Auko Eco-Wellness Lodges Review: Vietnam’s All-Inclusive Wellness Retreat in Phong Nha

Can a tent be a luxury hotel? At Auko Eco-Wellness Lodges, the new all-inclusive wellness retreat in Phong Nha, Vietnam, I slept under canvas in a proper bed, soaked in a stone bathtub, covered myself in clay in a hot room built into the rocks, and did more yoga in two days than I usually do in a month.

This Auko review covers my two nights there in November 2026, three months after it opened: the tented lodges, the daily wellness journey, the yoga, the food, the day trip to Paradise Cave, what it costs and who it suits. It also tells you what the photos don’t show. Auko is not hidden in the jungle: it sits beside a village, in an area more built-up than I expected, and it has no swimming pool. I still rate it 5 out of 5, because at about €200 a night for two in low season, with every meal, a daily 90-minute wellness journey and four yoga classes a day included, it is the best-value wellness stay I have reviewed in Vietnam.

Auko is for travelers who want to live outdoors: yoga in an open-air studio, a clay-and-cold-plunge ritual among the rocks, a tent for a bedroom, and Paradise Cave, the most stunning cave I have ever walked through, as the day out. It is not for anyone who needs a swimming pool, a polished five-star machine or a lodge lost in the wilderness.

Auko was the second stop of my luxury wellness and adventure trip through Vietnam. I started on the Bhaya Soul wellness cruise in Ha Long Bay, flew to Dong Hoi for Auko and the caves, took the new heritage train south to Hue for three nights at Azerai La Residence, and finished at Namia River Retreat in Hoi An. The whole route, with the train schedule and how to book it, is in my alternative to the classic Vietnam itinerary. If you want beach time at the end, I have also reviewed the Four Seasons Nam Hai and Six Senses Con Dao.

In this Auko review: the verdict · getting there · the lodges · the wellness journey · yoga · food · activities · Paradise Cave · things to do nearby · what it costs · who it is for · FAQ

Auko Review: My Verdict in Brief

How I Know This

Auko Eco-Wellness Lodges at a Glance

Where Is Auko, and How Do You Get There?

Auko is in Phong Nha, in central Vietnam, about an hour by car from Dong Hoi Airport. Dong Hoi is an easy 50-minute flight from Hanoi, which makes Auko a natural second stop after a Ha Long Bay cruise; there are flights from Ho Chi Minh City too. This part of Vietnam is not yet on the tourist trail: I was one of the only foreigners on the whole plane. If you are flying into Vietnam from abroad, read my VietJet review before you book a connection.

Over my seven trips to Vietnam I have stayed in some of the best hotels in the country, including the Four Seasons Nam Hai in Hoi An and Six Senses Con Dao, which gives me plenty to compare this one with.

From the airport it is a one-hour drive. Auko arranged my airport pickup, and the driver was waiting for me as I came out of arrivals, so it could not have been easier. The road runs through villages, rice fields and plantations, and everything is a deep, almost unreal green. The closer we got to Auko, the prettier it became: rolling, tree-covered hills that reminded me a little of Tuscany, with a tropical touch.

Auko does not provide water in the car, so bring your own bottle for the ride from the airport.

Flying into Dong Hoi is the quickest way in, but not the only one. Auko’s team can also arrange private transfers from Dong Hoi railway station (about one hour), from Hue Airport (about three hours) or from Da Nang (about five hours by car).

And Auko pairs beautifully with the train. Tho Loc, the station where you catch the heritage train to Hue, was only about 20 minutes from the lodge for me (Auko quotes 30 minutes), so I left that way, with Auko’s car dropping me at the platform. I wrote up the whole route, heritage train included, in my alternative to the classic Vietnam itinerary.

Phong Nha–Ke Bang: Asia’s Oldest Karst, on Auko’s Doorstep

The last part of the drive skirts Phong Nha–Ke Bang National Park, the reason anyone comes to this corner of Vietnam. UNESCO listed it as a World Heritage Site in 2003 and extended the listing in 2015. According to UNESCO, its limestone has been forming for around 400 million years, making it the oldest major karst area in Asia. The park protects a slice of the Annamite Range, which runs on into Laos, and the limestone plateau is covered in thick tropical jungle.

