Vietnam's La Residence gussies up for fifth-year anniversary
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Vietnam's La Residence gussies up for fifth-year anniversary
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Category: Asia Pacific - Vietnam -
This is a press release selected by our editorial committee and published online for free on 2010-11-10
On the verge of its fifth year anniversary, La Residence Hotel and Spa has completed a cosmetic overhaul that's touched virtually every surface in the hotel.
>From the terrazzo floors, to the wooden pool decks, to interior and exterior walls, the city's foremost boutique hotel has invested in a refreshment that, according to the general manager, has the hotel looking better than it did on its debut Dec. 10, 2005.
"Hotels have a responsibility to impress, to elicit wows on arrival, and we're getting greater volume on guest enthusiasm since we embarked on the current project," said Craig Douglas, general manager of La Residence. "No one could understand why we wanted to refurbish a hotel that looked as great as we did before we started the refurbishment in May, but you only get to turn five once."
Since its 2005 debut, La Residence has racked up a host of upscale awards, from the Conde Nast Traveler Hot List in 2007 to the Andrew Harper's Hideaway Report, where the hotel was a Grand Award winner in 2009.
While several luxury hotels have opened in Hue over the past five years, the city's appeal has remained hostage to infrastructural liabilities. None of the major airline carriers fly direct to airports at Phu Bai (15km) or Danang (90km).
Despite the proximity of four UNESCO World Heritage Sites (Hue Hoi An, My Son, Phong Nha Caves), a world class beach along the coast between Danang and Hue and two new world class golf courses in Danang / Hoi An, occupancy rates at the city's best hotels can't seem to break from the 40th percentile.
"When we start getting people in from Hong Kong and Singapore direct, then we're on a far different plane of possibility with respect to occupancy," said Douglas.
A major international resort development at Lang Co, 60 km to the south and a new Nick Faldo golf course there, should enhance the region's popularity. In the meantime, La Residence turns on the charm for its 5th Anniversary Celebration.
The hotel swapped its picture-tube televisions for flat screen TVs. They've replaced the pool and spa decks. They've planted an herb garden. Smoothed and painted the walls inside and out. Waxed all of the floors. And removed oil from the exterior paint so that the hotel glows white as if lit from within.
"This hotel complex, from a visual standpoint, is one of the most remarkable in Southeast Asia," said Douglas. "I really don't think you can touch this place, at least from within Vietnam. And so now, we've dedicated two crew from the physical plant to touch-up duty. That's all they do - cosmetics."
ABOUT LA RESIDENCE
Set on a two-hectare site with 200 meters of frontage on the fabled Perfume River, La Residence celebrated its grand opening in December 2005 after a painstaking restoration of the former colonial governor's residence. The hotel's distinctive bowed façade, its long horizontal lines and nautical flourishes are hallmarks of the streamline moderne school of art deco architecture.
The hotel's 122 rooms and suites, restaurants, lounges, bars and conference room are tricked out in complementary art-deco furnishings and décor that evoke both the 1920s and 1950s. The hotel's fine-dining venue, Le Parfum, serves Mediterranean and French cuisine, as well as dishes from a complementary Vietnamese menu.
The conference facilities, including board rooms, can accommodate 140 guests. The hotel provides complimentary WiFi Internet access in the ground floor lounges and in Le Gouverneur itself.
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