Alma Resort Rings in Year of the Dragon With Array of Festivities
CAM RANH, Vietnam – Family resort Alma will usher in the Lunar New Year with a seven-day program brimming with all sorts of merriment, ranging from a Tet Village hosting traditional games and competitions to floating champagne breakfasts and buffets.
From Lunar New Year’s Eve, Friday Feb. 9, until Thursday Feb. 15, 2024, Alma will stage festivities including dragon dances, calligraphy, picking lucky envelopes, kite flying, and chung cake, egg cake and ginger jam making classes.
Overlooking Long Beach, one of Vietnam’s top beaches, the resort starts its Tet program on Feb. 9 with a traditional Tet breakfast buffet at Alma Garden and activities at the lobby, where the Tet Village takes center stage.
At Alma Lounge, guests are encouraged to try their hand at crafting the quintessential Tet staple “Banh Chung” (Chung cake), wrapping sticky rice and mung bean inside dong leaves from 8.30-10.30am and 2:30-4:30pm, as well as egg cake and ginger jam making from 3-5pm.
On the first day of Tet, Saturday Feb. 10, the 30-hectare resort’s Tet celebrations will begin with dragon dancing in the lobby and Alma Garden from 8am. The lantern-adorned Tet Market at the lobby, which will come to life from 11am-9pm from Feb 13 until Feb 15 with activities and huts offering handicrafts, local products and more. A highlight will be the Tet Culinary Night Market happening from 4-9pm offering traditional Vietnamese street food.
The village’s line-up of traditional activities includes picking lucky envelopes, calligraphy, 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 to be held at the walkway between Alma Food Court and Alma Lounge include ‘beating the watermelon’ and ‘throwing cotton balls’.
Other activities at the resort throughout the program include stilt walking, ‘Throw the hoop’ and more.
“Whether you’re indulging in our vibrant mix of restaurants or joining the hive of activity at the Tet Village with your family, there’s so much to do at Alma during such a special time of the year to celebrate with loved ones,” said Alma’s managing director Herbert Laubichler-Pichler.
“At Alma, we’re looking particularly forward to welcoming the Year of the Dragon – one of the most powerful and auspicious animal symbols, signalling strength, luck and success – as our resort looks to further our community involvement, protect the environment and focus on guests’ wellbeing in the new year.”
Beachfront restaurant Atlantis, Italian trattoria La Casa and Asiana, which serves Thai, Korean, Japanese and vegan fare, will offer a la carte dining. Pizza, cookie, cotton candy and fruit shake making classes will keep the kids entertained.
Featuring 13 separate treatment villas sprinkled onto the landscape overlooking Long Beach on Vietnam’s Cam Ranh peninsula, Alma’s Le Spa is offering a variety of indulgent treatments including its Signature Treatment, Nourishing Package and Alma Spa Journey. The Signature Treatment combines Hawaiian Lomi-Lomi, Shiatsu pressure points, and Thai stretching for a balanced body and mind. The Nourishing Package is designed to eliminate toxins and reduce fatigue and stress. The Alma Spa Journey is made up of a herbal foot bath, aromatherapy massage, ‘Fundamental Facial’, and stress-relieving foot therapy.