The lunar new year holiday, known simply as Tết, is the happiest time of year in Vietnam. People spend quality time with their friends and families, sharing gifts, laughs and huge meals.
We’ve put together a round-up of Tet celebrations at hotels and resorts across Vietnam.
A Tet Village Rings in Year of The Cat
Family resort Alma will ring in the Lunar New Year with a six-day program filled with merriment, and transform its vast lobby into a traditional “Tet Village” to honour the most important time in the Vietnamese calendar.
Family resort Alma will welcome the Lunar New Year with a six-day program jam-packed with merriment including a Tet Village that will host an array of traditional games and competitions. From Lunar New Year’s Eve, Saturday Jan. 21, until Thursday Jan. 26, Alma will host all sorts of festivities including buffet dinners, dragon dances, making lucky envelopes, smashing lucky balloons, and cupcake making and decorating classes. On the first day of Tet, Sunday Jan. 22, until Jan. 26, the resort’s Tet celebrations will be anchored by the lantern-adorned Tet Village at Alma Food Court, that comes to life from 9am-6pm daily with huts brimming with traditional snacks and drinks. The village’s line-up of traditional activities includes picking lucky envelopes, calligraphy, stilt walking and the folk dance ‘bamboo dance’, with participants tapping and sliding bamboo poles on the ground while dancers step over and in between them. Competitions include ‘smash the watermelon’, whereby blindfolded participants, after being made to spin around, try to hit and break ripe watermelons with a bamboo stick at the direction of the crowd
Smorgasbord of Dining Experiences on Ho Tram Beach
Intercontinental Grand Ho Tram
Meliá Ho Tram Beach Resort will celebrate the Lunar New Year with a smorgasbord of vibrant dining experiences, traditional Tet merriment, and outdoor pursuits to foster quality family time. Perched on Ho Tram Beach, an easy commute from Ho Chi Minh City, the resort’s Tet program from Jan. 18-28, 2023 is packed with indulgent buffets and a la carte menus, beach bonfires with marshmallow roasts, outdoor cinema nights, kayak racing, lion dancing, calligraphy giving, lantern floating, morning excursions to ‘Monkey’s Temple’ Truc Lam Chan Nguyen and more. Ho Breeza Beach Club will host its vibrant ‘Ho Tram Seafood Market’ to a backdrop of live chill-out music on Lunar New Year’s Eve, Jan. 21, and Jan. 28. Crabs, squid, grouper, snapper, shrimp, mussels, snails, clams, and scallops caught from local waters that day will be assembled in large bamboo baskets. Anchored with fresh seafood, local specialties, and international cuisine, buffet dinners held at the resort’s Sasa restaurant throughout the Lunar New Year program are themed ‘Dolce Vita’, ‘Roast Carving Buffet’, ‘BBQ Seafood’ and ‘Japanese Twist’ and accompanied by a live band.
Seafood Buffet Feast on a Beachside Lawn
The Anam Cam Ranh will mark the most important event in the Vietnamese calendar, Tet, with a host of activities including buffet dinners, dragon dancing, live instrumentalists, outdoor movies, and kite flying from Jan. 21 to Jan. 25. On Lunar New Year’s Eve, Jan. 21, the resort overlooking Long Beach will serve a seafood buffet on its lush lawn from 6-9pm, accompanied by live music and a fire show. To celebrate the first day of Tet, Jan. 22, the resort will offer traditional savory and sweet Tet treats, dragon dancing, calligraphy giving, a musician playing a dan bau string instrument, kite flying, tapas and cocktails and more. The following day, Jan. 23, all ages are encouraged to learn how to make traditional “chung” cake, plant trees, and partake in bamboo dancing, with a Vietnamese buffet served at Lang Viet Restaurant and Bar from 6-9pm. The Beach Club will stage a roast buffet from 6-9pm to a backdrop of live guitar and singing.
A Traditional Tet Market, Culinary Specials and More in Vietnam’s Capital
Sofitel Legend Metropole Hanoi celebrates the Tet holiday with its popular annual Tet Market, as well as an exclusive culinary program and special accommodation package. The traditional Tet market (Jan. 15-16) will feature bamboo stalls offering Vietnamese delicacies, fresh products, unique handicrafts and colorful traditional paintings in the Dong Ho style. Visitors can also meet a calligraphy master or have their portrait sketched by a talented street artist. Several extraordinary culinary opportunities are also on offer throughout January, including an “End of the Year Sunday Brunch” on Jan. 15 and “Lunar New Year Extravagant Sunday Brunch” on Jan. 22, both served at the award-winning modern French fine dining restaurant Le Beaulieu. Other special meals and drinks will be served at Le Club Bar (including a Grand Tet Buffet Dinner on Jan. 26) and angelina, the Metropole’s bar-lounge-restaurant renowned for its rustic New World cuisine (distinctive Tet cocktails from Jan. 16-29). Metropole Hanoi is also offering a special room package with rates starting from VND 8 million ++.