The resort is a hidden gem in Ninh Binh. We stayed for 2 nights and wished we could stay here longer. It's a self sufficient resort with 2 pools indoor and outdoor, spa, gym, etc. The room was beautiful and earthy.
The breakfast was good but more options for vegetarians could be included.
Would highly recommend to stay in Emeralda Resorts if you're traveling to Ninh Binh.

Recent review of this resort hotel have been lengthy so I will attempt to keep this relatively short:
Positives: the rooms are arranged in low level clusters of 16 to resemble traditional North Vietnamese villages. Some clusters have their own swimming pool. The rooms are very spacious, fridge, air con, welcome food basket. The resort has two restaurants, we ate at the more expensive one. Our guide had eaten goat in Mai Chau the night before so I ordered this as a local speciality. Superb. The best goat I have eaten anywhere.My husband's dish was also very good.Breakfast was the usual buffet style but the room is enormous - air craft hangar size.
Negatives: I had a rest in bed at 5.00 p.m. and when I looked up at the roof rafters a rat was walking along them. When we phoned the reception desk we were told this is common when it rains - it was raining. We were offered another room but as there was no guarantee that rats would not appear in another room we declined but put the fruit basket in the fridge to avoid rat temptation.
When we tried the TV we discovered the instructions had been torn out of the hotel brochure. We had to call someone for help, as the rooms are a long way from reception this took around 20 minutes. We were advised that the hotel had changed the system but failed to provide instructions.
We arranged to leave at 7.30 a.m. as we were travelling to Haiphong for a cruise. At 7.15 a.m. two staff hammered on the door, refused to go away despite the fact that I explained my husband was in the toilet, and the situation became extremely unpleasant. I assume they wanted to check the mini bar. When we left the room we were taken to a golf cart to take us to reception. It would have been helpful if the staff spoke English and had explained this to us.
Overall: this hotel has a monopoly as there is a lack of good accommodation in the area. They are used to coach tours and the welcome from reception was cursory, the staff do not engage with their customers, rats - despite the rain - are not something I would wish to experience again and being bullied by staff to leave our room, many hours before we needed to vacate, is totally unacceptable.