Zannier Hotels Bãi San Hô

Character and identity

Set on 240 acres of south-central Vietnamese coastline in little-known Phú Yên province, 45 minutes from Quy Nhơn, this is a hideaway of 71 free-standing villas scattered between beach, hillside and rice paddy. The architecture draws on fisherman's stilt houses and Ede and Cham tribal dwellings, with hand-washed walls, rattan, jute and washed-linen textiles signalling the Zannier design hand. Three restaurants anchor the food offer, including a set-menu bamboo pavilion above a rice paddy. A partly subterranean spa runs seven treatment rooms, hammams and saunas. Service is warm, chatty and unpolished in the best sense.

Who's it for

Bottom line

The cooking, particularly the twice-weekly tasting menu at Bà Hai in its bamboo pavilion above the paddy, is the experience that lingers longest, closely followed by the sheer remove of the setting. Spend the money if you want to genuinely disappear for a week or more. Families should hold out for a hill villa with private pool; couples can size down without losing the view.