High-end resorts almost houseful for New Year holiday

 

Heavy traffic in Da Lat as tourists have flocked in from mid December. Photo by VnExpress/Minh Tan

With just a week to go for the three-day New Year holiday break, several four and five-star hotels and resorts in popular tourist hotspots are reporting high bookings.

The holiday, which starts next Saturday, has become a perfect opportunity to travel, with most localities easing travel restrictions as per the new strategy of living safely with the pandemic.

According to the Sa Pa Tourism Association, occupancy at 4-star accommodation facilities in Lao Cai Province's chilly resort town has reached 90 percent for the December 31 to January 2 holiday.

Pham Cao Vy, chairman of the association, said since the beginning of November, the number of visitors to Sa Pa has increased sharply during weekends with people choosing to stay at luxury resorts that are offering big discounts.

A Topas Ecolodge representative said the five-star resort was fully booked for Christmas and New Year's Eve half a month ago.

However, there were still a few rooms available because some customers who have either contracted Covid or have to be quarantined after coming into contact with infected people have canceled their bookings or rescheduled their trips.

In addition to Sa Pa, Hoa Binh and Quang Ninh in northern Vietnam are also favored destinations for the upcoming New Year holiday by Hanoians.

A representative of Avana Retreat Resort in Hoa Binh's Mai Chau District, set amidst terraced rice fields, said all of its rooms were fully booked for January 1 and 2.

Nguyen Duc Viet, CEO of tour operator WE Travel, said high-end resorts in Quang Ninh like Yoko Onsen Quang Hanh and Legacy Yen Tu are fully booked for the New Year holiday. Several cruise ships on Ha Long Bay have been already full.