Ancient Hue Garden Houses

Rooms

This is a small collection of beautifully restored former Royal Homes and wooden houses, comprising five garden houses – the most spacious – and four French colonial-style villas. All showcase traditional and artisanal details fit for royalty, like incredibly intricate handpainted walls, and offer an insight into the traditional Mandarin lifestyle once unique to Hue.

The garden houses are unlike any hotel room I've seen, quite breathtaking in person. Two of them are one-bedroom residences, aimed at couples and honeymooners. Lavish Kim Phung is inspired by the Nguyen Dynasty and decorated with watercolour murals, and boasts its own courtyard garden with a tub. The beautifully calm Ngu Binh has a kingsize bed and small dining table.

The other three have a pair of bedrooms apiece, which can be booked individually, and also work well for families if both rooms are taken together. Bach Ma features two kingsize beds each with a private terrace and a Jacuzzi tub in the ensuite bathroom. Truong Tien is themed with musical instruments and portraits of performers. It has one double and one twin room (and a bathroom for each), while floral-accented Vong Canh has one kingsize and one double bedroom.

The rooms in the French Villas are smaller (though not small, and their taller ceilings make it hardly noticeable) and named after French notables (Gustav Eiffel, Marguerite Duras etc.). They have both kingsize beds and twin beds, so again, perfect for families. We stayed in the Marguerite Duras Signature Twin room, which had a serene green and yellow palette and a stunning ensuite with gleaming gold details, a clawfoot tub and luxurious marble throughout. But the best part was our little terrace out front, shielded by tropical plants and spindly trees, where we could hear the trickle of a water feature and glimpse koi fish swimming past.

Some just have showers, others have showers and bathtubs; all rooms and suites come with private terraces, a few have Jacuzzi tubs, too. You can tell every detail has been carefully thought through and is immaculately maintained.

Features include:

• Air conditioning
• Bathrobes
• Bluetooth sound system
• Cots available
• Hairdryer
• Minibar
• Radio
• Safe box
• Satellite TV
• Slippers
• Terrace/balcony
• Toiletries
• WiFi

Eating

With two restaurants on site, both serving delicious fare, plus a private dining space that promises the royal treatment, you never have to leave in search of nourishment.

The regal main restaurant, Kim Long Fine Dining, is located on the top floor of the communal garden house. Here, the menu is an elevated fusion of Vietnamese and European flavours. We dined on royal stewed fish in a sweet ginger and galangal sauce, pan-seared tiger prawns with tamarind and bok choy, and a delicate passionfruit cheesecake to finish. All mouthwateringly good, but it was our plate decorations that stole the show - elaborate sculptures of animals painstakingly crafted from raw vegetables. Sounds odd, I know, but they were astonishing.

Breakfast is also served here each morning. The all-inclusive a la carte menu offers a good selection of savoury Vietnamese favourites such as noodle soup, alongside typical Western staples like a cooked breakfast, waffles or eggs benedict. A delicious spread of fresh fruit, pastries, bread, yoghurt, juice, coffee and tea comes as standard.

In the garden you'll find the bright, airy Le Soleil de Hue, a glasshouse with colonial and Art Deco furniture and sophisticated French cuisine. It's quite expensive but, by all accounts, worth the splurge. It’s also got a great cocktail bar where the signature concoctions are particularly good. There's also Phu Mong which specialises in ‘private and royal dining’ – it even has a king’s table. Guests get dressed in traditional costumes and there's live Hue folk music. It can be reserved for two but it's mostly visiting tour groups that use this space.

Hue itself is a culinary paradise (the favourite foodie destination of our food tour guide in Hanoi) and your best bet is simply to take to the streets. Eateries abound, the nearest is just a kilometre stroll away, but the street sellers offer the most authentic taste of Vietnam.

Features include:

• Bar
• Restaurant
• Vegetarian options

Activities

• A day-long city tour will take you to most places of note in Hue, including a dragon boat tour, the Thien Mu pagoda overlooking the Perfume River, the Royal Antiques Museum, the royal tombs and the Unesco-listed Imperial Citadel (although that is worth an afternoon and a tour on its own)
  
• Shoppers will love it here. First stop is Dong Ba market which is a paradise of fresh produce and exotic seafood (at night it is a heaving local destination). Elsewhere there are silk shops, bespoke tailors, porcelain shops, souvenirs, craft shops…
  
• The Bach Ma National Park with its waterfalls and lakes (which you can swim in) is worth the hair-raising bus journey to get there. The views are astonishing
  
• If you're blessed with good weather, Hue is close to several lovely beaches; Canh Duong, Lang Co and Binh An are considered a few of the best
  
• Take a bike from the hotel to the ancient town of Bao Vinh with its temples and moss-covered buildings. Once a major trading route, it’s surrounded by paddy fields and tiny villages that are ripe for exploring
  
• Save a few hours for a cookery class at the hotel. It starts with a trip to the market to get fresh produce, then back to Ancient Hue for a masterclass in fine Vietnamese food (be sure to book ahead)
  
• Don't miss out on a visit to Phu Xuan spa, which has a sauna and steam room as well as treatment rooms for facials and massages (you get a free massage for booking through i-escape; our foot massage was heavenly)

Activities on site or nearby include:

• Cooking classes
• Cycling
• Historical sites
• Private guided tours
• Shopping / markets
• Swimming
• Well being

Kids

Children of all ages are made very welcome, although the atmosphere is quite grown up and peaceful. Extra beds and baby cots are available, and some properties have connecting rooms. Children under 11 also have the option of sharing a bed with their parents (those aged 7-10 incur a surcharge for breakfast), or they can sleep separately in an extra bed. The gardens are fun for exploring, especially the koi ponds, and there are two pools to splash in.

Best for:

All ages

Family friendly accommodation:

Book one of the two bedroom houses in its entirety to get two bedrooms. Truong Tien has a double and a twin so is best set up for families, while Vong Canh and Bach Ma have two double bedrooms. The French Villas also have doubles and twins.

Cots Available, Extra Beds Available, Family Rooms

Distances:

• Airport: 25 minutes

For more family-friendly places, see our Kids Collection

Location

The Ancient Hue Garden Houses are situated just outside the city of Hue, once the former capital, in Central Vietnam.

By Air:
The nearest airport is Phu Bai, and has frequent flights from HCMC and Hanoi. It's about 17km away and transfers can be arranged on request. There is a car rental at the airport but most will prefer to take a taxi, and the journey time is about 25 mins.

By Train:
Vietnam is well served by trains. Take the Reunification Express, which operates along the coast, and serves Hanoi, Saigon and Da Nang.

Detailed directions will be sent to you when you book through i-escape.