SPELLBINDING PHU QUOC

Hotel brand Regent brings its legendary hospitality to the up-and-coming island of Phu Quoc off the southwestern coast of Vietnam, within the vicinity of a Unesco-designated World Biosphere Reserve.

- Yanni Tan

One of the best-kept secrets in Southeast Asia today has to be the breathtaking seaside destinations of Vietnam. With the rise of the country as a nascent economic powerhouse in the region, comes a slew of luxury resort developments that look set to elevate its status as the next “it” tourism hotspot.

For holidaymakers who love sun, sea and sand, Vietnam’s attraction as a beach resort destination will only to continue to soar. The fourth largest country by land area in Southeast Asia, the nation boasts a jaw-dropping 3,260km of coastline, which does not include over 3,000 large and small islands. Among the biggest hospitality brands to launch a flagship resort there is the Asia-born Regent Hotels & Resorts, under the IHG Hotels & Resorts group, which has recently opened its luxury-redefining Regent Phu Quoc.

Located off the southwestern coast of Vietnam in the Gulf of Thailand, Phu Quoc is an idyllic island almost 80 per cent the land mass of Singapore. Boasting a 150km coastline surrounded by calm, turquoise waters, it is nicknamed “pearl island” thanks to its gleaming white sand beaches and the local fishing and pearl-harvesting industry.

In fact, more than half the island is part of Phu Quoc National Park, which has been designated a Unesco World Biosphere Reserve since 2006. Regent Phu Quoc offers guests the best of nature: an exclusive seaside location on the southern end of the island, as well as easy access to the reserve’s untouched jungles, mountains and wildlife in the north.