Pool villas in The Nam Hai Resort in Hoi An City

The Sofitel Legend Metropole Hotel Hanoi and The Nam Hai Resort in Hoi An shared top billing as Asia’s best leisure properties for this year via an online poll by Hong Kong-based travel and trade journal Smart Travel Asia.

The Metropole Hanoi and The Nam Hai shared the first position in the travel magazine’s list of TOP 25 Leisure Hotels & Resorts.

The Nam Hai ranked second last year, while the Metropole third.

Coming second this year is the Peninsula in Hong Kong. The Amandari Hotel and the Bulgari Resort, both in Indonesia’s Bali shared the third.

In addition, the Caravelle Hotel in Ho Chi Minh City claimed 23rd on the list of top business hotels in Asia.

The results of the three-month Best in Travel Poll 2011 were culled from votes cast by the readers of SmartTravelAsia.com. Voters had submitted their own nominations from thousands of possible choices in Asia.

Aside from being named Asia’s Top Leisure Hotel and Resort, voters also ranked the Metropole 18th on the list of Asia’s Top 25 Business Hotels and 8th among Asia’s Top 25 Conference Hotels. The Nam Hai collected an additional award as one of Asia’s three Top Spa Hotels and Resorts.

Editor and director of Smart Travel Asia, Vijay Verghese, noted that the placement of two Vietnam properties at the peak of the leisure list of “aspirational brands” underscores the country’s increasing appeal as a holiday destination.

A total of six Vietnam properties made the poll’s lists, including the Park Hyatt Hotel Saigon, the Furama Resort Danang, and Princess d’Annam Resort and Spa in Ke Ga Bay of Binh Thuan Province.

Source: SGGP