My wife and I stayed for 5 nights at the end of August. I'm a Platinum Ambassador (not Royal). I'd expected a one category room upgrade, so booked an Atrium Suite expecting an upgrade to a Villa.

When we arrived they apologized that an upgrade was not possible to a Villa due to room availability, but said they would give me a 15% discount on food instead. I was disappointed. I checked on the internet and there was villa availability, so I went back to reception to ask why they said there was no availability. The receptionist spoke to a manager, who came out and explained that it was their policy never to upgrade to villas. I didn't manage to get an answer as to why they told me initially it was an availability thing.

The manager said it was okay, because I would get a 15% discount on food instead of an upgrade. I asked if I would have been upgraded to an Atrium Suite if I had booked the category of room directly below. The manager said yes. I pointed out that my room rate would have been over USD 100 per night less if I'd booked the lower category of room, and that I would need to spend USD 700 per day on food for the discount to be equivalent!

They thought about this, and then agreed to downgrade my reservation one room category (saving USD 102 per night), and then upgrade my room back to the atrium suite. So I ended-up with a rate downgrade rather than a room upgrade. Which from my perspective was an acceptable outcome. Disappointing that they don't do villa upgrades as part of the Ambassador programme.

The resort itself if a fantastic property and definitely has the wow factor. Service is a little mixed, and some things are shambles while they sort out teething issues. For example, they have lost all the fins for their windsurfing boards, and they don't have any sailing dinghys or catamarans because they are still on order.

There's no Club Lounge yet, but that is being built and they estimate it will be completed in 3 months. Construction is still underway in parts of the resort, and you can occasionally hear the noise but it's not too intrusive.

Food and drink prices are very high compared to local standards. And given the location you are a bit of a prisoner, so you will end up having to eat at the hotel most of the time. There are no shops or restaurants nearby: you need to take a 30 min taxi ride (USD 15 - 20) into Danang. Drinks are the most exorbitant: USD 5++ for coke, USD 6++ for juice or beer. The spa pricing is even more outrageous: about USD 125 per hour!