Hotel in Hanoi, Hue, Halong: Life Resorts opens tourist training hotel in Hue

Life Resorts Management Co. has inaugurated the Villa Hue Hotel as the first tourist training property in central Vietnam to train hospitality staff able to meet international standards.

"We have opened in the nick of time," said Chris Duffy, general director of Life Resorts Management Co. "The demand for hospitality staff that has been trained to international standards has never been greater," he said.

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Life Resorts aims to play a significant role in the development of managers and hotel staff in Vietnam who will be equipped to service the burgeoning international market.

The 12-room hotel opens as an entity under the name Villa Hue managed by Life Resorts. All rooms offer cable television, tea-and-coffee service and amenities of a 4-star hotel as well as WiFi throughout the hotel and ADSL Internet connections in the lobby.

The hotel serves Vietnamese and Western cuisine at a 44-seat restaurant, and drinks at the lobby bar and coffee lounge.

The hotel was developed by the Vietnam National Administration of Tourism and Lux-Development, a private Luxembourg agency that finances cooperative ventures worldwide.

Life Resorts has hired Jane Foreman as general manager of the property. The Australian had worked for the Hyatt Regency in Australia as a teacher of English as a Second Language and in room division capacities throughout Asia.

Life Resorts currently owns and operates two resorts in Hoi An and Quy Nhon; The company plans to open four additional Life Resorts properties in Ninh Binh, Ha Long, Sapa and Phan Thiet as part of its US$100-mil plan to develop a chain of luxury resorts and hotels throughout Vietnam by 2010.

The Dutch-owned company has branched out to assume management responsibilities for other resorts. On the same day that Villa Hue opened. Life Resorts also reopened the Ho Tram Beach Resort & Spa in Ba Ria-Vung Tau Province as a Life Resort managed property. It will soon reopen the Blue Ocean Resort under its management.

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Nha Trang may want hotel rooms for Miss Universe audiences

The time for Miss Universe 2008 pageant (July) will be also the tourism season in Nha Trang, Khanh Hoa province so it is worrying that the city may lack hotel rooms for tourists on this occasion.

Besides competitors, their managers and relatives, Miss Universe will attract around 600 local and foreign journalists and many international visitors.

The Department of Culture, Sports and Tourism of Khanh Hoa province predicts that the number of visitors in Nha Trang this July will rise by 15-20% year on year. From July 8-14, the figure may reach 22,000 tourists per day so the city may lack hotel rooms.

Khanh Hoa has 8,067 hotel rooms, including 1,711 3-5 star rooms and 1,602 2-star rooms. At that time, Nha Trang will have two more hotels, 130-room, 4-star Novotel and Diamond Bay Resort.

Hoan Vu Joint Stock Company is negotiating with foreign partners to hire a cruise ship with 300 rooms from Singapore to serve tourists during Miss Universe 2008. However, as the cruise ship has casinos, hiring formalities are very complicated.

The local authorities have asked hotels to prepare carefully to welcome visitors to Miss Universe 2008.

The authorities may allow some families in Nha Trang city, which have good rooms, to host visitors. These houses will be introduced via Khanh Hoa Tourism Promotion Centre’s website and information kiosks.