Christmas Celebrations in Asia, Including Vietnam's Largest Gingerbread House

Christmas Celebrations at Hotels Across Vietnam

Alma Builds Vietnam's Largest Gingerbread House as Part of First Christmas

Almaresort in Vietnam's Cam Ranh is staking a claim to constructing the country's largest gingerbread house as part of its jam-packed first Christmas program including vibrant outdoor Christmas markets, an artists-in-residence program, Christmas choir performances and more. Measuring 7.13m in length, 3.2m high and 3m wide, the life-size gingerbread house is made of 277kg of gingerbread comprising 950 gingerbread wall tiles and 1500 gingerbread roof tiles - and festooned with 30kg of meringue, Christmas decorations and lights. The Alma Food Court's French Bakery has been converted into the remarkable gingerbread feat, with the bakerys team baking the gingerbread since October. Throughout December, the French Bakery is serving authentic house-made Christmas treats from the house's windows such as stollen, gingerbread cookies and cakes, panettone and gluhwein. Almas executive chef Ingo Stneberg said his childhood memories in his native Germany inspired the concept, adding:"This is the first time my little son has seen such a big gingerbread house, offering so many good, home-made specials that I too enjoyed when I was a small boy". Is the gingerbread house edible? Stoneberg says it is but warns guests against taking a bite and to instead enjoy the aroma.

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Metropole Hanoi Celebrates'Joy of Giving'This Festive Season

This Christmas season the Sofitel Legend Metropole Hanoi is celebrating the "Joy of Giving," decking the halls with ornamental trees, wreaths, gift boxes, ribbons, and more. The hotel's"Joy of Giving" theme, which will be brought to life with Metropole's renowned French sophistication andjoie de vivre, also serves as a reminder that the final holidays of 2020 are more than ever an opportunity to share and give back. Marking the Christmas spirit in its 120th year, Vietnam's most storied hotel hosted its annual tree-lighting ceremony on Thursday, Nov. 26, with a stylish white-and-gold-decorated Christmas tree taking center stage at Le Balcon in the Metropole Garden. Throughout the festive season, Metropole Hanoi will host a number of special dining events, many of which include optional wine pairings. The hotel has also unveiled a holiday season spa offer that includes a 90-minute Sothys body treatment inspired by ancient Indonesian beauty rituals. The hotel's delicatessen and bakery, L'Epicerie, is offering a range of special holiday gifts, including their celebrated French Christmas log cake and much more.

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Azerai Marks Christmas on the Beach, in the Delta and in Historic Central Vietnam

Azerai Resorts celebrates Christmas at three properties this year, including their newest oceanfront resort, Azerai Ke Ga Bay, which is located 180km east of Saigon on a sweeping five-kilometer white-sand beach overlooking the East Sea. At Azerai Can Tho in the Mekong Delta, the evening of Dec. 24 begins with cocktails and canapes at the breezy Lounge Bar, with an acoustic guitar performance and a host of children's games. This will be followed by a gala dinner served poolside featuring a dance show, Christmas carols, an appearance by Santa Claus and a lucky draw. After dinner, guests will be invited to release floating lanterns for good luck at the resort's lake. And in Vietnam's former imperial capital, Azerai La Residence, Hue will mark the holidays with a special gala dinner on Dec. 24. The Christmas Choir of Bethlehem from the local Phu Cam Cathedral will sing holiday songs, and jolly old Saint Nick himself will make an appearance before dinner. The set menu will be accompanied by music from a renowned Hue piano and violin duo. The meal concludes with a delicious sweets buffet.

Azerai La Residence, Hue

Azerai Can Tho

Azerai Ke Ga Bay

The Anam Pays Tribute to Christmas Season with Merry Events

The Anam will celebrate the festive season with an array of experiences from a huge Christmas tree illumination amid a choral performance to festive movies at an outdoor cinema, cocktail parties and spa classes. Five-course dinners on Christmas Eve and New Year's Eve, kids activities including gingerbread decoration and spa packages are among the five-star resort's festivities from Dec. 23. until Jan 3. The resort's program kicks off Dec. 23 with a vernissage from 11am-4pm for a special art exhibition by talented local artists at Au Lac Ballroom. A traditional Christmas tree lighting ceremony will be staged from 6-6:30pm at the resort's open-air lobby, and cookies and mulled wine will be served as a Christmas choir performs carols. Both the resort's outdoor cinemas by the beach and indoor cinema will screen movies on Christmas Eve, Christmas Day and New Year's Eve. The Anam Spa is getting in on the festive spirit, offering a special Christmas spa menu dubbed "The Pamper Gifts" as well as conducting complimentary, hour-long "spa festive classes."

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Christmas Celebrations at Hotels in Thailand

Dancing in the Sand at Koh Samui

The festive period at Banyan Tree Samui is always a lavish and fun affair with a mouthwatering set menu for New Year's Eve at The Edge, the resort's all-day dining venue which sits perched on the hillside with a spectacular vista overlooking a secluded beach and the shimmering seas of the Gulf of Thailand. Countdown on Dec. 31 sees guests and staff descend to open-air beachfront restaurant Sands, where fireworks, cocktails, champagne and much merriment takes us into the New Year. Highlights this year will be a fire show and a live DJ as guests dance the night away on the sand.

For dining reservations or hotel bookings, go tohttps://www.banyantree.com/en/thailand/samui; or contact:reservations-samui@banyantree.com

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MeliaKoh Samui Marks Its First Season to be Merry

Melia Koh Samui is pulling out all the stops to mark its first Christmas and New Year with jolly good cheer, ushering in experiences ranging from tropical barbeques around beach bonfires and all-day tapas to lighting up a large Christmas tree, a visit by Santa Claus and plenty of Christmas activities for the kids. The beachfront resort will host a cocktail party, four-course Christmas Eve dinner, Christmas and New Years buffet brunches, a New Year's Eve gala dinner buffet and more from Dec. 19 until Jan. 3. The festive program begins with a Christmas tree lighting ceremony on Dec. 19 from 6.30-7pm amid the resort's lush tropical gardens and lagoon pool. To a backdrop of Christmas carols, the management team will host a complimentary cocktail party with free-flow canapes and wine for in-house guests. On Christmas Eve a four-course Western dinner with Canadian lobster and Australian grain-fed tenderloin crafted by executive chef Azizskandar Awang, who has won a string of coveted awards during his 20-year career, will be served at Breeza Beach Restaurant and Bar.Santa Claus is coming to town on Dec. 25, arriving at Christmas Day brunch from 12-4pm by the picture-perfect infinity pool to hand out treats to the kids. On the last day of 2020, the resort will host a gala dinner buffet under the stars.

To contact MeliaKoh Samui or to make a booking, visithttps://www.melia.com/en/hotels/thailand/koh-samui/melia-koh-samui-beach-resort/index.htm, call +6677 938 899 or emailreservation.kohsamui@melia.co