Hoi An Beyond the Sunbed: Beach Days, Tailor-Made Suits, and Late-Night Football with Teens

When you are planning a two-week trip through Vietnam, finishing your holiday on the central coast is an absolute must—especially if you are traveling in July, which is the peak of the summer sun. A week of total coastal relaxation – or as relaxed as it can be with teens in tow!

🗺️ Planning a family trip? This guide is part of our complete, step-by-step [2-Week Vietnam Family Itinerary]. Head over to the main guide to see our full route and travel map!

While we definitely wanted to see the famous historic town of Hoi An, this part of our itinerary had a very strict beach focus. I wanted a comfortable hotel right by the sand, an excellent pool, and easy access to local bars and restaurants where we could wander out for dinner.

An Bang Beach completely hit the mark. It is a beautiful stretch of golden sand packed with great beachside venues, yet it is just an easy 15-minute Grab ride away from the historic centre of Hoi An. Here is our honest guide to winding down your Vietnam trip with teenagers.

⚡ Quick Look: Where to Stay at An Bang Beach

An Bang has a brilliantly relaxed, independent vibe. Because the beachfront strip is changing fast, you have a great choice between small boutique hotels and larger international resorts.

Where We Stayed: Aira Boutique Hoi An Hotel – Online reviews for this hotel can be a little mixed, and to be entirely fair, it could do with a slight bit of a spruce up in places. However, I really enjoyed our time here. Our rooms were spacious and perfectly clean. While the hotel could definitely do with adding a few more loungers around the pool deck, the swim-up bar was absolutely brilliant for happy hour.

The Smart Beach Club Workaround: If you do stay at a boutique hotel with limited pool loungers, there is an easy fix. Just a 30-second walk down the sand from the Aira is a fabulous beach club called The Shore. For the price of a couple of cold drinks or lunch, they give you premium beach loungers for the entire day, access to a gorgeous infinity pool overlooking the ocean, and staff who bring you ice-cold flannels and drinks whenever you need them. It is an amazing way to level up your comfort.

The Modern 5-Star Alternative: Wyndham Royal Beachfront Resort & Spa – If you prefer a massive, brand-new international resort right on the An Bang coast rather than a smaller boutique option, the Wyndham offers incredible multi-bedroom family options, massive pools, and slick five-star facilities.
The Boutique Alternative: Chay Villas – For families who want a highly independent, quiet, and cozy villa stay just a short stroll back from the sand, look at the nearby Chay properties.

👔 The Hoi An Experience: Lanterns & Made-to-Measure Suits

When the heat of the afternoon began to break, we would jump in a cheap Grab car and head into the old town. Hoi An’s historic centre is famous for its bright yellow merchant houses and thousands of glowing silk lanterns that light up the riverfront at night. It is incredibly atmospheric and a wonderful place to just wander and explore.

Finding a Trusted Tailor

Hoi An is world-renowned for its custom tailoring. However, because there are literally hundreds of shops to choose from, it can feel completely overwhelming trying to figure out who to trust.

Luckily, the staff at the Aira Boutique Hotel recommended a fantastic local tailor to us. The experience was brilliant fun. We all went in for custom fittings, and she created bespoke, made-to-measure suits for both of my teenage sons and a beautiful custom dress for me. The turnaround was incredibly quick, the prices were fantastic, and the boys absolutely loved the sophisticated experience of having a high-quality suit designed specifically for them.

⚽ Adrenaline, Massages, and a 2 AM World Cup Match

Because this week was all about finding a balance between active teen energy and relaxation, we split our days up perfectly:

High-Speed Jet Skiing: The wide, warm waters of An Bang Beach are fantastic for water sports. The boys headed down to the waves for an afternoon of jet skiing, which provided a great hit of high-octane adrenaline right on our doorstep.

Reasonably Priced Spa Days: While the boys were on the water, I took advantage of the on-site spa at the Aira Boutique Hotel. The massages there were fantastic and incredibly reasonably priced, making it easy to slip away for a bit of premium relaxation.
The 2 AM Sports Bar Atmosphere: One of the absolute standout memories of our week happened in the middle of the night. There was a major World Cup football match playing, so the four of us headed into a local sports bar in town at two in the morning to watch it. The bar was packed with a brilliant, lively mix of traveling tourists and passionate locals all cheering together. The drinks were incredibly cheap, and the atmosphere was electric—it was an amazing, unexpected bonding memory for us and the boys.

🍽️ Seafood with a View

Feeding the family was completely effortless at An Bang Beach. There are heaps of fantastic restaurants within an easy, short walk from the hotel. We spent our evenings wandering along the coastal strip, trying out different local spots serving exceptional Vietnamese dishes and incredibly fresh seafood. Best of all, almost every restaurant we chose offered gorgeous, open-air views right out over the rolling waves of the sea. It was the ultimate, laid-back chill time to celebrate the end of an unforgettable family holiday.