La Résidence, Hué, Vietnam: hotel review

La Résidence, Hué, Vietnam: hotel review 2012
Overview

This former residence of the French envoy in colonial days is the place to stay in the city of Hué in central Vietnam. Hué is steeped in history, from the days of the imperial court to the Vietnam War, and La Résidence is perfectly located for getting around yet also nicely secluded. It was fully refurbished in 2011, when new wings were added. The 30m saltwater pool next to the river is fabulous and the spa is also first class (try the Monticelli mud wrap).

Location 8/10

Next to the Perfume River, on the opposite bank from the Citadel and the Imperial City (based on the Forbidden City in Beijing), within a pleasant riverbank stroll of the town.
La Résidence, in the Vietnamese city of Hué, resembles a landlocked ocean liner of the Twenties, says Nigel Richardson.

With 122 rooms and suites, La Résidence prides itself on being a boutique hotel. Rooms feature dark wood, silks, Art Deco features and Wi-Fi, and most have views across the river to the Citadel. The Resident Suite, on the top floor of the old governor's house, has a wonderful rooftop terrace with river views and isn't extortionate, at £235 per night.

Food & drink 7/10

Most tourists eat in town but if you feel like splashing out, Le Parfum restaurant – a stunning setting of black lacquer, old photos and tropical plants – offers high-quality French and Asian fusion dishes: rice rolls (about £3), duck foie gras (£12), Australian beef tenderloin (£18). Elsewhere on the ground floor, Le Gouverneur Bar sprawls rather and lacks intimacy.

International travel- Canada's spirit bear

Life through my lens: Canada's spirit bear
Mark Carwardine, the zoologist and BBC presenter, recalls an unforgettable first encounter with a spirit bear in Canada.

Located in the northern part of the continent, it extends from the Atlantic Ocean in the east to the Pacific Ocean in the west, and northward into the Arctic Ocean. Spanning over 9.9 million square kilometres, Canada is the world's second-largest country by total area, and its common border with the United States is the longest land border in the world.

I had been waiting quietly on the riverbank for several hours, listening to the gentle patter of rain. Every so often a black bear would pass by, fishing for salmon on its way upstream. But suddenly an apparition emerged, ghostlike, from the dark recesses of the forest: a rare and elusive spirit bear.

I was in Canada’s Great Bear Rainforest, the largest remaining tract of intact temperate rainforest left in the world, which stretches seamlessly from the northern end of Vancouver Island all the way to south-east Alaska.

This breathtaking wilderness is chock-full of wildlife, but the spirit bear is the jewel in its crown.

One of the animal world’s great enigmas, it is a walking contradiction – a white black bear (an extremely rare colour variant of the American black bear). It is neither a polar bear nor albino. It has normal pigmentation in its eyes, nose and skin and the whiteness comes from a recessive gene, so, to be born white, the bear must inherit the gene from both parents. Also known as the ghost bear, or Kermode bear (named after Francis Kermode, former director of the Royal British Columbia Museum), it is elusive and rarely seen – except for a few weeks every year in one tiny corner of the forest.

Found nowhere else in the world, it spends the winter fast asleep and prefers to hide in the dark, tangled recesses of the forest. But if you go to the right place, at the right time of year, your chances of a close encounter are surprisingly good.