With the season upon us Alma Cam Ranh is gearing up to host a plethora of jolly experiences for the whole family, unveiling a giant gingerbread house and sparkling winter wonderland display to boot.

From now until Jan. 1 2024, Alma will stage festivities including Christmas and New Year’s Eve cocktail parties, dinners and buffets, as well as champagne breakfast, and wine and cheese tasting.

An array of activities for youngsters includes Christmas card-making at the Kids Club with children from Thien Tam Orphanage, decorating gingerbread houses at the resort’s Pastry Kitchen, and treasure hunts with Santa Claus around the 74-acre beachfront resort. 

“During this wonderful time of the year, Alma will be staking a claim to building Vietnam’s biggest gingerbread house constructed from 232 kilograms of gingerbread – 800 wall tiles that each weigh 155 grams and 1200 roof tiles each 90 grams – festooned in 40 kilograms of merengue,” said Alma’s managing director Herbert Laubichler-Pichler. “It took about two months to prepare the dough, and shape, bake and dry all of the bricks before the house could be assembled in two days.”

The gingerbread house and winter wonderland setting has just been unveiled at Alma Food Court, offering prime photo opportunities for guests throughout the festive season. Christmas desserts including cookies, stollen, cakes, and gingerbread will be on offer.

Guests at American Bar will be guided through a sublime selection of wines paired with artisanal cheeses on Dec. 23 and 30 between 3-5pm. 

In addition to special breakfast buffets to mark Christmas Eve, Christmas Day, New Year’s Eve and New Year’s Day at Alma Garden, a picture-perfect champagne breakfast on a floating tray will be available in the guests’ private pavilion pools and at swimming pools that cascade down to Long Beach. 

Santa will meet guests in the lobby for photos, and, along with his minions, hand out gifts and balloons around the resort on Christmas Eve and Christmas Day. At extra cost, Santa will also bring Christmas gifts to children purchased by their parents in their suite or pavilion. 

Atlantis restaurant will serve a la carte dinner, underscored by fresh, local seafood, with festive flair on Christmas Eve. 

La Casa will host exquisite five-course dinners on Christmas Eve and New Year’s Eve featuring the likes of ‘Seared Japanese scallops, cream of broccoli, sea urchin and Iranian saffron sauce’ and ‘Seared Japanese Wagyu beef with roasted tomatoes, grilled asparagus and mashed potato, sauteed enoki mushroom, and purple potato chips’. Both dinners will be accompanied by the resident pianist. 

Seafood thermidor, braised Australian beef in green peppercorn sauce, whole roasted turkey, salmon wellington, roasted duck with hoisin sauce, and deep fried crab cakes are among the many highlights of Alma Garden’s Christmas Eve buffet dinner. The restaurant’s New Year’s Eve buffet dinner will brim with options such as baked tiger prawns in garlic butter, braised Australian leg of lamb with red wine sauce, seared Norwegian salmon in lemon butter sauce and Oysters Kilpatrick. 

Alma will ring in 2024 at Alma Lounge, with a countdown party to feature live entertainment, games and special prizes. Guests are encouraged to wear “a touch of white, black and gold”. 

The lobby will be home to an arts and craft market on New Year’s Eve and New Year’s Day. A variety of children’s activities throughout the program include making Christmas gift boxes, trees, bells, and snowflakes, as well as face painting and watching Christmas movies.