My friend invited me to join her and her colleagues on a trip to Mũi Né, a beach resort town north of Saigon. Unfortunately, she wasn’t able to get me a room at the discounted rate at the same resort–they got to stay at The Cliff Resort, which is possibly the best hotel in the area. I ended up a five-minute walk up the road at Melon Resort, which had decent reviews and a price I was willing to pay.
Somehow, I managed to have Melon Resort all to myself. In three days I saw no other guests at the hotel–no one at breakfast or other meals and not a single room light on when I returned in the evening. There weren’t even lights turned on in the stairways or outside doors.
On two of the three evenings I stayed at the hotel, they had a band playing at the restaurant/bar with no customers. I felt bad about going out to dinner at that time and leaving the band to play to an empty house, but I wanted to eat non-hotel food.
Fortunately, my friend invited me to join her and her colleagues for breakfast, lunch, and dinner almost every day–her resort included breakfast and lunch, so I didn’t have to pay, and the food was much better than at my hotel. It also meant I didn’t have to eat alone (though I did have one breakfast at my hotel and one dinner without the group because I didn’t want to eat at the same place again).
I didn’t take any photos of the breakfast at The Cliff because I was in awe of all the food at the buffet. I stuffed myself full of fresh tropical fruit and coffee (there was plenty more, but that’s what I was most interested in consuming).
It was a little eerie that I was the only person at the hotel other than the staff. However, it was incredibly quiet. The view from my balcony out to the East Sea was so relaxing, I wished I could have had my breakfast served there. The outdoor dining area did not have as pleasant a view. I did not have nearly enough time to enjoy the balcony as I would have liked.
On the first day, I decided to take a walk around the area and search for the beach–my friend’s resort was across the street with direct access to the beach. On my walk along the quiet streets, I found a narrow road leading to the beach, and to my surprise it had a sign for Melon Resort.
At the end of the street was a mess of parked motorbikes. The beach was covered in weeds that were being eaten by some local cattle, and there was plenty of trash strewn about. There were also small fishing boats (more like tubs with rudders) lined up across the area. I wandered off to the side and found a section of beach attached to another resort–this section was pristine and the people at my hotel’s beach didn’t venture out this far (probably because hotel staff would have chased them off).
It was an interesting experience watching locals at the beach as they weren’t allowed to use the other nearby stretches that were reserved for hotel guests. It was even better that no one cared that I was the only foreigner in the area.
Upon returning to my room on the first night, I found a surprise hidden in my suitcase. As I opened it to grab my toothbrush, out popped a large frog. Frogs are not scary, but when jumps from your suitcase in a dimly lit room, it’s a shock to the system. I was thankful that the frog was the only visitor to my room.
The following day I was treated to a relaxing afternoon at the pool. I say it was relaxing because I had the pool all to myself. Seriously, this is the best way to enjoy a pool–swim a few laps with no one around and then sit in the shade a read a book for a bit before taking another dip.
Other than the time spend relaxing at the pool or on the balcony, there was nothing of interest at Melon Resort. I attempted to use the free bicycles, but found them to be much too short for me. And as the hotel was up a hill from the center of Mũi Né, I decided against taking a long ride.
The only downside to my hotel and even The Cliff is that it’s located a long way from the center of Mũi Né. Of course, anyone who stays at The Cliff can certainly afford taxis around–it’s about $10 to get to the more popular part of the town. The advantage of both resorts is that it’s much quieter than in Mũi Né.
