Cover Zannier Bãi San Hô offers a world of wholeness that has everything to do with a focus on inner healing as much as it does with its sense of its location in Vietnam
Zannier Bãi San Hô offers a world of wholeness that has everything to do with a focus on inner healing as much as it does with its sense of its location in Vietnam
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With its ever-expanding portfolio of hotels, resorts and lodges around the world, Zannier has rapidly become a commanding presence in the luxury hospitality industry.
There are qualities of life that seem perpetually at a distance from the modern world, especially in a populous, rapidly advancing country such as Vietnam. Space, balance, wellness, quiet—a sense of solitude and relaxation of the spirit that seem vanishingly out of reach. For seekers of luxury in these times, there has been a transition from the desire for finery and fancy to an aspiration for human wholeness, as if luxury were an inner, more spiritual quest than a mere state of comfort and the enjoyment of wealth.
Read more: How to spend 48 hours in the ancient capital of Hue
Above Zannier Bai San Ho stands as the group’s newest and most ambitious project to date with a massive scale of 100 hectares
Zannier Bai San Ho stands as the group’s newest and most ambitious project to date with a massive scale of 100 hectares
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Right at the tip of the spear in this qualitative shift in luxury hospitality, Zannier has been making profound waves with its premium accommodation offerings ever since the launch of its first luxury chalet in the French Alps back in 2011. Throughout the 2010s—until the brand’s momentum was ultimately curbed by the emergence of the coronavirus pandemic—Zannier’s founder was opening properties in unique, groundbreaking locations at the pace of almost one per year. This rapid expansion was largely in response to the brand’s immediately successful (and perhaps counterintuitive) guiding concept—to base all design considerations purely on the personal tastes of its founder, whilst observing local cultural elements almost religiously.
Until a major new property opens in France next year, Zannier Bãi San Hô is still the most recent of the group’s projects—and at an enormous 100 hectares, it’s certainly the most ambitious thus far. Staying at Bãi San Hô is not only an experience of being fabulously well-cared-for in the manner that top-tier travellers expect at this category of resort; it’s also a tremendous feeling of being grounded in place. Alongside the privilege and pampering that Zannier offers in all its public and private spaces lies something deeper: guests can feel it, pacing the resort’s quiet beach at dusk, staring out towards the green lights of distant fishing boats suspended on the ocean like constant, emerald stars. It is the sense of being included, being present, and of belonging here, in this remote corner of a vibrant country far from wherever it is they call home.
Above Gazing out over the resort from one of the airy hilltop villas, you’ll sense the owner’s raw passion for this “wild and special” land
Gazing out over the resort from one of the airy hilltop villas, you’ll sense the owner’s raw passion for this “wild and special” land
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Part of that experience lies in Zannier’s determined embrace of local Vietnamese culture. In fact, looking over the resort from one of its spacious hilltop villas, you might suspect that the resort owner’s initial excitement for what he calls this “utterly wild and special” location spilled over into the localisation efforts during the design phase: there are not one, but three Vietnamese traditions represented in the architecture of Bãi San Hô.
Whilst the property may not be the only resort in Vietnam to pay tribute to local culture, it is likely the most successful in the attempt. There is nothing forced or fake in the appearance of the accommodations outside or in, and there is a living element to the property that effects a natural environment, rather than feeling like something from a museum.
At the summit of the resort grounds stand interpretations of Vietnam’s Êde minority longhouses, which, according to the local matriarchal tradition, are elongated in successive sections as daughters marry. At the foot of the mountains, villas are stylised after local fishermen’s huts overlooking a field of rice paddies that are actively farmed, the yield donated to a local orphanage. At the quiet shoreline, Bãi San Hô’s beach homes are a tribute to the coastal-dwelling Cham people with their thatched roofs and cob walls.
Above Bãi San Hô’s beach homes are a tribute to the coastal-dwelling Cham people with their thatched roofs and cob walls
Bãi San Hô’s beach homes are a tribute to the coastal-dwelling Cham people with their thatched roofs and cob walls
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“They are all Vietnamese,” enthuses Arnaud Zannier, the brand founder. “For me, when I say local, it’s the culture of the country. Otherwise, we would have built only the fishermen’s huts, which are typical of what you find bordering the nearby lagoons. We felt that to be more culturally enriching for the guests, we should select different architectures that are representative of Vietnam.”
According to Zannier, the key to creating the right balance between what is needed to operate a five-star hotel and integrating the local artifacts, architecture and cultural identity is plain curiosity.