Under that jungle is one of the great cave systems of the world. In 2009, British Caving Association explorers mapped Son Doong, the largest cave on the planet, almost two decades after a local man, Ho Khanh, first stumbled on its entrance. Most of the park’s caves are still wild and far from any road, and hiking is only allowed with a licensed guide.

Until now, Phong Nha has been a place of homestays, farmstays and a few small villas, which is one reason luxury travelers have skipped it. Auko changes that: it is the most luxurious place I found to stay in Phong Nha, and the only one built around an all-inclusive wellness program.

Arriving at Auko: Tents on Stilts Under the Karsts

Auko sits in Phong Nha, beside the Son River, in a bowl of tall, majestic karsts draped in jungle. I arrived at noon and my lodge was already ready, so check-in took minutes. Auko opened in July 2026, about three months before my stay, and every member of the team is new and still learning. The service is not as polished as you would find at an established five-star, but it is already very polished, and warm with it. The two hosts were fantastic: they checked in with me throughout the day and helped me set my program for the next one, so I never had to think about logistics.

It is more central than I expected. I had pictured a lodge lost in the wilderness, but Auko is close to the village of Phong Nha, and a small road runs between the lodge and the river. Once you are up on the walkways looking at the cliffs, you forget about it.

Auko offers three ways to stay. Most guests, me included, come on The Open Way, the all-inclusive stay with no fixed dates and no fixed program, where you move between rest and adventure as the day takes you. From the fourth quarter of 2026, two guided programs with fixed monthly start dates are being added. The Wild Way is a three-night adventure program of trekking, rock climbing, river journeys and cave exploration. The Still Way is a four-night program of rest and reflection led by wellness practitioners. Auko also hosts retreats and company trips: yoga teachers and wellness practitioners can bring their own group, ideally of about 20, and use the studio, a cinema space and a workshop room, and the whole lodge can be bought out for up to 50 people.

The Tented Lodges: Simple Tents, a Splurge of a Bathroom

All 30 lodges are tents, set in small clusters around the meadow at the foot of the cliffs. Most are raised on stilts and linked by a bamboo aerial walkway; a few sit at ground level. I stayed in a Canopy Lodge, on stilts. The tent itself is simple but comfortable, and I did not see a single insect inside. The bathroom is the splurge, with a large stone bathtub. The mountain views from the lodge are stunning.

Which lodge should you book at Auko? There are four types. The Canopy Lodge is the one to choose for the mountain views and the walkway; the two-bedroom lodges are for friends or families with older children.

Every lodge is air-conditioned and can take one extra bed for a surcharge. Each has its own small outdoor seating area, 300-thread-count linen, a minibar of healthy snacks and drinks refilled every day, a tea and coffee station, a safe, a hairdryer, a meditation cushion and free Wi-Fi with no password to type in. There is a flashlight and an umbrella for walking back in the dark or the rain. The interiors use bamboo and timber reclaimed from old boats, and the decorative details borrow from the hand-woven brocade textiles of the Co Tu people, one of the indigenous communities of central Vietnam.

Watch out for the edges of the bed frame: they stick out, and I stubbed my feet on them more than once. Painful!

The tents are quite close to one another, though. That could be an issue if you have noisy neighbors, or if you plan to be the noisy ones. Auko is a place to live in sync with the sun: early to bed, early to rise. After a quiet dinner, I was in bed early and slept really well; the bed is super comfortable. I woke up to the sound of rain and birds, and it was so nice to hear nothing but nature.

This is glamping for people who do not want to give anything up: you fall asleep under canvas and wake up to a proper bathroom, a kettle and a view of the karsts.

Sustainable by Design: Why Auko Has Already Won Two Awards

Auko is Vietnam’s first eco-wellness lodge with EDGE Advanced certification, a green-building standard. The certification puts its savings at 65% on energy, 47% on water and 56% on the energy embodied in its building materials, compared with a conventional building. In October 2026, three months after opening, it won the Sustainable Design category of the HICAP 2026 Sustainable Hotel Awards and a Gold Award for Sustainable Hospitality Space at the VMARK F&B Excellence Award 2026.

