Angsana Lang Co

Why the Angsana Lang Co?

We had planned for 4 vacations this year, one each quarter.  First vacation of the year was our winter trip to Iceland for DH and I in March 2017.  During the school holidays in June 2017, we decided to take a short break and go to Danang for a family beach holiday.

Danang, in Central Vietnam, is known for its beaches and is half an hour drive from Hoi An, whose old town is a UNESCO World Heritage Site.  We had previously been to Hoi An in 2010, but had gone in Nov, during the raining season.  I so much want to visit the place again especially during its monthly full moon festival when the streets of the old town is only lighted up by traditional lanterns.   The monthly Lantern festival in Hoi An is on the 14th of every lunar month.  In June 2017, it falls on the 8th.

Having decided on the date, next was to pick a resort.  The boys, one on leave from the army and the second needing a break from his intense A levels revision had requested for a relaxing vacation with “nothing to do”.  I was considering the Hyatt at Danang, but came across a promotion at the Angsana.  I am a fan of Banyan Tree group hotels and so decided to check out Angsana at Lang Co.  Angsana in Lang Co is part of the Laguna Lang Co resort which includes Banyan Tree resort and a golf course besides the Angsana resort.

Lang Co is a one and a half hour drive from Danang in the opposite direction from Hoi An.  It is probably not an ideal location for sightseeing but as we had wanted a rest and relax holiday, I thought it would be ok for us.  Furthermore, I was much attracted by its 2 bedroom suites which came which a private dip pool.  In the end I booked the Skypool Party Package at a 2-bedroom Loft at USD366.45 nett per night for 3 nights which included the following:

1. Daily breakfast at the Market Place
2. Free Breakfast & Lunch for children under 12 yo in the restaurants
3. 50% discount under 18yo dining in the restaurants
4. One family BBQ dinner served in the Suite
5. Return private airport transfer
6. Resort credit of USD100 nett valid for Food and Spa.

I thought it was a good deal.

Upon arrival at Danang Airport, we were promptly met by the staff from Laguna Lang Co.  We were shown to our vehicle which was a 10 seater and so could comfortably accomodate our family of 5 and our 2 medium luggages.  The ride to the Hotel was 1 hour 20 mins and there was free wifi in the van.  The wifi quality was excellent and kept us all occupied during the journey.

At the resort, we were promptly greeted and our check in well attended too.  We were served with cold towels to freshen up and welcome drink and snack.  Each guest is also given a bracelet made by locals as a welcome gift.

Sleeping @ Angsana Lang Co:

Then we were shown to our suite.  We were given suite 6515.  It is the last room of the resort near the water sports center and has a direct sea view.  I had thought that it’ll be a long walk but it was really ok especially if you walk through the garden.  It is actually the nearest to the water sports center and also near the all-day restaurant, Moonba.  And unlike other rooms that are near the lobby which while face the sea does not have a direct sea view but has the garden view.  Block 6 just walks out to the beach. Wow!

We enter our suite from level 5.  Upon entering, we see the living room and the dining room.  The dining room has a full table for 6.  Behind the dining room is the little kitchenette.  Overall deco is modern with a touch of Asia.  Colour theme has a touch of orange which brightens the suite and is in line with the colour scheme for Angsana.  A rollaway bed is set up for us in the living room as there are 5 of us. There is a bathroom on this floor.  It has a shower cubicle but no bathtub.

One floor down is the 2 bedrooms.  A king room in front with the sea view and a twin room with a view of the water sports center behind.  Each room has its own bathroom.  Each bathroom has a shower cubicle as well as a bath tub.  The master bedroom bathroom has a window looking out to the sea too.  A blind can be lowered for privacy.  The master bedroom and bath room is huge.  The king bed faces a wall with a full length panel window facing the sea.  The second twin bedroom was smaller than the master bedroom, but still very comfortably sized.

One floor above the living room is our rooftop private dip pool.  This floor is well equipped with a toilet and an outdoor shower where one can have a rinse before jumping into the pool.  The deck is also furnished with 2 deck chairs for lazing around.  There is also a table for six where we had our BBQ dinner on the last night.

We were overall very happy with the suite. It was luxurious and yet comfortable.

The Grounds @ Angsana Lang Co

The grounds of the Angsana Lang Co is vast and beautiful.  It is part of Laguna Resort and there is a waterway connecting it to the other Laguna hotel, the Banyan Tree Lang Co.  there is a boat that plies the waterway to ferry guests around Laguna resort and it is a very pleasant with view of the beautiful area.

