David Ho leaves the hubbub of Hong Kong for a weekend of wellness at Fusion Resort & Villas Da Nang

Finding a wellness retreat has been on my to-do list for a while, especially with the ‘new year, new me’ rush just around the corner. But heading to a sanctuary in the usual suspects, like Bali or India, is a bit more commitment that I have the time for.

Fortunately, a more convenient solution has presented itself in Fusion Resort & Villas Da Nang. The new resort in Vietnam promises to be a “wellness inclusive” place, which sounds promising. Best of all, it’s a mere 2-hour flight to Da Nang from Hong Kong, which makes it a perfect weekend getaway.

With just a few outfits and a swimsuit, and it’s off we go. Upon arrival at Da Nang International Airport, a 20-minute car ride is all it took to whisk us to a towering building. After checking in, one finds a gorgeous stretch of view that lays behind the tower.  

Fusion Resort & Villas is well, a fusion of resort style hospitality and living. The tower that one first encounters is the building that houses the hotel section with its 157 rooms. Then, there are the 85 private villas spread across the property. These range from one to five bedrooms, but are all equally lush and luxurious.

For our stay, we are given an ocean view hotel room. It gives us an amazing bird’s eye view of the 15-hectare grounds and the sea. Some of the rooms even come with a private pool on the balcony. So, you can literally soak in the sunset views from the privacy of your abode.

The real star of the property though is Maia Spa, which was recently honoured with three prestigious distinctions at the World Luxury Spa Awards 2025. It was named Global Winner for Luxury Beach Resort Spa, Global Winner for Luxury Spa Retreat and Regional Winner (Southeast Asia) for Luxury Wellness Spa.

Accolades are always promising, but there’s nothing like experiencing something for yourself. We end up spending the bulk of our stay in Maia Spa. For starters, we book ourselves for a shiatsu massage session. With treatment rooms more spacious than most Hong Kong flats, the spa is decked out in all the amenities you’d expect of a luxurious wellness centre.

Personally, nothing beats a powerful massage. But finding a therapist that can give me the tractor-like pressure I desire has always been a challenge. Luckily, my therapist Phouc was intuitively strong in the right ways on all my pressure points. It made for a relaxing way to ease into the stay.

For our first full day, we join a meditation session by the beach. Admittedly, getting up at the crack of dawn is not my typical habit. I’m more accustomed to slinking into bed at sunrise after a long night of doom scrolling. But the sea breeze, morning rays, and sound bath ends up making this meditation worth the effort and a refreshing start to the day.  

It also puts us in the right frame of mind for breakfast, which I happily tuck into at Fresh Restaurant. While we enjoy the continental selection there, it only makes sense to have Vietnamese food while in Vietnam. There is nothing more nourishing to the soul than a piping hot bowl of pho for breakfast, along with Vietnamese coconut coffee for that caffeine jolt. We also love that Fresh Restaurant introduces a rotation of regional dishes to spotlight Vietnam’s diverse cuisine. It’s where I discover the joys of cao lầu, a dry noodle dish that is a specialty of Hoi An. We are obsessulated.

Of course, Fusions also hosts other restaurants on the property, such as Char Grill House. As the name implies, the dishes here are a mix of surf and turf specialities that are cooked over a wood fire. Settled by the shoreline, it’s a delight to sit by the restaurant’s terrace to share grilled bites in the right company.

One can easily spend all their time at the resort itself. But those keen to do some shopping and explore can hop on the shuttle bus to Hoi An. For golfers, Legend Da Nang Golf Resort is right across the road. But for us, we are here on a wellness mission. So, I make sure to spend some time in the gym at Maia Spa. I also book myself into some yoga classes with Fusion’s resident yoga master Sanjay Rawat. From aerial yoga to more traditional hatha classes, there’s something for every fitness level here. We opt for aerial yoga and have a blast. If you need an effective core workout, try being suspended in the air by silk.

Besides treatment rooms and the yoga studio, Maia Spa also houses infrared saunas and herbal steam rooms if you want to sweat it out a bit more passively. But the most eye-catching feature is the gorgeous indoor heated pool. While Fusion also has a beautiful outdoor pool for those interested in soaking up the sun, an indoor pool that’s at a comfortable temperature is also an inviting prospect.

Fortunately, we get to do just that. Our final wellness activity is a floating and sound meditation in the heated pool. With pool noodles to keep us afloat, like otters in a stream, it’s a serene way to detach. With only our thoughts and the surprisingly clear ring of chimes reaching our submerged ears, it’s a one-of-a-kind meditation experience.

All too soon, our weekend here is over. But it’s just what I need before getting back to the weekday grind of Hong Kong. Yet, it’s comforting to know that a wellness escape at Fusion Resort & Villas is just a couple of hours away in Da Nang should I need a quick recharge and reset.  

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