You can see why when you walk around. Nothing has been flattened to make room for the lodges: the tents stand on stilts among the existing trees and rocks, and the bamboo walkways are raised above the historic flood level, because this valley floods in the rainy season and the lodge was designed to live with the water, not fight it. The buildings are bamboo and reclaimed boat timber, naturally ventilated and partly solar-powered. Rainwater is harvested, greywater is reused, bathroom amenities are refillable and there is no single-use plastic. The gardens are planted with native species, and the war remnants found on the site were left in place as part of its history.

The Wellness Journey: Clay, a Hot Room in the Rocks and a Cliff-Top Plunge

Every day of your stay includes a 90-minute Wellness Journey, which draws on the healing traditions of the Cham people. You book your slot before you arrive; the hydro journey runs from 7 a.m. to 7 p.m., with the last booking at 5 p.m.

It starts with a 60-minute Nature Hydro Journey in three steps. First you cover your body in Rhassoul clay, a mineral-rich kaolin clay mixed with native botanicals and essential oils, and sit in a 40°C heated chamber at 75% humidity. It is shared and mixed-gender, for up to six guests at a time. Don’t expect the heat of a Finnish sauna: a rasul is kept gentle on purpose, so the clay stays soft on your skin instead of baking dry. The real jolt comes at the end. After a Forest Shower under an outdoor rainfall shower, you finish with a Cliff-top Cool Plunge, at 10 to 15°C, in one of six single tubs. The setting, among the rocks at the foot of the karsts, is stunning, and I came out of the hot-and-cold sequence feeling very relaxed.

Bring a black swimsuit: the clay can stain light colors. If you don’t have one, the team can give you disposable underwear.

Back at the lodge, the journey ends with a 30-minute foot ritual, and you choose between two. I went for Wild: a stimulating foot bath of wild ginger, black pepper, cinnamon leaf, lemongrass and cajeput, followed by warming pressure-point reflexology, made for after an adventure. It was divine: a really, really good massage, and precise. On my second day, after all the walking up and down at Paradise Cave, it was pure bliss. The alternative, Still, is a calming bath of pandan leaf, holy basil, turmeric leaf, chamomile and lotus, followed by a gentle foot and leg ritual with a peppermint and rosemary balm.

The rest of the wellness program follows a daily schedule handed out each morning: sound rituals with gongs, drums and singing bowls, yoga and breathwork classes in the open-air Sky Studio, and a hidden meditation cave open from 6 a.m. to 8 p.m. for self-guided practice. Full moon ceremonies and visiting practitioners add to the calendar through the seasons. You just need to book your classes the day before.

One thing is missing for a wellness resort: there is no swimming pool.

Yoga and Breathwork with Thongdong: Four Classes a Day

The yoga and breathwork classes may be what surprised me most at Auko. The teacher, Thongdong, is absolutely fantastic. It is not often that you find a teacher with so much knowledge and energy at a hotel. Her teaching is about slowing down and relaxing: she led me through gentle movements, breathwork and meditation, which is exactly what you need after a 13-kilometer day on foot in the caves and the national park. On my second day, she treated us to a singing bowl relaxation.

Thongdong is very intuitive and personalizes each class to whoever is in the room. She teaches four classes a day, so even though Auko does not call itself a yoga retreat center, you could come here for a few days and build your own yoga retreat in Vietnam: sunrise yoga, breathwork after breakfast, a themed class in the afternoon and a candlelit meditation before dinner, with the clay chamber and the cold plunge in between.

Never done yoga? Start here. Thongdong’s classes are gentle and she adapts them to whoever turns up, so beginners are as welcome as regulars.

