"Emperor Bao Dai's hilltop summer residence, now a heritage viewpoint and hotel."
Bao Dai's Villas, Nha Trang Overview
Bao Dai's Villas is a cluster of five French colonial villas built in 1923 on Canh Long Mountain (Nui Chut) in the Cau Da area of Nha Trang, about 6 km south of the city center. Originally built as housing for oceanographers ahead of the Nha Trang Oceanographic Institute's 1925 founding, the villas became the summer residence of Emperor Bao Dai and Queen Nam Phuong between 1940 and 1945. Set on a hillside above the South China Sea, the site today combines a heritage viewpoint with a hotel and restaurant complex.
After Vietnam's 1954 partition, President Ngo Dinh Diem's family used two of the villas, which Madame Nhu renamed Nghinh Phong and Vong Nguyet. After 1975, the complex reopened to the public as a tourist resort with 48 guest rooms, two restaurants, tennis courts and a small marina for boat trips to nearby islands. Visitors can walk the grounds for sea views over Nha Trang Bay, see the former royal quarters, and view colonial-era architecture set among old tamarind and frangipani trees. Some of the original villas show visible wear, and a mid-2026 visitor review notes the palace/viewpoint area reopened after a period of closure.
