The Anantara has a fantastic location in Hoi An, just on the edge of the Ancient Town. The distance is about a 10-minute walk from the hotel, through populated streets. A clear delineation does not exist between Ancient Town and the rest of Hoi An, other than the point at which Ancient Town becomes pedestrian only. Before we booked our room at the Anantara, we considered staying at one of the larger hotel chains outside of Danang, or at the ultra-luxurious Nam Hai, but we were thrilled that we chose the Anantara because its location let us visit Ancient Town whenever we desired. (The other hotels would have required us to take a shuttle or taxi transfer to the historic area.)
The hotel is located alongside the Thu Bon River, where guests can watch boats and fishermen sail by. (Boat traffic is light, so do not concern yourself that it might be noisy.) Many restaurants and shops are located just off the hotel property and between the hotel and Ancient Town. Especially entertaining are the eight+ women with stalls outside of the hotel entrance who rush guests with offers to do their laundry (they even have business cards). The women are friendly and amusing, so even if you do not need to have your clothes cleaned, you may want to purchase cold non-alcoholic drinks to take back to your room for a much lower price than drinking the mini-bar items. (Alcoholic beverages are for sale at shops a bit farther down the street.)
When we arrived at the Anantara, the staff greeted us with chilled towels, cold lemonade, and crispy dried fruit as a welcome treat. The manager personally welcomed us, and he thanked us for using the Global Hotel Alliance program.
The Anantara Hoi An property offers several dining establishments. Lanterns restaurant enjoys a second floor, semi open-air location. Lanterns serves a lovely buffet breakfast, with hot and cold selections, pastries, and cooked-to-order egg dishes. Lanterns also serves an a la carte dinner. Located downstairs from Lanterns is the Riverside Cafe, a black-and-white checkered space with both indoor and outdoor seating that is open for breakfast and lunch. The Heritage Bar, with indoor and outdoor seating, is an attractive place to have a drink and / or meal. Guests can also order a meal or drinks at Reflections, the poolside bar and restaurant. The main “restaurant” building also houses the spa. This hotel does not offer a fitness center, but a walking / jogging / biking path is located alongside the river. A small boutique that sells unique handicraft items is located off the open lobby.
Wooden lounge chairs with blue cushions positioned beneath palm trees surround the outdoor swimming pool, constructed of dark blue tile and dark blue stone. A small restaurant / bar called Reflections near the pool offers chair-side service, or guests can choose to dine more traditionally at tables and chairs. Near the pool is an activity desk, and the passageway / hallway nearby contains a small lending library. The grounds of this hotel are a compact but peaceful oasis with foliage, water features, gazebos, and stone pathways; we wish that we had more time to relax there! The hotel has 10+ bikes that guests can borrow. In addition, the hotel owns a long tail boat that guests can hire (including a captain) for a scenic boat ride or picnic. On-site at the Anantara, guests can take a lantern-making class, cooking class, or painting class.
The Anantara Hoi An has 93 rooms and suites in several different categories (Deluxe Room, Deluxe Balcony Room, Junior Garden View Suite, Junior River View Suite, and Anantara River View Suite) that are spread throughout two main buildings. The design of the main buildings of this hotel is clever because an interior (yet inaccessible) courtyard space exists between the two sides of the building, thereby giving every room windows at its front (in the living area) and at its back (in the bathroom).
Each building contains either two or three floors. Every room has a split-level design, with a lower lounge area and an upper bedroom and bathroom. We booked a Junior River View Suite, which was located on the second floor of the building nearest the river. (Foliage may obscure your view if your room is located on the ground floor.) Each room has a patio / relaxation area with two daybeds. The patio is a few steps up from the main walkway of the hotel, yet it is open to the passageway. At the Anantara, access your room by entering through the patio (unlike most hotels, where you access the patio by walking through the room). Because all of the patios open onto the public passageway, other guests walk by as guests relax on their patios; however, everyone maintains a degree of anonymity and does not try to engage others as they walk past them. This hotel still uses big old traditional metal keys. The doors to our room locked by themselves, so when we went out to sit on the patio, we had to take along our key or risk being locked out. (Was this an issue only with the door to our particular room, or did all of the doors function the same way?)
Our Junior River View Suite had two levels: the living area, and then a few steps up to the sleeping area, off which was the bathroom. The living area featured a sofa, loveseat, coffee table, and a small desk and chair. The bedroom area held a king-size bed (decorated with flowers and a towel animal upon arrival), two nightstands, and a closet / entertainment center combination that contained the mini-bar, electronic safe, and television as well as two closets. Although we could easily hear the television from the living area, it was difficult to watch the TV from there. A complimentary fruit bowl on the coffee table in the living area offered unique fruits such as dragon fruit, jackfruit, star fruit, mangosteen, and rambutan. The hotel thoughtfully provided a little booklet on the various fruits so that guests knew what they were eating.
The double-wide sliding doors that lead from the bedroom area to the bathroom provide plenty of privacy. A step-down enclosure open to the rest of the room contained the shower. Because a shower curtain did not surround the shower, it took some time to adjust to the open design. The rainfall showerhead and the hotel bathrobes and slippers made the room feel spa-like. The bathroom featured lots of tile and was light and bright because it had several windows. The windows in the shower area are made of opaque glass blocks, but the other windows near the sink and the toilet contained mini-blinds for privacy. This ecologically minded hotel offers refillable ceramic bottles for their toiletries (shampoo, body wash, lotion, but NO conditioner).
The hotel offers maid service twice daily, and will exchange used sheets and towels at both times. The service staff works in pairs / teams; they are demure and polite, and they remove their shoes before they enter your room. As with every hotel room that we stayed in Vietnam, the air conditioning in our room at the Anantara worked well to keep our room chilly.
We liked this hotel, and we loved charming Hoi An. Next time, we might even upgrade to the only Anantara River View Suite for an even more luxurious experience!