Food at Origin Restaurant: Forest to Table, Three Meals a Day

All meals are at Origin Restaurant, and three meals a day are included, à la carte, along with fresh juices, kombucha and soft drinks. Auko calls it the Harvest Table: the menu changes with the seasons and is built around foraged herbs, river fish and produce from the surrounding villages, cooked in a wood-fired kitchen and over a charcoal grill. Breakfast is served from 6:30 to 10 a.m., lunch from 11 a.m. to 2 p.m. and dinner from 6 to 9 p.m. The team also organizes cooking classes, forest picnics, barbecues around the fire pit under the stars, and seasonal lunches with local families. Eating in your lodge, or outside meal hours, is charged at menu prices.

The à la carte menu during my stay

• For the table: rice crackers, house-made lodge herb pesto, lightly fermented village pickles
• Salads and small plates: foraged bamboo shoot salad with tofu, mint and sesame; wood-roasted pumpkin and burrata; grilled pineapple with lemongrass-steamed baby clams; wild banana blossom salad with river shrimp; wild pepper leaf and duck salad with tamarind
• Soups: roasted pumpkin, turmeric and coconut; Asian mushroom and silky tofu; field crab with Malabar spinach
• River and farm: Forest Nourish Bowl with mountain red rice; sweet potato and tofu clay pot; beer-battered river fish (grass carp); river fish in banana leaf with turmeric and lemongrass; braised duck with wild bamboo shoots, each with mountain-grown rice, sweet potato fries or steamed vegetables with kho quẹt dip
• Charcoal grill (with bamboo-grilled sticky rice in turmeric, butterfly pea or sweet potato): king oyster mushroom skewers, whole white corn, honey-glazed sweet potato, Phong Nha spiced pork with mắc khén pepper, free-range mắc khén chicken, catch of the day, and the Origin Barbecue Feast to share
• Pizza and pasta from the wood-fired oven: coastal seafood spaghetti, Margherita with Vietnamese mozzarella, wild mushroom pizza, seasonal seafood pizza
• Desserts: sago sweet soup with coconut milk, campfire banana crumble with toasted marshmallow, handcrafted gelato (vanilla, chocolate, young coconut), with a seasonal fruit plate

My favorite was the bamboo shoot salad, a traditional Vietnamese dish.

Breakfast adds a buffet to the à la carte menu: fresh pineapple, watermelon and orange juice, fruit and yogurt, cold cuts and cheese, Vietnamese dishes, and an espresso machine for proper coffee. And I grew to love pho for breakfast.

A Day at Auko: River Cruise, Yoga and an Early Night

At 4 p.m. on my first day, I joined the river cruise, which turned out to be a sunset cruise on the Son River, with beautiful views over the mountains as the light dropped.

Take a drink from your lodge minibar on the river cruise, and you have a sunset drink on the water.

The team builds you a personal schedule for each day. Mine for day two ran from a 6:30 a.m. guided village walk to a morning visit to Paradise Cave, the hydro journey and foot reflexology in the afternoon, then an hour of breathwork and slow movement before dinner. The village walk was canceled because of heavy tropical rain, which I did not mind at all: it meant I got to sleep in. The rest went to plan: the cave, the clay and the cold plunge, that blissful foot massage, a yoga class before dinner and another early night. What a full day.

What Activities Are Included at Auko? The Weekly Timetable

Here is the weekly activity calendar during my stay in November 2026. Everything on it is included in the rate. The program is the same every day, apart from the early morning outing, which alternates between a bicycle ride and a walk.

The sunrise yoga ends with singing bowls. The morning Breathwork & Relaxation is a gentle 60-minute introduction to Hatha yoga, suitable for beginners. The afternoon Breathwork & Slow Movement is a themed yoga class with a different focus each day: core and stability, digestion, legs and circulation, calm mind and better sleep, spine, or breathing. The day closes with a candlelit meditation with healing sounds.

Book your activities by 5 p.m. the day before; places are subject to availability. The river boat ride and the afternoon yoga class run at the same time, so you have to choose one.

Paradise Cave from Auko: The Most Stunning Cave I Have Ever Seen

The drive from Auko to Paradise Cave takes about 30 minutes, and it is scenic all the way: half of it runs through a steep river valley.