Angsana Lang Co has a private beach.  Although it was not a white sand beach, it was nonetheless a beautiful beach. It was not crowded when we were there.

Eating @ Angsana Lang Co:

1. Breakfast at Market Place

Buffet Breakfast is served daily at the Market Place.  There is a wide buffet selection of international and Vietnamese and Asian choices.
The most interesting option for breakfast is flavoured champagne!  Yes, champagne… alcohol! ?. You can add different flavours like roselle, pineapple, ginger & lemongrass and passion fruit flavours to your champagne and it is so good!  I did non-alcoholic versions for DD with sparkling water ?.

2. Lunch & Dinner at Moonba
As it was low season in Hoi An, not all the restaurants were opened all the time at the Angsana.  Moonba was the only restaurant opened for lunch and dinner everyday.  We did not read the schedule given to us carefully and so went to Moonba for dinner on our first night.  On hindsight, we should have gone to Rice Bowl another restaurant at the hotel which is only open for dinner.  We did not have a chance to eat there again the whole trip.

Guests are served with welcome crackers served with hoi an chili sauce upon arrival at Moonba.  The crackers are eaten with cucumber and some herbs and bean sprouts.  The chili sauce is very spicy but goes very well with the crackers.

For our first dinner at Moonba , we had the papaya salad, fried spring rolls, salt and chilli squid for our appetisers.  The apps were quite nice.

For our main course we went for the deep fried tamarind frog legs with garlic fried rice and luc luc stir fried beef with steam rice.   And from the grill we had a lobster and a steak.  The dishes were ok.

Portions are small and meant for single person rather than served family style like a traditional Vietnamese restaurant.  So main courses are generally served with rice.

Only 3 of us had dessert.  We ordered the fried ice cream in caramel sauce, Vietnamese Sorbet trio (apple & mint, mango and coconut) and Vietnamese sweet soup (sago, mango, white sesame in coconut milk).  Dessert was acceptable.

Overall food was mediocre.  So if we had any other choice, we won’t want to eat there again.  But as we did not have any other options, we had lunch there the next day too.  We decided to have noodles and dessert.  For the noodles we had pho and cha ca (fried fish).  Again mediocre.   Dessert were better.  We had the fried ice cream again, sorbet and banana cake served with sorbet.

3. Lunch at Pool Side Bar

We had enough of the food at Moonba, and so decided to just have simple burgers and hotdogs at the pool on another day.  These were pretty good.  And it was relaxing and fun to eat at the pool side bar.

4. In-Room BBQ Dinner

This BBQ dinner is included in our package.  They came to our suite to put up a beautiful and elaborate setting.

We had 2 salads, and fried rice and bread rolls.

For the BBQ items, we had fish, chicken, chicken wings, kebabs.

After we finished with our dinner, they came back with dessert served in our dining room.  Overall, it was an enjoyable dinner.

5. Azura @ Banyan Tree Lang Co

We were sick of food at Moonba and so decided to check out the other restaurants within the Laguna Resort.  We took the boat ride to Banyan Tree to eat at Azura, it’s all day restaurant.  Azura is the only restaurant opened at Banyan Tree for lunch.   Azura is a casual beach front restaurant.  Very relaxed setting.  Only problem is no air conditioning!  It was a hot day, so we were glad to be seated under the big fans!

We had pasta and they were not bad.  A nice change from the food at Moonba.  Our kids like Italian, so it worked for us.

Playing @ Angsana Lang Co:

The water sports center is next to our block.  During our stay, we did several stuff there.  We went on the Vietnamese traditional basket  boat and the vertical columns.  These non-motorized activists are free.  The motorized activities were payable.  The kids did the jet ski and had lots of fun.  The boys went for the ATV too.

The resort’s swimming pool meanders around the whole resort.  There were lots of tubes, noodles and floating devices around for residents to use.  It was fun floating on the devices and going around the resort.

And when tired, one can always drop by the pool bar for a drink or snack,

Spa @ Angsana Lang Co:

DH and I each had a massage at the Angsana Spa.  The treatment room was welcoming and decorated with hints of orange, the signature colour of Angsana.  We started our treatment with the usual foot bath and scrub before our massage proper.  The theorepists were skillful and we enjoyed our massages.

After our treatment, for refreshments, we were served lemongrass tea and fruits.  It was an overall enjoyable spa experience and we were not disappointed.

Overall an enjoyable stay.  We had an enjoyable break.  Only complain is the food!

