The Lunar New Year holiday, known simply as Tết, is the happiest time of the year in Vietnam. People spend quality time with their friends and family, sharing gifts, laughing and huge meals.
We’ve put together an overview of Tet celebrations in hotels and resorts across Vietnam.
A village in Tet marks the Year of the Cat
Family resort Alma ushers in the Lunar New Year with a six-day program of merriment, transforming the huge lobby into a traditional “Tet Village” to honor the most important time in the Vietnamese calendar.
Alma family resort welcomes the Lunar New Year with a six-day program of merriment, including a Tet Village hosting a variety of traditional games and competitions. From Saturday, January 21 to Thursday, January 26, Alma hosts all kinds of festivities, including dinner buffets, dragon dances, lucky envelope making, lucky balloon smashing, and cupcake making and decorating classes. On the first day of Tet, Sunday, Jan. through Jan. 26, the resort’s Tet celebrations will be anchored in the lantern-decorated Tet Village at Alma Food Court, which comes alive daily from 9 a.m. to 6 p.m. with huts brimming with traditional snacks and drinks. The village’s traditional activities include picking lucky envelopes, calligraphy, stilt walking, and the folk dance “bamboo dance,” in which participants tap and slide bamboo sticks on the ground as dancers step over and between them. Competitions include “smash the watermelon,” in which blindfolded contestants, after being forced to spin, attempt to smash and smash ripe watermelons with a bamboo stick toward the crowd
Smorgasbord of dining experiences on Ho Tram Beach
Intercontinental Grand Ho tram
Meliá Ho Tram Beach Resort celebrates the Lunar New Year with a smorgasbord of lively dining experiences, traditional Tet merriment and outdoor activities to promote quality family time. Located on Ho Tram Beach, a short distance from Ho Chi Minh City, the resort’s Tet program from January 18-28, 2023 is packed with delicious buffets and a la carte menus, bonfires on the beach with marshmallow roasts, open-air cinema nights , kayak races , lion dances, calligraphy teaching, lantern soaring, morning excursions to ‘Monkey’s Temple’ Truc Lam Chan Nguyen and more. Ho Breeza Beach Club hosts its lively ‘Ho Tram Seafood Market’ to the background of live chill-out music on New Year’s Eve, January 21 and January 28. Crabs, squid, grouper, snapper, shrimp, clams, snails, clams and scallops caught from local waters that day are collected in large bamboo baskets. Anchored with fresh seafood, local specialties and international dishes, buffet dinners held at the resort’s Sasa restaurant during the Lunar New Year program are themed ‘Dolce Vita’, ‘Roast Carving Buffet’, ‘BBQ Seafood’ and ‘Japanese Twist’ and are accompanied by a live band.
Seafood buffet on a beach front lawn
The Anam Cam Ranh marks the most important event on the Vietnamese calendar, Tet, with numerous activities including dinner buffets, dragon dances, live instrumentalists, outdoor movies and kite flying from January 21 to January 25. On New Year’s Eve, January 21, the resort overlooking Long Beach will serve a seafood buffet on the lush lawn from 6-9 PM, accompanied by live music and a fire show. To celebrate the first day of Tet, January 22, the resort offers traditional savory and sweet Tet treats, dragon dances, calligraphy teaching, a musician playing a dan bau string instrument, kite flying, tapas and cocktails, and more. The next day, January 23, all ages are encouraged to make traditional “chung” cake, plant trees and participate in bamboo dances, with a Vietnamese buffet served at Lang Viet Restaurant and Bar from 6-9pm. The Beach Club hosts a roast buffet from 6:00 PM to 9:00 PM with live guitar and singing in the background.
A traditional Tet market, culinary specialties and more in Vietnam’s capital
Sofitel Legend Metropole Hanoi celebrates the Tet Holiday with its popular annual Tet Market, an exclusive culinary program and a special accommodation package. The Tet Traditional Market (January 15-16) features bamboo stalls selling Vietnamese delicacies, fresh produce, unique handicrafts and colorful traditional paintings in the Dong Ho style. Visitors can also meet a calligraphy master or have themselves portrayed by a talented street artist. Several extraordinary culinary options are also offered in January, including an “End of the Year Sunday Brunch” on January 15 and “Lunar New Year Extravagant Sunday Brunch” on January 22, both served at the award-winning modern French fine dining restaurant, Le Beaulieu. Other special meals and drinks are served at Le Club Bar (including a Grand Tet Buffet Dinner on January 26) and angelina, the Metropole’s bar-lounge-restaurant, known for its rustic New World cuisine (signature Tet cocktails from January 16 to 29). Metropole Hanoi also offers a special room package with rates starting at VND 8 million++.
