Lighting up a large Christmas tree, a “seafood market” experience, paella buffet lunch by the ocean and live bands are among a host of festivities ushering in Meliá Ho Tram Beach Resort’s first holiday season.
From December 16 until January 1, the five-star beachfront resort at Ho Tram will stage events that include delectable buffet dinners for Christmas Eve and New Year’s Eve, Christmas-themed workshops for the kids and more.
“Though we won’t be building snowmen on Ho Tram Beach, we will lift a glass to a remarkable inaugural year with all that sparkles and merry good cheer,” said the resort’s general manager Manuel Ferriol.
The festive program begins on December 16 at 6pm with a Christmas tree lighting ceremony and a visit from Santa Claus with gifts for the children, as Christmas carols are played and canapes and drinks are served to guests at the resort’s vast semi-open lobby with views of a reflecting pond, a lake and the ocean.
In a tribute to Iberian gastronomy, Vietnam’s first Spanish beach club Breeza will hold a buffet-style luncheon with paella and raclette cheese on December 19 and again on December 26 from 12-3pm on its capacious outdoor terrace, overlooking the beach and adjacent 1491-square-metre pool at the heart of the 17-hectare property.
Upstairs from Breeza, fine dining restaurant Muoi will host a Vietnamese cuisine night on December 20 and December 27 with a broad spectrum of traditional Vietnamese classics as well as dishes with a modern twist.
As the sun goes down on December 21 and 28, the eclectic atmosphere of Vietnam’s seafood markets will come to life as part of the resort’s “Seafood Market” experience. Bamboo baskets brimming with crabs, lobsters, squid, and such fish as grouper and snapper will fill the stalls at Breeza Beach Club’s outdoor terrace. There’ll be shrimp, mussels, snails, clams and scallops, as well as other entrees including large tomahawk steaks.
Meliá Ho Tram Beach Resort will serve buffet dinners at its all-day dining restaurant Sasa and at gardens by the lake on Christmas Eve and New Year’s Eve respectively. A live BBQ station will be sizzling tiger prawns, crabs, tuna fillets, rib eye steak, lamb, veal, chicken and more. A carving station will feature the likes of roasted turkey, suckling pig and seafood paella on Christmas Eve and roast sirloin steak, beef medallions, and braised leg of lamb on New Year’s Eve. A Vietnamese station will offer favourites ranging from seafood banh xeo (savoury pancake) and steamed whole grouper to caramelised pork in clay pot.
In addition to the buffet dinner at the gardens by the lake on New Year’s Eve, Breeza Beach Club will also host a live seafood BBQ buffet at the same time. The merriment will continue at Breeza where there will be free-flow beer and wine, and live entertainment in the lead-up to the countdown.
Children’s workshops including crafting Christmas trees, decorations and cookies, and writing postcards to Santa will be held throughout the program. In addition to live bands performing on New Year’s Eve, musicians and DJs will entertain throughout the holidays.
The resort’s world-class facilities include 61 villas with their own private pools, 152 rooms and suites with ocean vistas, three swimming pools and a swim-up bar, a 10-treatment room spa, an executive lounge, a ballroom and conference facilities, a kids club, gymnasium, gift shop and more.
