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Written by Conor Walsh
Brand-new luxury hotels arrive gleaming, designed with confidence and delivered with flair. The worry, always, is whether they have any soul. InterContinental‘s newest Vietnamese property opened in 2025 on reclaimed land in the Ha Long Marina Urban Bay Area, and I arrive curious whether it lives up to the brand while remaining genuinely connected to its surroundings.
What’s the location like?
The hotel could not be better placed. Ha Long Bay’s famous limestone karsts dominate every view, close enough that they start to feel like our own. There’s not much local action going on around the resort – the surrounding area is still finding its feet. Much of the nearby housing sits uninhabited, and the resort’s human-made beach lacks the texture you’d expect from a Vietnamese coastal stay – but Bai Chay is five minutes away and Tuan Chai Marina, the departure point for most Ha Long cruises, is ten. It suits those who want to feel further from the hustle than they actually are.
What sets InterContinental Halong Bay Resort apart?
InterContinental Halong Bay is the first international five-star property built on this reclaimed stretch, opened after three years of design and five of construction. WATG’s architecture is bold, interiors are elegant, and floor-to-ceiling windows throughout frame the bay from almost every angle.
Thai firm P49Deesign has taken the region’s floating villages and fishing heritage as a literal brief for the interiors: wicker lampshades read as fish traps, woodwork references traditional bamboo basket boats, and a turquoise and gold palette traces the water and its reflections at different hours. Works by local artist Nguyên Manh Hùng (Hùng Rô) are scattered across the resort.
Where am I sleeping?
The curtains in my Classic Room are closed on my arrival, which turns out to be intentional: a host presses a button and they pull back to reveal the bay, unobstructed, past a private balcony. It’s a small piece of theatrics; all rooms at the hotel face the water. The space is open and well-proportioned, with a walk-in wardrobe keeping the main room clear. A freestanding bathtub is the centrepiece of the bathroom, and if safety regulators suggest my office’s lifts can each fit 24 people, then the large shower here must too.
A personalised welcome card arrives with a photo of me on it, and a welcome fruit and chocolate basket includes a chocolate junk boat. has a personalised card with a photo of me.
Suites scale up considerably, through large one-bedroom configurations and up to the 209-square-metre Halong Bay Suite with its own lounge and dining area. The oceanfront Halong Bay Villa sleeps up to six across king beds with a private pool. Residential properties are available for longer stays.
What’s on the menu?
Most of my dining is at Marina Kitchen, the all-day restaurant, which is at its best plating up seafood from the bay. A pan-seared mud crab and pork paste, served skewered on sugar cane, has the kind of sweet-umami pull that makes you consider ordering it twice. The grilled whole Ha Long squid, paired with fiery green chilli sauce and cooling mango, is a main standout. Chase it with a Vietnamese jasmine IPA.
The breakfast buffet runs to more than 60 dishes and sates my craving for local flavours: stuffed flat rice noodles, banh mi, crispy spring rolls, pho and congee with a full range of toppings. Don’t skip the salted egg and spicy lemongrass sauce.
For dinner, La Baguette offers a tighter French–Vietnamese menu. The Patagonian toothfish – pan-seared, with spicy pumpkin dip, squid salsa and salmon roe beurre blanc – is faultless. Del Mar on the beachfront handles cocktails well; the mojitos are good. Roku Star Bar and Yulong Mansion were still unopened during my visit, which is reason enough to return.
Which experiences are available?
A typhoon’s trailing edge shut down outdoor activities for the first day and a half, which turned out to be quietly revealing. The Hidden Lagoon Spa – framed by tropical gardens and koi ponds – absorbed the lost time without complaint; a 60-minute treatment cleared the jetlag efficiently. Coffee, cooking and cocktail classes filled the gaps. An evening at Dragon Pearl Cave, about an hour’s drive away, is worth it for the cave itself – vast and genuinely impressive – though the dinner and show feel more squarely aimed at a different kind of tourist.
When the sun returned, a private speedboat across Ha Long Bay delivered the trip’s best day: to Sung Sot, a serious piece of geology. A paddleboat through Luon Cave is the calmer counterpoint. But the clear highlight is lunch at Tung Sau Pearl Farm: seafood cooked in-view by the owner at a floating makeshift restaurant, the menu running from stir-fried mussels and barbecued oysters to fleshy sea bass and pipis in a bright tomato and pineapple broth. I could have taken 100 more of each.
Who will love InterContinental Halong Bay Resort?
This is a resort for those looking for a longer, more considered Ha Long stay; spacious rooms, serious dining and enough on– and offsite programming to fill several days without repetition. A kids’ club and family pool sit quietly apart from the main facilities, which means it works equally well for families and for those who’d prefer not to know they’re there.
The writer was a guest of the hotel.
Feature image: Lobby at InterContinental Halong Bay Resort, supplied.
