beach vodka bik liquor and butterfly pea flower. They're both refreshing and come with a small pot of crunchy wasabi peas.
Hotel Activities
Alas the recent storm meant that Mr NQN's much anticipated activities of SUP, snorkelling and the onsen weren't available. Nevertheless the hotel has a range of things to do and every morning at 10:30am there is a different craft activity. On the first morning I try my hand at making velvet zinc flower bouquet and it's actually very cute! Mr NQN also tried his hand at conical hat painting. He brought the hat home and gave it to his mother who loved it.
For those with kids, the hotel is trying to entice families and there is a large kid's club with plenty of staff on hand to look after your children. The Song Spa is located on level one of the main building that has treatment rooms named according to elements like Water, Earth and a Space Lounge. It is decked out in soothing neutral tones and has a Turkish bath, sauna and jacuzzi too.
It's best to head to the spa for a look at the range of massages, body treatment and facials using skincare by Marie Galland. Expect to pay around D2,500,000 for a basic 60 minute facial. I had a 70 minute facial by therapist and it was incredibly good. Mr NQN had an aromatherapy massage which he also enjoyed. The treatment rooms are very soothing and well set out and they start with refreshments and hot towels and end with a pot of ginger tea. Real life seems very far away after our stay here.
So tell me Dear Reader, have you ever stayed at the Gran Melia chain before?
NQN and Mr NQN travelled to Europe as guests of Vietnam Airlines and was a guest of the Villa Le Corail, a Gran Meliá Hotel but all opinions remain her own.
Villa Le Corail, a Gran Meliá Hotel
https://www.melia.com/en/hotels/vietnam/nha-trang/gran-melia-nha-trang
Vietnam Airlines
Vietnam Airlines offers 23 flights per week connecting Sydney, Melbourne and Perth to Ho Chi Minh City and Hanoi. Vietnam Airlines is continuing to add new routes having recently announced new flights to Milan, Munich and Delhi.
https://www.vietnamairlines.com/au/en/home
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