You’re dreaming at…

AN LAM NING VAN BAY

Vietnam

A hideaway where river spirits meet barefoot seduction, and time dissolves between the canopy and the tide.

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WILDLY PLACED: On a private peninsula only accessible by boat, 20 minutes from Nha Trang. Remote, radiant, and wrapped in rainforest.

EDITORIAL VIBE: Tropical modernism with a sensual, slow-burn edge. Think Jeanne Damas meets Lara Croft.

CORE PILLARS: Restorative luxury, river-to-sea wellness, architectural quietude.

MUSE MOOD: She swims at sunrise, reads Anaïs Nin in a treehouse bath, and slips into silk for dinner under flame-torched palms.

BEST TIME TO GO: February to September, when the skies clear, the sea glows, and the jungle pulses with possibility.

THE LOOK: Stilted timber villas, open-air jungle bathrooms, Vietnamese artisanal details, and plunge pools designed for dusk rendezvous.

WHO'S IT FOR: Modern mystics, digital detoxers, honeymooners, and that effortlessly chic friend who always packs incense.

INDULGENCE SPECTRUM: From USD$480 per night - elevated intimacy with a wild streak.

An Lam Ninh Van Bay disappears off the beaten path entirely. One moment you’re skimming across turquoise waters with salt in your hair and silence in your bones. The next, you’re stepping barefoot onto a jetty wrapped in vines, your phone already forgotten, your breath slower, your senses dialled in.

Set between jungle cliffs and the South China Sea, this all-villa retreat feels like a secret whispered by the land itself. It’s not a hotel you arrive at, it’s a realm you cross into. Designed with reverence for nature and rooted in Vietnamese craftsmanship, every element is sensual, sacred, and intentional. You don’t check in. You exhale. You soften. You remember.

Each villa is a masterclass in raw elegance - open-plan sanctuaries where wood, stone, water and wind converge like lovers. Outdoor rain showers framed by bamboo. Bathtubs with tree branches peeking in. Daybeds that beg for midday novels and mangoes. Private plunge pools kissed by frangipani shadows. You wake up in a poem and fall asleep in a dream.

But don’t mistake serenity for stillness. Paddleboard at sunrise down a mist-veiled river where birdsong is your only soundtrack. Take a barefoot hike into the hills with a local guide who speaks the jungle’s forgotten names. Indulge in spa rituals rooted in Cham and Vietnamese healing traditions, where herbal steam rises like incense, and every touch is a lineage.

The dining is equally elemental. Think line-caught fish grilled in banana leaves, jungle herbs foraged that morning, and candlelit dinners beneath a Banyan tree that’s older than most cities. You’ll eat barefoot, sip chilled Viognier, and feel like a coastal priestess who wandered off grid and into her own legend.

An Lam doesn’t try to be discovered. There’s no menu of buzzwords or influencer-approved photo spots. It invites the kind of traveller who doesn’t need to be convinced, only called. And when you go, you don’t just leave with memories. You leave with a rhythm stitched into your body.

AN LAM’S BEATING HEART

A sacred banyan tree stands at the centre of the retreat, believed to house ancestral spirits. Every new staff member lights incense at its base before their first day. More than a resort ritual, it’s reverence made real.

The SLOJOURN spark

FIRST. You arrive by boat. Always. It sets the tone, and shakes off the world.

SECOND. The Treehouse Villas; built into the jungle canopy, with spiral staircases and sweeping sea views.

THIRD. The Jungle Spa posing as a low-lit pavilion of river stones, herbal steam, and hands that speak fluent stillness.

Where you dwell

LOVED UP COUPLES or LONE RANGERS
Treetop Pool Villa

The villas are studies in sensuality. Wood-framed, water-kissed, and world-quiet. Every element ,from handwoven baskets to reclaimed timber soaking tubs, honours place and slows pace.

Choose Ocean View for drama, Riverfront for privacy, or the Jungle Rock Villa if you want to disappear entirely.

