This jungle resort has a resident more stunning than its five-star luxury

It's an oddly discombobulating experience looking at a red-shanked douc langur monkey. It's as though the real world has collided with a cartoon one, and you might have wandered into a scene from a live action-animation combo film, like Who Framed Roger Rabbit.

We're in fact in Da Nang in central Vietnam in the Son Tra Mountain Nature Reserve. It's otherwise known as Monkey Mountain, given its residents: aside from an army of macaques, it's home to most of the world's red-shanked douc langur monkeys. What beauties they are, perfectly drawn and coloured in, their dark, almond-shaped eyes - set in yellowy-red faces framed by white whiskers and black, swept-back 'dos - gazing out at the world from their tree-top lairs.

Setting out on a morning tour with Anthony Barker, resident zoologist at the Intercontinental Danang Sun Peninsula Resort, spectacularly located amid the nature reserve, we're told we'll be lucky to see one. A 30 per cent chance at this time of year, the dry season, Anthony reckons.

Yet, barely five minutes later an adult male is just ahead of us, leaping through tropical almond trees planted alongside the pathways that run through the resort, connecting suites and villas to each other and the hillside complex of restaurants, lounges, pools, bars, a private beach and spa; even a cinema. In other words, these special monkeys are right here, and that tantalising flash of a red shank will be the first of many sightings during a four-night stay.

How lucky we are. Their population depleted by habitat loss and hunting, there are only about 2000 red-shanked doucs left in the wild, three-quarters of them here on Monkey Mountain. About five large families frequent the 39-hectare resort, Anthony says. Their population has grown in the six years he's been here, with considered planting of the vegetation the monkeys love to eat - like the tender leaves of the almond trees, and red button ginger that tastes like strawberry - achieving its desired result.

The entire resort - every detail of its lavish design is the work of revered hotel architect Bill Bensley, whose team created 700 original pieces of art to adorn the resort when it opened in 2012 - celebrates the douc. You'll see monkey faces staring up at you from crockery and placemats; they're emblazoned on colourful rugs in your guestroom; statues of them sit atop light fittings and roadside posts, and as sentinels outside villa blocks and restaurants.

The resident macaques are smaller and cheekier and, despite being ever-present and visible, rather outshone by their shy red-shanked roomies, which doesn't seem to be doing their self-esteem much good. "They spend their lives being bullied and being bullies," Anthony says of them, which is saddening - although it nevertheless pays to be wary of them. Guests are instructed to keep their balcony doors not just shut, but locked, in order to keep the macaques out. There is one notorious fellow, says Anthony, who is wont to get stuck into the bar fridge whisky.

Nearby the resort, the cities of Da Nang and Hoi An are waiting to be explored - which we duly do, making a long, hot and busy day of it. After a coffee tasting at a specialty roaster in downtown Da Nang, we join the tourist throngs disappearing into the Marble Mountains to explore Am Phu cave. A Viet Cong hideout during the Vietnam War, the soaring, 300-metre-long cavern is a re-creation of Buddhist hell, and suitably demon-like statues lurk in dark corners. In the afternoon we wander through the World Heritage-listed Old Town of Hoi An and attend a performance of the Teh Dar Bamboo Circus, an acrobatic tour de force inside a dome-shaped bamboo theatre.

But secretly, my favourite days are those spent at the resort. There is much to do. You can travel between the four levels - Heaven, Sky, Earth and Sea - on the Nam Tram, a funicular railway whose cable cars are in the shape of traditional fishing boats with (naturally) monkey sculptures on their bows and friendly operators to chat with on your way up and down the steep, jungled hillside.

I catch it from Heaven to Sea for some sun-lounger time on the beach and a swim in the clear, cool water. Real traditional fishing boats are specks in the distance. There is lounger-side service, a beach attendant in Breton Stripe taking your order from the Bar and Pool menu (a champagne sounds nice; and if I were up for a snack, maybe a Hokkaido scallop ceviche); those same attendants will have already furnished you with a zip-up pouch of blessedness: cold refresher towels and chilled water are inside.

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There is the Mi Sol Spa, a series of tall, arched pavilions perched over a lagoon and offering treatments such as Blissful Marma, a 90-minute massage that begins with a foot scrub and ends with a spot of "face therapy". There is yoga first thing in the morning, in an open-air pavilion facing the beach. Ceiling fans whir and a bug or two skitter across the floor. It is hot, even at 7.30am, and by the end of it we are drenched, but what a way to start the day in this steamy, sweaty Eden.

There is much food to eat, across at least six restaurants and bars. At the main eatery, Citron, the fare is authentic Vietnamese, and we gorge on dishes like prawn and pomelo salad, and lobster with wild banana blossom salad. In the bright and gorgeous Club Lounge - newly opened in 2023 - I look out over the green and blue beyond while eating rice congee with salted egg yolk sauce for breakfast.

But the piece de resistance is the Michelin-starred La Maison 1888, where we dine our way through a blizzard of 17 dishes, many of them mercifully bite-sized, all of them intricate creations, like the Krystal caviar with panna cotta and smoked eel.

Getting there: Cathay Pacific flies to Da Nang via Hong Kong. The resort, which offers a transfer service, is about a 30-minute drive from the airport.

Staying there: Double rooms at the Intercontinental Danang Sun Peninsula Resort start from about $US420 ($670) a night.

Explore more: danang.intercontinental.com

The writer was a guest of the resort