I have been to the famous caves of Palawan, Thailand, Ha Long Bay and Portugal, and Paradise Cave beats them all. It is probably the most stunning cave I have ever seen. It is huge: massive chamber after massive chamber, with beautiful formations everywhere you look. Don’t miss it.

Paradise Cave, Thien Duong in Vietnamese, is 31.4 kilometers long, and the national park calls it the longest dry cave in Asia. Its chambers reach up to 150 meters wide. It was only discovered in 2005, by a local man, Ho Khanh, and British Cave Research Association cavers spent the next five years exploring it. It opened to visitors in September 2010, which might explain why it is not better known. You see the first kilometer or so from a wooden boardwalk, which the Vietnam Book of Records listed in 2011 as the longest wooden bridge in a cave.

Getting in takes a little effort. From the visitor center, you can walk a 20-minute jungle path or take a buggy for 20,000 VND (less than $1). I went in by buggy and walked back. Then comes a long, winding path up to the cave mouth. There are toilets along the way and a bar at the entrance of the cave. Inside the cave I walked about 2 kilometers, but with the walk to the cave and around the national park, my whole day came to 13 kilometers, so wear proper shoes.

On the way up to the cave, look out for the stairs on your right. They also lead to the entrance, and in my opinion they are easier than the long winding path: there are about 400 steps.

Paradise Cave ticket prices and opening hours (November 2026): the entrance ticket is 250,000 VND (about $9.50) for adults, or 270,000 VND (about $10.50) with the buggy, and half price for children 1.1 to 1.3 meters tall. I was told the price changes slightly with the season. The cave opens from 7 a.m. to 4:30 p.m. in summer and from 7:30 a.m. to 4 p.m. in winter. The site advises visitors with heart conditions or high blood pressure not to go in. Tickets are not refundable and are valid only on the day you buy them. The half-price ticket for over-60s is for Vietnamese visitors only, and parking costs 5,000 VND for a motorbike or 15,000 VND for a car.

The cave is not included in Auko’s rate: I paid 900,000 VND (about $35) for Auko’s car and driver, for the whole car, and 270,000 VND for my ticket, including the buggy. On the way back, the driver offered to drive through the ancestral forest for an extra 200,000 VND (about $8), and I said yes. The views are amazing: a bit like the karsts of Palawan, but more tropical, and the drive did not feel any longer.

Say yes to the ancestral forest road on the way back from Paradise Cave. For 200,000 VND more, you get the best views of the whole trip.

If you want more than the boardwalk, the cave runs a full-day, 7-kilometer adventure tour deeper inside: trekking, crossing a stream by kayak or swimming, some climbing and crawling, lunch in the cave and a skylight where the sun pours in. It costs 2,000,000 VND (about $77) per person, including the ticket, guide, porter, lunch, water, equipment and travel insurance. It leaves at 8:30 a.m., ends at 4 p.m., and has to be booked at least a day ahead. I only found out about it at the cave, and I wish I had known before: it goes into the most secret parts of the cave and looks fantastic. Book it when you book Auko.

The all-inclusive rate does not cover cave trips. Budget around 1.2 million VND (about $45) for a Paradise Cave visit on your own with Auko’s car and the entrance ticket, less per person if you share the car.

The boardwalk is one photo stop after another. Here are more of the chambers, curtains and terraces I passed along the way.

What Else Is There to Do Around Auko? Caves, Treks and Prices

Paradise Cave is the one I did, but Phong Nha has far more, and Auko’s team can arrange all of it. The sites below need no tour: you pay the entrance fee and Auko’s car takes you there. These are the prices per guest on Auko’s own list in November 2026 (100,000 VND is about $4).

For anything wilder, Auko works with outside expedition partners, and these are paid extras. Jungle Boss runs the treks and caving trips, from a one-day Tra Ang excursion with 3 km of trekking and 600 meters of swimming (800,000 VND) and the one-day Elephant Cave and Ma Da Valley trek (1,350,000 VND), to two-day jungle camps (1,950,000 to 7,900,000 VND), three-day cave explorations at Hung Thoong or Tiger Cave (12,000,000 to 12,500,000 VND) and the five-day Kong Collapse expedition (35,000,000 VND). Ecofoot runs the wildlife trips: a night jungle safari (1,800,000 VND), a wildlife trek with a visit to the rescue center (1,490,000 VND) and a dawn primate-watching tour (1,500,000 VND). The multi-day trips are best done before or after your stay at Auko, not during it.