“We’re very curious,” he explains. “We really look at the way people are doing things. We really ask the construction company to work the same way as the village next door. It’s not about making it fake. It’s—‘how do they do it? Okay, let’s do the same.’ It’s been a struggle for me in every single project, because every time you talk to a construction company or architect, they always want to get away from the essence and try to make it ‘better’ or ‘nicer’—or so they think. But that’s not what I want. If the tooling is not great, there will be marks on the wooden floor. I like those marks! That’s what makes it authentic and normal and natural. So let’s use the same principle and the same system.
Read more: 48 hours in: What to do when you only have 48 hours in Ha Giang?
Above If a guest posts a picture of Zannier rooms, people will know the brand even if they don’t caption it
If a guest posts a picture of Zannier rooms, people will know the brand even if they don’t caption it
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“I want it to be authentic, to be as simple and authentic as possible, because it’s the only way to create this vibe.”
Zannier’s complete control over the look and feel of the resort is confirmed by Zannier Bãi San Hô’s general manager Alain Bachmann. “The key to understanding Bãi San Hô, as with all Zannier properties, is that the resort is very much Arnaud Zannier himself in terms of its character and style,” he says. “The finer details—everything in the villas, the public areas, the antiques, the colours. It’s all him. If I changed anything, the material covering the chairs, I’d never hear the end of it!
“Our brand is instantly recognisable,” he adds, “unlike generic hotel brands with interchangeable interiors. If a guest posts a picture of our rooms, people will know it’s our brand even if they don’t caption it.”
Above Zannier Bãi San Hô is as simple and authentic as possible
Zannier Bãi San Hô is as simple and authentic as possible
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Unquestionably, Bãi San Hô is a stunning, exquisite property. The adaptation of local features has been so successful that Zannier now regularly fields requests from Vietnamese investors who would like to replicate the concept in other parts of the country—requests that are routinely declined. Arnaud Zannier tells them he will never do the same thing again; that he could create something new, but that there will never be another Bãi San Hô.
“If the spot is different, the storytelling has to be different,” says Zannier. “I work for my customers, so every time they stay in a Zannier hotel, they get a totally different experience.”
Part of the resort’s commitment to authenticity can be observed in the respectful role it plays in the nearby community where it has been located. The resort is, without a doubt, the most ambitious development ever completed in this remote corner of tiny Phú Yên province. One of the key challenges of opening a property in such a secluded location is the responsibility to collaborate with local communities as extensively as possible.
Above Unquestionably, Bãi San Hô is a stunning, exquisite property
Unquestionably, Bãi San Hô is a stunning, exquisite property
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Many young people employed at Bãi San Hô are the sons and daughters of local fishermen, who have learnt service and language skills for the first time under Zannier’s training. For them, the resort represents an opportunity to find the kind of well-paid, dignified work near home they might never have dreamt of growing up in the region, without the need to move away from their families to seek employment in the big cities. For others, it represents a career path outside of the fishing trade that is changing their own personal destinies.
“We’ve earnt a lot of respect from the locals because we don’t come with our Western culture, with our Western ways of doing things, to promote a Western brand,” says Zannier. “Everything we do is to showcase their culture, their way of doing things, their lifestyle. So from the perspective of the locals, they’re happy because we buy their products, the lobsters, the clams, the fish from them. We don’t import Charolais beef from France; a lot of hotels are doing that, but we do everything local, from the F&B to the architecture. For those who help us, this is their language, and for the young people working here, this is their culture that we are presenting to paying foreigners. And they’re very proud.”
Arnaud Zannier has been visiting Bãi San Hô this month to oversee and fine-tune preparations for the property’s new wellbeing programme, which is poised to launch shortly. His team has been preparing a multitude of different activities, from traditional spa treatments to more creative activities outdoors—including cultural excursions to a nearby village and traditional blessings ceremonies with local monks. Beyond these, the resort will also offer nutritional guidance and alternative medical therapies, from acupuncture to osteopathy and homeopathic remedies.
Above Zannier has complete control over the look and feel of this beautiful resort
Zannier has complete control over the look and feel of this beautiful resort
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“We believe that grounding, being closer to nature, helps in many ways,” says Zannier of the new programmes. “I believe that we are made of energy, that we have energy in the body. And we believe our market will be attracted to our offering because there are not so many places in Vietnam to recharge, replenish, re-source.”
Ultimately, this is the unique gift that a stay at Zannier Bãi San Hô offers. Whether guests come to enjoy the fine menu items, the peerless, near-rustic interiors or simply quiet evenings pacing the sand alone, Zannier offers a world of wholeness that has everything to do with a focus on inner healing as much as it does with a sense of its location in Vietnam. That is something best experienced here, from within.
Credits
Images: Zannier Bãi San Hô
