Novaworld Phan Thiet review

NovaWorld Phan Thiet is a new housing and leisure area by the Novaland group. The development is 20 km south of the centre of Phan Thiet on the South Central coast of Vietnam. Over 1000 hectares (10 square kilometres) of land have been acquired to build what is essentially a brand-new town.

If you have never heard of it before, then check out this page which gives an overview of Novaworld Phan Thiet.

This style of urban development has become a common sight in Vietnam. A developer will acquire a town-sized block of land, and then proceed to build identical housing units. It’s an unnatural way to build a city, and there are scores of such developments across the country that remain unfinished.

Novaworld Phan Thiet review

I have gone by the construction sites on previous visits to Phan Thiet, and even then it looked like an urban planning disaster in the making.

Parts of Novaland Phan Thiet were open to the public on my most recent visit in April 2023, so I stopped to have a look around.

Phase 1 – Hotels and shops

Riding south along the coast from Phan Thiet City I arrived at the entrance of Novaworld Phan Thiet (henceforth referred to as Novaworld). This area is the most complete section of what is eventually planned.

The landmark building here is the Movenpick Hotel. The hotel is inspired by Dutch colonial architecture and there is a Pirates of the Caribbean ship in the pool area.

There is a row of shophouses that are open for business, but there are hardly any people there. All of the shops that are occupied are brands that are familiar to me in Saigon. I soon discovered that most of these shops are owned by Novaland under their food and beverage division (NOVA FnB).

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