Son Doong: Can You Visit the World’s Largest Cave from Auko?

Paradise Cave is not even the biggest cave in the park. Son Doong, discovered by Ho Khanh and explored by British cavers in 2009, is the largest cave in the world, and visits are tightly restricted. Only one company, Oxalis Adventure, is licensed to take visitors inside. The province caps the number of visitors at around 1,000 a year, in groups of 10 supported by a team of about 30 staff.

The expedition is a six-day, five-night package, four days of it trekking through the jungle and camping in Hang En and Son Doong. It costs about 80 million VND (about $3,000) per person. It only runs from January to August, because the rains flood the passages the rest of the year, and it is open to fit adults aged 18 to 70. Plan far ahead: Oxalis says all places for 2027 and 2028 are already fully booked. If you cannot wait, the 7-kilometer tour inside Paradise Cave and Oxalis’s shorter Hang En expedition are the closest alternatives.

How to book Son Doong: you cannot visit on your own or with any other tour company. The only way in is to book the expedition directly with Oxalis Adventure on its website, oxalisadventure.com, and Oxalis takes care of the park permits for you. With 2027 and 2028 fully booked, the next available places are in 2029, so apply as soon as you know your dates. A deposit secures your place, so read the deposit and cancellation terms carefully before you pay. Oxalis also checks that you are fit enough: expect long jungle treks, river crossings and some rope sections. The price includes the ranger, guides, porters, all meals, camping and caving equipment, and the park fees, but not your flights to Dong Hoi, tips or travel insurance. The expedition sets off into the national park on Auko’s doorstep, so a night or two at Auko before or after fits in naturally.

Son Doong sells out years ahead. If it is on your list, book it first and build the rest of your Vietnam trip, and your stay at Auko, around your expedition dates.

How Many Nights Should You Stay at Auko?

Plan at least two nights, and three if you can. If you only want to see the caves and catch the panoramic train, one night is enough. But Auko invites you to slow down, and there are a lot of activities to fill your days. I stayed two nights, and it felt short. Three nights would let you do Paradise Cave on the boardwalk one day, the 7-kilometer adventure tour the next, and still keep every afternoon for the clay chamber and the river.

Is Auko Worth Visiting in the Rainy Season?

Yes. I was at Auko in November, in the middle of central Vietnam’s rainy season, and for me it totally worked out. It rained mostly through the night and in the morning. The tents have a double ceiling, so the sound of the rain is not overwhelmingly loud, as it is in some other tents I have slept in; it was more lullaby than drumroll. I also really enjoyed the morning yoga while it rained: the rain brought a special kind of energy, and the fog hanging over the karsts made the whole place look mystical.

The main outdoor activities here are caves, so even when it rains it is not much of a bother, and the lodges and walkways are raised above the flood level. The key advantage is that the sites are a lot less crowded and prices are much cheaper: the heritage train to Hue was 40 percent off, and many hotels in the region offer steep discounts.

Don’t write off November. The caves are dry inside, the karsts look their most dramatic in the mist, and the low-season discounts on trains and hotels are real.

How Much Does Auko Eco-Wellness Lodges Cost?

In November 2026, in low season, the all-inclusive rate was about €200 per night for two people sharing a lodge, or about €100 per person. For that you get the tent, three à la carte meals a day with juices, kombucha and soft drinks, the daily 90-minute Wellness Journey for each guest, the movement and sound classes, the river boating and the village outings. Transfers and cave trips are extra and arranged by the team.

I checked the booking sites on 8 November 2026 for a lodge for two on a midweek night. On Booking.com, a lodge on 24 November 2026 was $215 all-inclusive, and $223 for a night in early March 2027. On Expedia, the same nights were $200 and $211 before taxes, about $227 and $243 with them. On Trip.com, the entry-level Ground Lodge was $228 before taxes in November and a Canopy Lodge $258 in March. Rates are set in Vietnamese dong, so the dollar figures move a little with the exchange rate.

