We recently spent a long weekend in Vietnam – which is such a great destination with a toddler! It is easy to reach from Hong Kong, we just flew with Dragonair on a Saturday morning and came back a Tuesday night. Each flight was between 70-80 minutes and after a short car ride, we were already at the beach resort. What a great way to relax and escape the hustle and bustle of Hong Kong.
We had been in Danang before (but many years ago and at a different hotel), so we were not focused on sightseeing – we just wanted to relax a few days with Lina at the pool and beach. Many of our friends and colleagues had recommended the Hyatt Regency, so we went with the suggestion and booked a room at the resort.
The resort is a 20 minutes car ride away from the city of Danang, and sits next to a beautiful white sand beach that is miles long.
When we stayed at the resort, the sea was a little choppy and the red flag was up – so we did not go into the sea to swim. Instead, we just walked along the beach for a while (wearing sunscreen and hats as it was really hot and sunny in May in Danang!).
The hotel has several parts, from ocean villas to residences. We just picked a normal ocean view room. Our package did not include any meals, but that was fine, we just added the breakfast buffet to it, on the days that we felt like it.
The room was big and spacious, the bathroom with separate shower/bath and toilet areas was almost as big as our whole Hong Kong flat! There was a walk-in closet (great to store all the clothes and suitcases out of sight), a big bed and a sofa area with coffee table. Plus a big balcony with a comfortable outdoor chair (which was much more like a sofa). We had ordered a baby bed beforehand, and it was already waiting for Lina when we arrived.
The whole room was in a modern, simplistic style. Lots of wood, white linen/curtains/textiles and glass – it was very light and felt airy, but there was nothing to remind you of being in Vietnam. This felt to be true of the whole resort, it could have been in Hawaii, Madeira or Mauritius – the design was modern, flawless but just plain vanilla – nothing to remind you of the country you are staying in. I guess that’s true of most international resorts, but I felt this was a little bit of a let down, given the beautifully Evason Six Senses resort close to Hua Hin (Thailand) which we had visited earlier – which featured beautiful Thai decorations throughout the resort.
Apart from that – the Hyatt Regency in Danang is a great resort for and with kids! There are five pools in total (but two belong to the villas and the Regency Club – so I don’t know if these are open to all guests) but we tried and tested only two of them. One was the smaller one that sits next to the residences and the building we stayed in – I loved the fact that it had two shallow areas with deck chairs at either side. Lina would just play in the 15cm shallow water and I could sit next to her and watch her, without having to get wet all the time.
And then there is also the big (main pool) with a slide (for kids that are older, as the big pool is over 1m deep) and at the other end is an area with actual sand for the kids to play in. The small artificial beach is a cute feature, but my girl just preferred being in the water, so she always kept walking into the pool and as it was a slope leading into the deeper section, it was quite slippery and a little difficult for me to hold her – but other kids loved the combination of sand and water and spent hours building sand castles and fantasy lands.
At the restaurant there were plenty of high chairs, plates and cutlery for kids and so many options for food that there was always something that Lina loved eating – she tried Vietnamese soups, different egg dishes, ate lots of bread and rolls, had freshly made pancakes and explored lots of different fruits. So that was all easy and not a problem. On the days that I went to the breakfast by myself (Patrick is not a breakfast person), there was always a staff member to look after Lina and play with her, if she was not in the mood of following me around the restaurant area to pick out our breakfast items.
The resort also has a kids club – and features a climbing wall! But with 15 months, Lina was definitely too small to make use of either. She was happy playing in the water, walking over the bridges (over the pool) and playing hide and seek around the restaurant when we had breakfast.
The hotel staff was very helpful and friendly, they accommodate all our wishes – they helped us to arrange the airport pickup, allowed us to check in early and had everything prepared in our room for a stay with a toddler – so yes, it is definitely a kids-friendly resort and probably even better if you travel with older kids that can use the kids club facilities.
Hyatt Regency Danang Resort and Spa
5 Truong Sa Street, Hoa Hai Ward, Ngu Hanh Son District, Danang, Vietnam
bluebalu 
Wow, what a nice place!