The start of a dream?

The start of a dream or nightmare?

I have alluded in previous posts a boutique resort that we are in the process of building and suggested I may start a seperate thread providing progress updates.

This is that thread but I thought I would start with the backstory.

I am not from the hospitality industry (automotive actually) but for several years I have had it in my head that I wanted to build and run a boutique resort (yes Barking Mad)🥴 About six and a half years ago I started looking for potential locations within a close proximity to HCMC. The search proved fruitless as I couldn’t find anything that satisfied my criteria so I started radiating out utilising the internet.

It was during the course of this process that I stumbled across a small island off the bottom of Vietnam that I nor my wife (she is Vietnamese) had heard of and never knew existed. That was fiver years ago late 2019. Made the journey and it was love at first sight, found and secured an appropriate site, sorted😊.

Hello Covid, the world’s scapegoat for things not happening to this day.
Long story short due to COVID, bureaucracy, land disputes and a couple of false starts five years later we have commenced building.

The plan is to build ten to twelve individual villa’s all with ocean views as well as a minimart, cafe and bar.

As we love pics, a few random shots.

Buddhas blessing😊


And we’re away..


From today..

The star..

That looks an amazing place and an amazing adventure, definitely wishing you all the best for the future

Are you growing rocks and boulders there Pete?

😁

Seriously, it will take hard work, but it'll be a fantastic destination for ΩF members who are sure to get a discount.

(another 😉

Wow that's nice!!

Awesome. Looking forward to following this

Great to hear! I'm sure it won't be easy, but the most rewarding things never are.

Good luck with it, keep us posted!

There are a few of us here from the hospitality industry so if you need any practical advice on that front you know where to find me (us)

If you build it, we will come! Best of luck with this dream project.

I just have to write/say that you are living the dream!

Finding an Island, and going on with this kind of project is really impressive!
And starting a build in South East Asia is not a thing for the faint hearted…
I have followed a couple of sites in Thailand and the Philippines, and also visited a few in Indonesia….

And they are not like European or American builds…lots of manual labour combined with a special way of building!

Good luck with your Dream, and keep us updated!

👍👍👍

Good fortune to you and let us know when you are open for visitors.

Next trip I might have to come and watch your people work.

Love watching people work whilst I’m on holidays. Could do it all day 😉

Will you be changing your name to Basil Fawlty? While this is a barking mad idea, I wish you the best of luck on it, and am interested to follow its development.

Holy crap. And I thought building a house was a headache!
This will be amazing! I'm sure it will have its ups and downs but will all be worth it in the end!

I cannot even imagine dreaming something like this. What an awesome idea and project. Best of luck with the build!

Thank you all for the positive responses.
Hopefully will be able to update in the next few days with the latest developments.

@JimInOz the whole island is fundamentally one big granite boulder and littered with slightly smaller ones. We have a couple of substantial ones running across the block which I am hoping to use to my advantage by incorporating them into a villa or two.

@hansaboy A special way of doing things is a very polite way of putting it😊 Will pretty well be all manual labour as the block doesn’t lend itself to big machinery.

@STANDY Make sure you bring an esky with enough beer for two😁

@Waltesefalcon Funny you mention Fawlty Towers it passed through my mind the other day. Not going to name it Flowery twats though.

@vbrad26 Just building a number of little houses 😊

Hope to update soon.