The hotel provides free shuttle to 2 nearby heritage sites, Hue and Hoi An.  As the kids wanted to just laze around and do nothing, and was definitely not interested in seeing temples and citadels, we only visited Hoi An.

Next : Summer in Lang Co 2017 – Hoi An Full Moon Festival 

The post Summer in Laguna Lang Co, 2017 – Angsana Lang Co  appeared first on Mums Travels.

The Hoi An Full Moon Festival happens on the evening of the 14th day of every lunar month.  It is the day when residence of Hoi An offer their monthly prayers. On this evening, the streets light are turned off and the town is only lighted up by lanterns.

We took the 3pm free shuttle from Angsana and got to Hoi An Old Town at around 5pm.  It was a long ride.  Upon arrival we made our way into this UNESCO World Heritage Site.  During our previous trip to Hoi An a few years ago, we did not have to pay an entrance fee.  This time round that was an entrance charge.  For international visitors, it cost VND120,000 per pax.  It included free entry to 5 attractions and a tratuonal art show.  But as it was not our first time here and we had visited most of the places previously, we did not make us of the free entrance pass.

As our dinner reservation was at 6.30pm, we wandered around went over to the Japanese Bridge to take some photos since it was dusk and lighting was good.

As we wondered around the streets, we saw shop keepers preparing for their prayer offerings that evening.  It was the Full Moon Festival.  One every 14th of the lunar month, the locals hold their monthly prayer offerings.  This is also the time when the street lights are turned off at night and the town is lighter up by the traditional lanterns.

Top left: Locals preparing prayer offerings for that night.

My favourite boutique in Vietnam is Ginkgo.  It has interesting locally designed Tshirts.  Here you can find fun Tshirts with local themes and they are of good quality.  Definitely not mop shirts but then they are not cheap.  You get what you pay for.  They have a shop at Hoi An Old Town near Morning Glory Restaurant where we were going to for dinner.

As we wonder the streets, it started getting dark and the lanterns along the streets were all being lighted up.  It was amazingly beautiful.

We then headed to Morning Glory Restaurant for our dinner.  This was our favorite restaurant from our previous trip and we so wanted to eat here again.  I had emailed the restaurant for a reservation as this is a very popular restaurant and is always full.

We ordered several appetizers and main courses to share.  We like the appetizers in Vietnam more than the main courses!

We had spring rolls (VND85,000), green mango salad (VND98,000) and white rose dumpling (VND85,000).  White rose dumpling is a speciality of Central Vietnam.  All were yummy! ?

Then we had the prawn on sugar cane (VND115,000).  It is a prawn pattie wrapped around a sugar cane and fried.  It is eaten as a wrap using Vietnamese rice paper.  You remove the prawn pattie from the sugar cane, add the fresh herbs and garnishing and wrap it with the rice paper.  We shared 2 servings of this.

Banh Xeo (VND75,000) is another Central Vietnam specialty.  The crispy pancake is made with mung bean flour.  Again, the pancake is eaten as a wrap with rice paper.  We had 2 servings of this too.  We love this and have been craving for it! ?

For the mains, we shared 2 servings of Bun Cha (VND125,000), a dry rice noodle dish served with grilled pork.  We also had a BBQ chicken skewer dish with rice (VND155,000).  For vegetable, we ordered the fried morning glory (VND85,000).

 We had a wonderful meal.  So glad we came here.  This is good Vietnamese food and a much welcomed change after the less than satisfying meals that we had been having at the Angsana.

After dinner, we wondered to the river to see the festivities of the evening.  Vendors were selling paper lanterns for guest to float on the river.  This is a monthly tradition in Hoi An.  One can also rent a boat service to take you up and down the river to enjoy the festivities and release your paper lantern from the boats.  Otherwise, you can release the lanterns from the river banks.

We decided to have a boat ride.  We got our lanterns and got on to our boat.  It was a pleasant boat ride on that cool evening.  We didn’t do this on our previous trip.  We all had fun releasing our lanterns and making our wishes. It was fun!

After this we wondered across the river to the lantern shops that I remember from our previous trip.  I wanted to get some lanterns which are great decorations for Chinese New Year.  They are also so much cheaper here than if I were to get them in Singapore.  They also have so much more choices and variety here.

After more browsing, it was time to catch our shuttle bus back to the hotel.  We took the 9pm shuttle leaving Hoi An and were back in Angsana around 11pm.

It was a enjoyable evening and I was glad that I finally get to go back to Hoi An for its Full Moon Festival after so many years!

The post Summer in Lang Co, 2017 – Hoi An Full Moon Festival appeared first on Mums Travels.