Review: Intercontinental Danang Sun Peninsula Resort Part 2

(by Andy) In the previous post I talked about the hotel and resort itself, and in this post I’ll review La Maison 1888, their Michelin-starred restaurant, and their exclusive lounge at Danang (DAD) airport. First, on to La Maison 1888!

I had read great things about this restaurant on Tripadvisor as well as some foodie blogs, so we were really looking to dining there. I called hotel’s front desk concierge about reservations, and based on it’s reputation, was worried that we wouldn’t be able to get one; we were only there three days. Fortunately, not only was it low season for the resort, but as I mentioned before, the weather at the time was pretty terrible, so it was no problem getting one. Two issues – children under 12 are not allowed (our son is 5), and secondly, the first reservation starts at 6, whereas the kid’s club closes at 8. We booked a reservation at 6 and hoped that we’d be finished by 8.

It had mercifully stopped raining, so we were able to walk to the restaurant. The outside is beautiful – it is two stories, and perched somewhat on a bluff overlooking the ocean. Since it was January, it was dark by 6pm, but I imagine in the nicer months you’d get an amazing view.

Right past the entrance is Buffalo Bar, where they serve a delicious Old Fashioned. They also have an impressive selection of cigars; however I declined.

Here was our dining room, which I would say was probably the most romantic of all the different dining rooms. Because our reservation started right when the restaurant opened, I think we were the first ones there.

There are several themed dining rooms throughout the restaurant, all very beautiful and with exquisite attention to detail. (you’ll have to forgive the quality of my pictures, usually my wife takes the pics with her high-tech camera, but I just used my phone for these)

The service was superb, with the servers being attentive but not too intrusive; it was just the right mix. Their English was very good as well. I chose the tasting menu, and my wife decided to go A La Carte. I’ve put an example of the menu below, although I’m told it changes quite frequently. Prices were in Vietnamese Dong, x1000.

The meal was perfect. There were traces of Vietnamese and French cuisine throughout, and the taste was sublime. I can review travel experiences all day, but I’m not a food critic. You know when you taste something, and it brings a smile to your face? Yeah, that happened a lot here. That’s the most intelligent way I can put it.

The main meal lasted until 8, so I talked to the manager, and explained that my son is very well-behaved and mature. They graciously agreed to let us eat dessert with him upstairs in one of the more family-themed rooms, and indeed there was another family there, albeit with older children. We ordered the “Pierre Gagnaire Grand Dessert”, and it was plenty for all three of us, just the perfect ending to a perfect dining experience, one of my favorite ever!

After our stay at the resort was over, we took the complimentary shuttle into downtown Danang, got some banh mi sandwiches, then hailed a taxi to the airport to fly on to Saigon, where the weather was fortunately more sunny and warm. When we got through security we still had about an hour and a half, so I checked loungebuddy to see if there were anywhere to chillax. I found out through the app that the Intercontinental Danang actually has a departure lounge, and it was rated very highly. I went up and asked if we could go in, and found out that anyone that had stayed there can use it. Sweet!

It was somewhat of a tiny space, but the ambiance in there was so cool!

I want a room like this in my dream house!

The waitresses were all lovely and gracious, and gave us our own hangout room in which to relax. There were simple finger foods, which we mostly declined as we’d just eaten street food, and complimentary beverages and beer.

This lounge had some of the coolest designs I’ve seen in an airport lounge. As I mentioned before, this overall resort stay was during cold rainy weather, and it was still probably the best we’ve ever been too. I can’t recommend it highly enough!