Adrian Zecha does not sound like a man contemplating retirement. At 92, the founder of Azerai Resorts walked the ginger forest at Azerai Ke Ga Bay in southern Vietnam, looked out over its five-kilometer stretch of beach, and laughed off the question he says he gets all the time: “I can’t sit there and do nothing,” he said. “I mean, come on, it’s crazy.” A beat later, the punchline of a credo: “I feel that my new journey is just beginning. There’s so much to do… God gives you life, you should use it.”

The visit, on September 10, 2025, comes ahead of the five-year anniversary of Ke Ga Bay’s grand opening. It also reunited Zecha—who founded Aman Resorts in 1988—with longtime partner Jonathan Breene. Together they co-founded Mahaman, the company that owns Azerai and develops other ultra-luxury residential and boutique hotel projects across Asia and beyond.

Ke Ga Bay, a 56-key all-suites-and-villas beachfront resort, reads like a manifesto for the brand. Zecha spoke about the throughline he’s chasing: the embrace of nature and local culture. “Nature brings me tranquility and peace, supporting my quest to explore new destinations,” he said. Onshore, the hotel’s local fishermen can be seen casting for breakfast at first light—one of the details General Manager Julian Moore cites as essential to the property’s sense of place: “With Azerai, we want to make sure you feel Vietnam – you feel the people.”

The brand’s second Vietnamese outpost, Azerai La Residence, Hue, sits about 900 kilometers up the coast in the former imperial capital. Anchored by a 1920s mansion that once formed part of the colonial French governor’s residence, the 122-room hotel faces the Citadel across the Perfume River. General Manager Minh Phan Trong walked Zecha through the lobby’s period lines and explained how the “vibrant city life” just outside yields to “a tranquil resort feel” in the river-facing garden courtyard. Zecha, by all accounts, agreed enthusiastically.

If Ke Ga Bay is the quiet coastal escape, La Residence is the time capsule.

Breene put it plainly: there’s no single template dictating what an Azerai should be. “There’s no set formula” for the properties, he said, adding that he has long admired Zecha’s instinct for pinpointing the particularities of luxury and place that will resonate with guests. In Hue, that includes river cruises to ancient pagodas, a revered mausoleum, and colorful temples—a slow-paced circuit that matches the city’s rhythms. In the public rooms, Art Deco flourishes and old French colonial design extend down to the furniture and floorboards. “You really feel like you’ve stepped into another time,” Breene said.

Recognition has followed. Earlier this year, Luxury Travel Advisor named Azerai Ke Ga Bay the world’s second “Most Instagrammable Hotel” overall and winner of “Most Instagrammable Hotel in Asia, the Indian Ocean and South Pacific.” In April, The Times of London included Ke Ga Bay among Southeast Asia’s best boutique hotels. Azerai La Residence, Hue was featured on Time Magazine’s “World’s 100 Greatest Places” list in 2019, and this year The Times of London counted it among Vietnam’s best 16 hotels.

When asked why he paired two such different properties in one country, Zecha was characteristically direct: “I found it nice, the difference between the two properties. I liked both. I thought: Why not do two?” The line neatly captures the Azerai stance: choose places where nature and culture lead, then design around the mood rather than forcing a signature to fit.

For a figure who has long been called a visionary in luxury hospitality, Zecha pushes credit outward. “I lead fantastic people who will continue these legacies, and I’m delighted to be working with them,” he said. The legacy, as he frames it, is not a static brand bible but a working philosophy—use your life, keep moving, keep noticing. On Vietnam’s coast and along Hue’s river, the noticing continues.