This isn’t accommodation. It’s immersion.

DON’T SLEEP ON THESE ROOMS (BUT DO SLEEP IN THEM)

GROUPS OF FRIENDS
Three-Bedroom Beachfront Pool Villa

LA FAMILIA
Bay View Duplex Pool Villa

The art of living

Wake up with river mist and a gong bath. Swim naked. Order room service from a woven basket boat. Learn Vietnamese cooking from a woman whose recipes predate electricity.

Here, you don’t fill your itinerary. You let it unfold; lush, languid, and laced with jasmine.

The forever lens

WATER: An Lam Retreats captures rainwater across the property and uses natural filtration systems to supply both guest and back-of-house needs. Filtered drinking water is served in ceramic jugs and refillable glass bottles — there is no bottled water onsite. Greywater from sinks and showers is treated and repurposed for landscaping, keeping the lush environment thriving without overtaxing local sources. This mindful use of water mirrors traditional Vietnamese respect for nature’s cycles and ensures the resort’s footprint remains refreshingly light.
WASTE: An Lam operates under a zero single-use plastic policy, with biodegradable alternatives integrated across all guest touchpoints — from bamboo straws to compostable bathroom amenities. Kitchen waste is sorted and composted on-site, helping nourish the resort’s own herb garden and surrounding flora. Even construction and maintenance projects are planned with waste minimisation in mind, using reclaimed materials wherever possible.
ARCHITECTURE: The villas are built using sustainably sourced hardwoods and stone from the region, laid without heavy machinery to protect the jungle topography. The design philosophy draws from traditional Vietnamese carpentry, blended with open-air spatial layouts that invite nature in and reduce the need for artificial cooling. There are no flat-packed imports — only organic forms that breathe with the land.
ENERGY: Solar panels are integrated discreetly across the property, powering lighting, water heating, and essential operations. Passive cooling architecture — high ceilings, open slats, shaded terraces — keeps interiors breezy without reliance on AC. Guests are offered energy-saving options, from linen reuse to natural ventilation, reinforcing a collective ethos of mindful consumption.

The together lens

More than 80% of An Lam’s staff hail from nearby coastal and island communities, many of whom have been with the retreat for over a decade. The resort offers ongoing vocational training in wellness, hospitality, English language, and sustainable tourism practices, equipping staff with skills that extend beyond the property.
Local artisans craft much of what you see, from handwoven linen robes to coconut-wood bowls used in the spa. The retreat actively partners with surrounding villages for fresh produce, herbal supplies, and guided excursions, ensuring tourism dollars cycle back into the region.
The wellness philosophy draws from Cham and Vietnamese traditions, honouring indigenous healing methods through ritual, plant medicine, and breathwork. Cultural excursions aren’t performances, they’re community-led exchanges that evolve with the seasons.
Here, guests are not voyeurs but collaborators, contributing to a living story woven by the people of this land. The spirit is not service. It’s symbiosis.

The take it with you

• An unparalleled recipe from the in-house chefs after your cooking class.
• Clay tea cups from the in-villa altar
• Hand-dyed linens from the boutique
• Salt scrub from the jungle spa
• A better relationship with your nervous system

WE SLOJOURNED HERE

“She’s the kind of stay that makes you lose your phone, your plans, and your resistance to stillness. One night becomes three, a conversation turns into a quiet revelation, and suddenly you’re drinking tea in silence like it’s the richest ritual on earth. You don’t come here to escape life, you come to remember it.”

The ways you can move

SLOJOURN is a members-only platform for the new vanguard of conscious travellers. That’s you.

In that vein, we support a multitude of ways to book your travel.

Book directly with SLOJOURN’S travel team (we just don’t book flights, friend).
Book via our preferred travel partners that we can connect you with.
Use this as your guide and DIY your way through the world (love that for you, just take note of the destinations that prohibit this such as Bhutan, Socotra… etc.)