On Vio.com, the same November night was $258, and the March night was $245 including taxes, with all three meals.

Check Auko Eco-Wellness Lodges rates on Booking.com

Check Auko Eco-Wellness Lodges rates on Trip.com

Check Auko Eco-Wellness Lodges rates on Expedia

Compare Auko Eco-Wellness Lodges rates on Vio.com

Rates for the same lodge on the same night can differ by 10 to 20 percent between booking sites, and the gap moves with the season and with how far ahead you book. Check two or three of the sites above before you commit, and compare the cancellation terms, not only the price. Book the Wellness Journey time slots and any cave trips with Auko’s team by email as soon as your booking is confirmed; the 7-kilometer Paradise Cave tour needs at least a day’s notice, and the daily activities must be booked by 5 p.m. the day before.

Who Auko Is For, and Who It Isn’t

Auko is for people who want to slow down in a beautiful landscape, with a daily yoga class, a clay-and-cold-plunge ritual among the rocks and a day that starts and ends with the sun. It is for people who want to explore the region and its stunning caves in comfort, with a car, a driver and a hot foot bath waiting at the end. And it is for people who want to be close to nature and sleep in a tent, without giving up a comfortable bed and a stone bathtub. It suits couples and solo travelers, and anyone who has done a Ha Long Bay cruise and wants the opposite of a crowd. It is also one of the best-value all-inclusive stays I have reviewed.

Who it isn’t for: families with young children, because children under 12 are not allowed; the height of the tents is not suitable for them. Smokers: all the lodges are smoke-free, and as they are built of wood, smoking would be a fire hazard. And anyone who needs a pool, because there is no pool and no sunbathing area, which I found surprising for a hotel of this standard.

Two more things to know before you book. Before I arrived, I imagined the lodge deep in the jungle, away from everything, wilderness. It is in a more built-up area than I expected, very near a village: you can hear the music and noise of the village in the evening, though it does not go on very late. And the tents are close together, so noisy neighbors will be your neighbors. Add a brand-new team that is still learning, bed frames with sharp edges, and caves that cost extra, and you have the full list of caveats. None of them changed my rating.

Auko Review FAQ: Your Questions About Auko Eco-Wellness Lodges

Is Auko Eco-Wellness Lodges worth it?

Yes. I stayed two nights in November 2026 and rate it 5 out of 5. For about €100 per person a night in low season you get a tented lodge, full board, a daily 90-minute wellness journey, four yoga and breathwork classes a day and a river cruise. The caveats: no pool, tents close together and a new team.

Is Auko secluded, in the middle of the jungle?

No, and this is the thing to know before you book. Auko sits at the foot of the karsts across the Son River from Phong Nha town’s boat station, next to a village and a small road. You can hear village music in the early evening. The cliffs, the meadow and the walkways still make it feel like a retreat, but it is not a remote jungle lodge.

What do other guests say about Auko?

Early guest reviews on Tripadvisor are almost all five-star, praising the setting, the staff and the wellness journey. The main complaint I have seen matches my own caveat: Auko is beside the village, not hidden in the forest.

Where is Auko Eco-Wellness Lodges?

In Phong Nha, central Vietnam, beside the Son River at the edge of Phong Nha–Ke Bang National Park, about an hour by car from Dong Hoi Airport and about 20 minutes from Tho Loc station.

What is included in the all-inclusive rate at Auko?

The tented lodge, three à la carte meals a day with fresh juices, kombucha and soft drinks, one 90-minute Wellness Journey per guest per day, the daily yoga, breathwork and sound classes, the Son River boat ride and the village outings. Transfers, cave visits, alcohol and extra treatments are not included.

How much does Auko Eco-Wellness Lodges cost?

About €200 per night for two people sharing a lodge, all-inclusive, in low season (November 2026), or about €100 per person. Rates vary by season and booking site.

What types of lodges does Auko have?

