Ho Tram Retreat

Ho Tram Retreat is a small coastal resort in Ho Tram, organised as a series of open timber pavilions set within a tropical garden. The buildings use timber columns and trusses, traditional terracotta tile roofs and dark timber floors, with almost no enclosing walls, so sea breezes and daylight pass straight through.

The defining feature is a series of free-flowing, rough-plastered white walls, embedded with golden stone fragments like fossils and pierced by round openings framing the garden. At reception, the wall becomes a backdrop for a reclaimed-timber front desk and a stone-inlaid world map; along the long gallery, solid timber benches and rattan stools sit between the columns.

The restaurant and bar are open spaces beneath the tiled roofs, furnished with timber tables, colourful cushions and surrounding greenery. The guest rooms carry the same spirit: timber frames and large glass walls open onto the garden, with rough stone-plastered walls, rattan lamps and low timber beds, and stone bathtubs set in private, leafy garden courts.

Ho Tram Retreat is a place to slow down, where the line between inside and outside, architecture and nature, all but disappears.