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Get Lost in Da Lat Crazy House, Vietnam
Published by Dayle Parker, Writer
Country: Vietnam 
The Experience
The Da Lat Crazy House is unlike any “house” you’ve ever visited. A mix of Alice in Wonderland and Gaudi, the eccentric Da Lat Crazy House (officially named Hang Nga Guesthouse) is part hotel, part playground, and all imagination. It’s easy to get lost in Da Lat Crazy House’s labyrinth of winding staircases, twisted turrets, and artificial trees—not to mention how you forget entirely that you’re actually in Vietnam.
A tribute to nature, Da Lat Crazy House blurs the line between natural and man-made, making up a maze of giant concrete trees with footbridges curling through sculpted branches. Add to this: oversized concrete toadstools, rope spider webs, and giant stone giraffes—along with real blooming flowers, leafy vines, and fishponds—and suddenly you’ve been transported to a fantasy land. Vietnamese architect Hang Nga first began building her Crazy House as a personal art project, but its unique design has made it a tourist attraction since it opened in 1990.
Those with a love of the unusual can explore Da Lat Crazy House for a fee, or stay overnight in one of the individually designed guesthouse rooms—which are, unsurprisingly, unlike anything you’d find at the Holiday Inn. Each unevenly-shaped room is carefully decorated and named for its theme. In the Kangaroo Room, you’ll find yourself sleeping next to an oversized kangaroo statue with glowing red lights for eyes and a fireplace under its pouch. In the two-storey Pheasant Room, a colourful pheasant sculpture adorns the twisted staircase to the upper level, while natural light shines in through a large spiderweb-shaped skylight in the ceiling. Along with oddly-shaped beds that are built unique to each room, and lamps made from hollow gourds, guests can truly feel as though they’re sleeping inside a fairytale treehouse.
In Vietnam, a country not necessarily known for its avant-garde architecture, Madame Hang Nga’s architectural designs have been met with criticism, at times even being called “anti-socialist” by Vietnamese critics. But Hang Nga is no stranger to politics. The daughter of Vietnam’s second president, Truong Chinh, she earned her PhD in architecture in Russia; and after designing projects for the state for years, decided to follow through with her dream of creating a villa inspired by nature. And within the walls of her concrete menagerie, there’s a good chance that you may come across the Da Lat Crazy House’s mastermind as she greets visitors at the reception desk.
But the Da Lat Crazy House is not entirely out of place in its setting. The mountain town of Da Lat already boasts a healthy dose of kitsch. A longtime popular holiday destination for Vietnamese honeymooners and holidaymakers, Da Lat is a town where hotel facades are adorned with fake icicles to look like cartoon Swiss ski chalets. It’s a town where the “Valley of Love”—a theme park dedicated to romantic clichés like swan paddleboats and horse-and-buggy rides—is a main attraction. For centuries, Da Lat has been a popular getaway from the tropical heat of Ho Chi Minh City thanks to its temperate alpine climate and scenic mountain views. Also a haven for artists, the “City of Flowers” is so full of dimly-lit French restaurants that at times it can feel more like a village in the Alps than a town in the highlands of Vietnam.
A tribute to nature, Da Lat Crazy House blurs the line between natural and man-made, making up a maze of giant concrete trees with footbridges curling through sculpted branches. Add to this: oversized concrete toadstools, rope spider webs, and giant stone giraffes—along with real blooming flowers, leafy vines, and fishponds—and suddenly you’ve been transported to a fantasy land. Vietnamese architect Hang Nga first began building her Crazy House as a personal art project, but its unique design has made it a tourist attraction since it opened in 1990.
Those with a love of the unusual can explore Da Lat Crazy House for a fee, or stay overnight in one of the individually designed guesthouse rooms—which are, unsurprisingly, unlike anything you’d find at the Holiday Inn. Each unevenly-shaped room is carefully decorated and named for its theme. In the Kangaroo Room, you’ll find yourself sleeping next to an oversized kangaroo statue with glowing red lights for eyes and a fireplace under its pouch. In the two-storey Pheasant Room, a colourful pheasant sculpture adorns the twisted staircase to the upper level, while natural light shines in through a large spiderweb-shaped skylight in the ceiling. Along with oddly-shaped beds that are built unique to each room, and lamps made from hollow gourds, guests can truly feel as though they’re sleeping inside a fairytale treehouse.
In Vietnam, a country not necessarily known for its avant-garde architecture, Madame Hang Nga’s architectural designs have been met with criticism, at times even being called “anti-socialist” by Vietnamese critics. But Hang Nga is no stranger to politics. The daughter of Vietnam’s second president, Truong Chinh, she earned her PhD in architecture in Russia; and after designing projects for the state for years, decided to follow through with her dream of creating a villa inspired by nature. And within the walls of her concrete menagerie, there’s a good chance that you may come across the Da Lat Crazy House’s mastermind as she greets visitors at the reception desk.
But the Da Lat Crazy House is not entirely out of place in its setting. The mountain town of Da Lat already boasts a healthy dose of kitsch. A longtime popular holiday destination for Vietnamese honeymooners and holidaymakers, Da Lat is a town where hotel facades are adorned with fake icicles to look like cartoon Swiss ski chalets. It’s a town where the “Valley of Love”—a theme park dedicated to romantic clichés like swan paddleboats and horse-and-buggy rides—is a main attraction. For centuries, Da Lat has been a popular getaway from the tropical heat of Ho Chi Minh City thanks to its temperate alpine climate and scenic mountain views. Also a haven for artists, the “City of Flowers” is so full of dimly-lit French restaurants that at times it can feel more like a village in the Alps than a town in the highlands of Vietnam.
When to Go to Da Lat Crazy House
The best time of year to visit Da Lat Crazy House is between December and March. You can avoid the rainy season (April to November), and enjoy Da Lat’s many outdoor sights. An even better idea is to visit during the annual Da Lat Flower Festival, which usually falls in late December or early January.
But thanks to Da Lat’s cooler mountain climate, any time of year is a good time to visit to escape the sticky tropical heat in the southern region of Vietnam.
But thanks to Da Lat’s cooler mountain climate, any time of year is a good time to visit to escape the sticky tropical heat in the southern region of Vietnam.
Odds n' Ends
Da Lat is approximately a six-hour bus ride (about 300km) from Ho Chi Minh City. There are also flights to Da Lat from Ho Chi Minh City and Hanoi.
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- Lonely Planet Vietnam
- Experience the best of Vietnam with Lonely Planet. Our 10th edition is so full of practical information that you'll be watching the sunset from a junk on Halong Bay, sucking back bia hoi street-side in Hanoi, or bargaining like a local in Ho Chi Minh City in no time.
Elsewhere on the Web
- De Lat
- Encyclopedia entry and further links.
- Hang Nga guesthouse
- Encyclopedia entry plus futher links.
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