MerPerle Hon Tam Resort, Nha Trang, Vietnam

In 2022 while we were vacationing in Nha Trang, Vietnam, my wife and I rented an apartment in the city center so that we could have a kitchen, and cook from “home” most of the time. It was actually really nice and relaxing where we were, but my wife also wanted to try out a resort for a few days.

She found a nice looking resort, the MerPerle Hon Tam Resort, which is a 5-star resort on Hon Tam island just off the coast of Nha Trang. The resort is about 7km from the city center of Nha Trang.

MerPerle Hon Tam Resort Info

• Address: Hon Tam Island, Nha Trang, Khanh Hoa
• Hon Tam Resort’s website: hontamresort.vn

Hon Tam Resort

I must have looked at some pics of the rooms when my wife was searching for nice resorts in Nha Trang, but I didn’t realize when we first arrived that the resort isn’t actually on the mainland. I thought it was just a regular resort, but it’s actually on an island, and you have to take a boat to get there.

So we started by checking in on the mainland-portion of the hotel.

The Ferry to the Resort

After checking in, we had to wait probably about 5-10 minutes for the next ferry to arrive. The ferry is free for guests, and runs every 30 minutes or so.

The ride to the resort is only about 10 minutes, and you get some great views of the ocean and the city along the way.

The Resort Entrance

When you get to the resort, there’s a good size dock with a walkway that leads to the reception building.

When you arrive, staff are waiting to bring you to the reception area, which is only a short walk from the dock.

The resort is quite extensive, and much bigger than I was initially expecting. It’s setup really nicely with mostly individual bungalows, the majority of which are single-bed bungalows. They also have double bed/double bedroom bungalows, hotel-style rooms, and also some larger villas with private pools. We paid for one of the double room bungalows with ocean view.

The Bungalows

The bungalows are all on the hillside, and you can either walk along the resort roads to get to your bungalow, or you can call for a golf cart shuttle to get you to and from.

Our Bedroom

I didn’t grab a pic of the outside of our bungalow, but really, the inside is what matters, and it was absolutely gorgeous!

The bed was comfortable, and had a couch at the end of it. There were lots of windows bringing in a lot of light, including nice glass French-doors that lead out to the deck.

Our room was really spacious, and the bungalows also have nice high vaulted ceilings, which make the rooms feel even more spacious.

Our bungalow was a two-room bungalow, but the 2nd room was in a bit of an odd place, with the main entrance going through the 2nd bedroom in order to get to the main bedroom. The single-room bungalows have an outdoor seating area where our 2nd bedroom was, so it seems like the small bedroom in the two-room bungalows is a bit of an after-thought and not really well incorporated.

The Bathroom

The bathroom was really top-notch as well, except for one issue that I’ll get to in my review at the bottom.

It was arranged in two parts:

The sinks and closet were behind the wall behind our bed:

And then the toilet, shower, and bathtub were separated by sliding doors for privacy:

The Outdoor Shower

And finally, there was also an outdoor shower, which was accessible via the area where the sinks were. Although it looked really nice, we never actually made use of it.

The View from our Room

The view from our room was nice, although I think it would have been even better if we’d have had a clearer view to the ocean. It certainly was private though, which I appreciated. At night, it was nice and quiet and calm, with mostly just the sounds of nature to break the silence.

The Beach Area

Just off the walkway to the reception area, there’s a nice little beach area with some lounge chairs and umbrellas. The water on the beach here is actually pretty nice, and the sand is pretty good too. It’s not white sand, but it’s not bad either.

We went swimming at the beach here a few times, and it was really nice. The water was warm, and the waves were pretty calm. That said, I loved the pool, so I swam there more than at the beach.

The Main Restaurant & Pool Area

The main restaurant, bar, and pool are right beside the beach area, and the pool was really gorgeous.

There’s also some mud baths and a spa/hot pool area, which is right next to the buffet restaurant, but I didn’t get any pics of those areas. The mud baths, spa/hot pool, and buffet area are actually pretty far from the main area though. You can walk there, but even by golf cart it’s a good 10-minute ride, so I imagine it’s a decent walk there and back.

MerPerle Hon Tam Resort Review

Pros:

• Helpful and friendly staff
• Extensive grounds, beautifully manicured, with lots of trees and flowers flanking either side of the roads leading to the bungalows
• The bungalows are clean, have beautiful views from the balconies, and the vaulted ceilings in the main bedrooms are a nice touch. The bathrooms are also quite chic.

Cons:

• The lunch buffet at the hot pool/mud bath area is not very good, and definitely not 5-star worthy. Thankfully the breakfast and dinner buffets at the main pool area are much better, although still not up to 5-star standards. I can’t comment on the à-la-carte menu however as we didn’t try it, so perhaps that’s better

Complaints:

Unfortunately for us, the ocean-view double room bungalow that we paid a lot of money for had 3 separate issues with the toilet that required 3 separate calls to the main desk to fix, and in the end we had to end up changing rooms because they couldn’t fix it. Now this all happened within a span of only one day and one night, but these things happen, so no biggie right?

So I thought, until I saw the room they moved us to, which was a hotel-style single room with two beds, and with a basic bathroom, and no ocean view.

Considering what we paid for the specific bungalow we reserved, and that no compensation was offered, I’d say that’s a pretty shit deal. We should have either been moved to a near-identical bungalow, with the separate rooms and balcony, or if not possible, a compensation should have been offered.

They did apologize for the issues with the toilet, but that doesn’t excuse moving us to a cheaper room than what we paid for. Definitely not impressed, and it left a bit of a sour taste in my mouth.

My Verdict

The layout of MerPerle Hon Tam Resort is really nice, and gives the place a really relaxing ambience. The bungalows are superb … assuming you get one with a working toilet! Had it not been for that toilet mishap, I’d have absolutely loved the place.

That said, I’d still like to come back again in the future, but I’ll be testing out the toilet first to make sure it works and demanding another identical room if not! 🤨

So I definitely think it’s a great resort to visit and recommend it, just keep an eye out for non-working amenities. 😎