Hello, everyone!

We are excited to share the second dispatch of Vietnam’s Best-Kept Sustainable Travel Stories from our Co-Founder, Jeremy Tran.

In this second installment, we take you behind the scenes of four remarkable homegrown hospitality brands that are reclaiming the Vietnamese luxury narrative— one does not import or borrow from others. Their stories are rooted in heritage, shaped by a reverence for nature, and driven by the belief that prosperity should never come at the expense of people or the planet.

We’re also proud to team up with our friends at Baotree once again for an important conversation: how to empower your team to become everyday agents of change.

From our experience of working with numerous impactful brands, sustainability isn’t the job of one department. It’s a mindset that should live in every role across a business. Don’t miss this high-energy session, co-led by our Co-Founder, Rhea Vitto Tabora. You’ll find the registration link below.

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Rewriting the Script: How Vietnam’s Homegrown Hospitality Brands Are Reclaiming Luxury

Type “Vietnamese luxury hospitality” into Google or ChatGPT, and the top results still lean toward international names. 

These global names have helped propel Vietnam into one of the most popular travel destinations in the world. Naturally, they also dominate the narrative and expectation of what luxury hospitality should look and feel like in Vietnam. 

A quiet shift, however, is underway.

Across the country, a new class of Vietnamese-owned hospitality brands is emerging, not just as operators of world-class resorts, but as cultural authors reclaiming their own space in the narrative. From the reforested valleys of Mai Chau to the artisan islets of Hoi An, properties like Avana Retreat, Namia River Retreat, The Anam, and Ancient Hue are reframing luxury on their own terms: rooted in people, attuned to place, and driven by purpose.

On our recent visit to Avana Retreat, a mist-shrouded sanctuary nestled 160 kilometers southwest of capital city Hanoi, the layers of this shift came into focus. As Chief Operating Officer James Thai guided me through the property, it became clear that Avana is not the result of top-down development but of long-term environmental regeneration and community collaboration.

Years earlier, this land had suffered from slash-and-burn farming. When the founders discovered its cascading waterfalls, they felt compelled to restore it. Working alongside local communities and landscape designers, they created not just a resort, but a living exhibition of Northern Vietnam’s ecological and cultural vibrancy. 

While COVID-19 accelerated a global reassessment of what travel should be, in Vietnam, this shift toward meaning and authenticity found fertile ground. Guests are no longer content with luxury that is only skin-deep. They seek experiences grounded in people, place, and heritage. 

Avana Retreat is not alone. A growing cohort of Vietnamese-owned brands — Namia River Retreat, a member of the Small Luxury Hotels of the World’s distinguished Considerate Collection, The Anam, with its Indochine charm, and Ancient Hue, nestled in Vietnam’s imperial heart — are ushering in a new era of purpose-led, place-based hospitality.

They meet the conventional standards of luxury: exemplary service, fine design, modern comfort. But they go further, insisting that luxury can be a conduit for economic, ecological, and cultural impact.

This article explores how these brands are transforming the Vietnamese hospitality landscape by honoring community, respecting nature, and reimagining prosperity.

This is the second article of our special series, Vietnam’s Best-Kept Sustainable Travel Stories. If you missed the first dispatch on the country’s impact-led travel experiences companies, take a read here.

Designing With Nature and Community, Not Over Them

These new-generation Vietnamese retreats resist the old equation of luxury with excess. Instead, they reflect a deep reverence for land and locality.

Namia River Retreat: A Poetic Interpretation of Hoi An’s Cultural and Natural Heritages

Namia River Retreat was born from the memories of Tran Thanh Nam, CEO of HG Holdings JSC, shaped by his childhood rhythms in Central Vietnam’s craft villages. Together with Michelle Ford, founder of Lumina Wellbeing and now the retreat’s General Manager, the team spent over a decade envisioning and building what would become a sanctuary along the Thu Bon River.

The property is anchored in the Vietnamese concept of "Ba Xã" (Three Villages), which guides its design and guest experience. Each "village" represents a distinct theme — craftsmanship, riverside connection, and wellness through light — woven into the guest journey.

River Pool Villas reflect the gentle movement of the river they face. Curved architectural lines evoke the fluidity and serenity of water. Across the retreat, locally sourced materials and handcrafted elements are used not for ornamentation but to tell a story.

The retreat offers a counterpoint to homogenized luxury. It champions a thoughtful hospitality model where nature is not a backdrop, but a partner in the experience.

Avana Retreat: Regeneration Through Local Construction Intelligence

Avana Retreat echoes this ethos in a highland setting. Developed in partnership with Thai, Muong, and Hmong communities, Avana draws upon vernacular building knowledge. Local artisans taught the team how to use palm leaves for insulation and earth plaster for walls. These techniques reduce energy use while enhancing cultural authenticity.

