This Coastal Vietnamese Resort Is A Design-Lover’s Playground

21.05.2024 - 15:13 / forbes.com / Bill Bensley

Imagine a hotel where the floors are outdoors perched on the side of a mountain, and instead of an elevator, a carriage shaped like a Vietnamese basket boat whisks you to each level. This is the whimsical design vision of architect Bill Bensley brought to life at the Intercontinental Danang in central Vietnam.

Of the over 200 resorts and hotels Bensley has designed in 30 countries, four are found in Vietnam. He’s transformed a 100-year-old University into the five-star JW Marriott Phu Quoc on the island of Phu Quoc and built Hotel de la Coupole, an ode to the French Indochine era that blends haute couture with hill tribe style, in the mountainous town of Sapa. But before making his design mark on the country, his first project in Vietnam was the InterContinental Danang, which opened in 2012 and continues to be one of the most inspired design hotels in the country.

For Bensley’s first hotel in Vietnam, he visited 20 Vietnamese temples for research. You can see the black lacquered wood and white tiles of Vietnamese temples in the resort’s overall black-and-white color scheme, evoking the spirit of yin and yang. The inspiration of Vietnamese temples is also evidenced by the wood-spindled temple windows found in the resort’s 189 guest rooms, which create a sense of tranquility throughout the 96-acre resort. Palaces, such as the Thai Hoa Palace inside the Hue Citadel, were another source of Bensley’s creativity, inspiring the gates, gardens, columns and sculptures throughout the property.

Growing up caring for the gardens in his California neighborhood under the guidance of his nature-loving parents, Bensley cares deeply about sustainability and thus set out to build the resort while minimizing the removal of trees during construction. The result is a lush property that blends seamlessly with the cliffside rainforest and creates a feeling of being immersed in nature. Shared spaces like the restaurants and lobby feature giant open air windows that let in the ocean breeze.

Nods to nature are also seen in the heavy use of natural materials throughout the property—like the reception desk and in-room bathtubs made from local stone—and the names of each level of the resort—heaven, sky, earth and sea. Behind the scenes, a team of over 70 landscapers and gardeners work to maintain the resort’s flora, including the organic garden that provides many of the herbs and vegetables for the restaurants.

Part of the motivation to preserve the abundance of tropical almond trees onsite is to not remove the habitat of the native fauna: 100 species of birds and 60 species of butterflies call the trees home, while two types of monkeys—the macaque and red-shanked douc—rely on the trees for food. Guests can easily spot the