The Cult of Authenticity

The lap of luxury is always an inviting place. During a recent trip to the central coast region, I had a chance to visit one of Vietnam's most celebrated luxury resorts: The Nam Hai, designed by Reda Amalou of AW2. Operated by a world renowned management company, the resort occupies a stretch of China Beach that was previously untouched by development. Boasting a 2008 design award from Travel + Leisure, the property's architectural details are outstanding. Amalou rejects "copy and pastiche" and has  created something truly authentic, innovative and, at times, jaw dropping. The property features a blend of traditional Vietnamese garden design and contemporary standards, and the villas themselves are an exemplary study on how to create a superior guest experience. There longer one stays in a hotel room, the more faults they will find with the accommodations; but this was an experience where we discovered unique innovations throughout the duration of our stay -- which we extended because it was too hard to leave. While the hi-tech amenities of the room (e.g. ipod with surround sound) are exceptional, the simpler design elements like lighting and sightlines are what make the villas so inviting.  

A stone's throw from the ancient town of Hoi An, an UNESCO World Heritage site,  The Nam Hai will soon share the beach with a slew of new luxury resorts. Along the coastline between The Nam Hai and Danang, the commercial capital of the central coast, there are a handful of developments emerging from the sand: J.W. Marriott, Hyatt, and The Viceroy only to name a few. 

Once the R&R location for U.S. soldiers during the war, China Beach for the time being is occupied by fisherman enjoying life and trying to feed their families. Just outside the walls of the resort, there is a stretch of beach shacks that I assume double as a place to sleep and hangout. At dawn, I found several men catching crabs in the sand and, when the tides permitted, some of them launched their bamboo buckets to catch fish on the open sea. The young children were kicking around a lightbulb in the sand and preparing to go to school. While the quality of life for these beach dwellers is nothing to marvel and certainly in need of an improvement, their way of life is being threatened by the developments on the horizon. 

When I returned to the village the following afternoon, I found the men, ranging from their late teens to mid-50s, drinking rice wine and eating crabs and lizards -- or that's what the figure they drew in the sand depicted. They invited me to join them, and not one to insult, I partook in the festivities. Even though our communication was limited to body language and my 2-lines of Vietnamese ("My father is Vietnamese, and my mother is American"), the experience was one of the more rewarding moments of my trip. 

A recent article in The New York Times' T Style Magazine provides a great perspective on why I enjoyed this so. It's the fact that people yearn for human contact. And when we travel, we want authentic experiences and interactions with local people. Just like the environment, native customs and cultures are also being affected by development; they risk becoming extinct. In a year's time, there will be more resort accommodations in central Vietnam to tickle my fancy, but my boys at the lizard shack will most likely be gone.