Vietnam’s Ha Long Bay – famous for its emerald waters and thousands of jungle-covered limestone karsts – is now home to a five-star private island resort, which guests can only reach by speedboat.

Architects SRSS Singapore have designed the Vinpearl Ha Long Bay resort on the island of Dao Reu, which opened in late October. The neoclassical-inspired building contains 384 guest rooms and suites with private balconies overlooking the open sea and the dramatic geological landscape. The European-style interior decor – which includes marble floors, columns and water fountains – is the work of Vietnamese studio Halo Design.

The resort development features international and Vietnamese restaurants, indoor and outdoor swimming pools, a gymnasium, tennis courts and a spa. Guests can take part in watersports from the beach or cruise around the bay – a UNESCO World Heritage site – in a traditional Vietnamese junk.

Dang Thanh Thuy, managing director of Vinpearl Hotel Management, said: “Not only is the property our first in this major tourism area, it’s a perfect complement to our existing portfolio of five coastal resorts in the country. It’s a great addition for holidaymakers looking to book trips in what is arguably the hottest destination in Asia right now – Vietnam.”

The Vinpearl Group, which owns the hotel company, has invested huge sums in Vietnam to build hotels, shopping centres, amusement parks and Championship-standard Golf Clubs. The company says more projects will be added to its portfolio by the end of 2015.

Ha Long Bay is one of the country’s most popular tourist attractions with interest piquing in recent years due to appearances in films and TV shows ranging from James Bond to Top Gear. Over 10 million tourists visited the site in 2014.

Despite this popularity, it is only recently that developers and investors have started pouring money into the region.

A separate US $400m (£262m, €359m) theme park and leisure complex masterplanned by International Theme Park Services is currently in development .

The 140-hectare (345 acre) project, dubbed Vietnam Ocean Park, will be completed by 2017 and is expected to feature a theme park, a waterpark and a 115m (377ft) ferris wheel attraction.

Earlier this year, the Hai Au Aviation company launched a seaplane service transporting tourists to the bay from the capital Hanoi in just 30 minutes.