Four: 21 Canopy Lodges on stilts with mountain views and 6 Ground Lodges, each with one bedroom for two guests (30 sqm plus a 15 sqm terrace), and 2 River Lodges and 1 Earth Lodge with two bedrooms for four guests (50 sqm plus a 15 sqm terrace). All are air-conditioned tents with an open-air bathtub.

What is there to do near Auko besides Paradise Cave?

Phong Nha Cave by boat, Dark Cave with its mud bath and zipline, Mooc Spring, the Botanic Garden, Commander Cave and the duck farms of the Bong Lai valley, with entrance fees from 80,000 to 450,000 VND. Jungle treks, overnight cave camps and wildlife tours are run by outside partners at extra cost.

Does Auko have a swimming pool?

No. The water element is the cliff-top cold plunge at the end of the hydro journey, and the Son River.

What is the Wellness Journey at Auko?

A 90-minute ritual included every day: a 60-minute Nature Hydro Journey (Rhassoul clay in a 40°C chamber, a forest shower and a cold plunge at 10 to 15°C), then a 30-minute herbal foot bath and foot massage in your lodge, Wild or Still.

Is Auko a good place for a yoga retreat in Vietnam?

Yes. Auko is not a dedicated yoga retreat center, but there are four yoga, breathwork and meditation classes a day, all included, taught by an excellent teacher in an open-air studio. Beginners are welcome.

How do you get to Auko from Hanoi?

Fly to Dong Hoi, about 50 minutes, then take Auko’s private transfer, about an hour by car. The team can also collect you from Dong Hoi railway station, Hue Airport or Da Nang.

Is Paradise Cave included in a stay at Auko?

No. In November 2026, Auko’s car cost 900,000 VND for the whole car and the entrance ticket 270,000 VND including the buggy. The 7-kilometer adventure tour inside the cave costs 2,000,000 VND per person.

How many nights do you need at Auko?

One night covers the caves and the panoramic train, but two is the minimum to enjoy the wellness program, and three lets you add the Paradise Cave adventure tour.

Can you visit Son Doong from Auko?

Only on Oxalis Adventure’s six-day expedition, which is capped at about 1,000 visitors a year, costs about $3,000 and is fully booked through 2028. Auko works well as the night before or after.

Can children stay at Auko Eco-Wellness Lodges?

No. Children under 12 are not allowed, because the height of the tents is not suitable for them. All the lodges are also smoke-free.

What time is check-in and check-out at Auko?

Check-in is from 2 p.m. and check-out is at noon, according to the booking sites. I arrived at noon and my lodge was already ready.

Is Auko worth visiting in the rainy season?

Yes. In November it rained mostly at night and in the morning, the double-ceilinged tents keep the noise down, the caves are dry inside, the sites are far less crowded and trains and hotels in the region offer steep discounts.

Is Auko eco-friendly?

Yes. Auko is EDGE Advanced certified, with savings of 65% on energy and 47% on water, and in October 2026 it won the HICAP Sustainable Hotel Award for Sustainable Design and a VMARK Gold Award. It is built of bamboo and reclaimed boat timber on stilts above the flood level, partly solar-powered and free of single-use plastic.

Auko Review Conclusion: Is Auko Eco-Wellness Lodges Worth It?

Yes, and it is amazing value. For about €100 per person per day in low season, you get a 90-minute spa journey every day, full board with great food, all the soft drinks you want, four yoga classes a day, original accommodation in a comfortable tent under some of the oldest karst in Asia, and a great team. That is hard to beat anywhere else in the world. Add a foot massage that was pure bliss, a yoga teacher I would travel for, and the most stunning cave I have ever seen half an hour away, and two nights felt short. I wish I could have stayed longer, and I can see myself going back: for more yoga, and for the longer cave adventure.

More on luxury travel in Vietnam: the best luxury hotels in Vietnam · the best luxury hotels in Hoi An · what to do in Con Dao.

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I stayed two nights at Auko Eco-Wellness Lodges in a Canopy Lodge on 6 to 8 November 2026. Read more about how I review or visit my Work With Me page.