James shared at AST Forum Ha Noi, "Engaging in collaborative dialogue and repurposing local natural materials helped us achieve the resort's unique standards."

For interior design, brocade textiles and handwoven bamboo lamps do more than decorate. They carry the imprint of the people who made them, offering guests a settled education in local craftsmanship. James described the resort as a byproduct of listening to both land and community. It’s this humbled and collaborative design approach that gives the property its distinct sense of place.

Beyond the built environment, Avana Retreat has planted more than 10,000 trees, regenerated terraces - shared with village farmers, and developed a thriving ecosystem of birds, insects, and farm animals. The retreat’s years of efforts in restoring biodiversity were recognized by the Guardians of Earth for reaching the highest BioScore scores. 

This approach, grounded in regeneration and reciprocity, demonstrates that Vietnamese-owned luxury can compete not just on service, but also on soul. 

Ancient Hue: Showcasing Vietnam’s Nguyen-Dynasty Heritage through A Contemporary Lens 

In Vietnam’s former imperial capital of Hue, history is not just preserved but lived at Ancient Hue. What makes Ancient Hue more than a historical showcase of renovated garden houses — residences of the nobles of the Nguyen dynasty — is its philosophy of cultural and environmental continuity. Every building has been painstakingly restored to preserve its structural authenticity, and each house is named in tribute to a facet of the Nguyen legacy. 

But the resort’s efforts extend beyond aesthetics. It is operated with a firm commitment to sustainability including minimizing waste, conserving energy, and using eco-conscious landscaping to reduce its footprint. Social responsibility is equally central to the resort’s mission. Policies around gender equity, diversity, and fair working conditions are more than gestures. 

The Anam: Legacy Luxury Reclaimed and Reimagined

On the sun-drenched coastlines of Cam Ranh and Mui Ne, The Anam embodies a hospitality sensibility that reclaims an aesthetic steeped in nostalgia with Vietnamese national pride. Founded by Pham Van Hien as a counterpoint to global hotel chains, The Anam is defined by its intimate and distinct Vietnamese identity. 

“My ambition for The Anam has always been to create, through and through, an intimate, classic and distinctly Vietnamese hotel brand that is a welcome counterpoint to the industrialised hotel chains that are increasingly targeting Vietnam with properties that, quite frankly, you could find anywhere,” Hien said.

The architecture of both hotels reflects his point: there’s a harmony of natural ventilation, open-air corridors, clay tiles, and wooden beams, all paying quiet homage to Vietnam’s aesthetics. Landscaping mirrors a well-appreciated sustainability principle with palm trees and native shrubs that require minimal irrigation, and natural dunes for erosion control and drainage management.

Additionally, artists like Bui Van Quang and Vu Trong Anh were commissioned to create more than 250 original oil paintings across the Mui Ne property, ensuring that guests are surrounded by comfort and story.

But the brand’s success also stems from operational rigor. The Anam has implemented plastic-free protocols, solar energy, recycled water systems, and biodegradable amenities. This seamless integration of environmental, cultural, and design principles gives The Anam its enduring resonance.

People: Building Brands from the Ground Up

Luxury travel can often be extractive. But these Vietnamese brands prioritize local prosperity and talent development.

At Avana Retreat, 90% of the staff come from local ethnic groups. Dung, a young employee who studied agriculture in Hanoi, returned to Mai Chau to help his family. Working at Avana Retreat gave him the rare opportunity to stay rooted while building a career.

“As long as they’re eager to grow, we provide free training, career guidance, and meaningful employment in their homeland,” says James. “And in return, we gain the privilege of having them as cherished members of the Avana family.” 

→ Read more about our conversations with team members at other hotels. 

Guests: Experiences That Linger in Memories

In the era of conscious travel, guests want more than just high-end amenities. They want immersion, reflection, and connection.

Namia River Retreat’s wellness-inclusive model, led by Michelle Ford, offers guests daily wellness treatments rooted in Vietnamese herbology, daily yoga, tai chi, and herbal steam sessions. One solo traveler from Singapore told AST, “I felt thoroughly rejuvenated. I’d recommend it in a heartbeat.”

Avana Retreat takes advantage of the area’s majestic landscape and cultural kaleidoscope to give guests the opportunity to converse with local farmers, visit on-site livestock farms, trek mountains, and dine by the waterfalls. “Sustainability at Avana Retreat is not a policy or strategy,” James said. “It’s a mindset.”

Join Us for A High-Impact Webinar

Are you ready for more good vibes from team Asia Sustainable Travel (AST) and team Baotree?

Join Dimitri Syrris and Rhea Vitto Tabora for a high-energy, high-impact webinar as they unpack practical strategies and real-world examples that empower hospitality and tourism teams to become agents of change.

🗓  31 July 2025
⏰ 10:00 AM South Africa | 3:00 PM Jakarta, Thailand, Vietnam | 4:00 PM Bali, Malaysia, Philippines

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