I’ve been at the JW Phu Quoc enough now to form an opinion.

Upgrades. I’m Marriott Gold. They put us at the top floor at Seashells and I think it’s a good upgrade and consistent with the status. Free breakfast benefit is gone but they do 50% off for Gold/Plat. While it means that I’m out $400 or so, I can’t blame them. I wish though they honored the benefit for those who booked way in advance. My booking was made in September.

To somewhat fix this situation (and also ensure spending at the property), they’re offering a pre-paid deal. At the day of arrival you can buy certain amount of credit and they will add some extra. The deal is buy 5 million VND get 5.5 million credit (10% extra), buy 10 mil get 11.5 mil (15%), buy 15 mil get 18 mil (20%), buy 20 mil get 25 mil (25%).

The room. It’s probably the best room I ever stayed. Top floor gives us the ceilings I’m having trouble to even estimate the height of. I think we have at least 20 feet high in the bedroom and probably 15 feet in the bathroom. Rain shower is great and bathroom is huge and bright. Toilet is separate and cramped but it’s ok. The bedroom is a bit small but as a whole the space is good.

The grounds. I don’t know why people say it takes them a few days to figure this out. The grounds are not that huge and pretty easy to navigate after one day. The quality of the grounds is consistent with any resort of this level but I wouldn’t call anything special. The soccer stadium is cool though.

The beach. There’s a bit of dirt washed ashore in the mornings but nothing catastrophic like some folks described. They clean it quickly and the beach is fine after 8 AM. The water is amazing. I’m not a beach-goer really so maybe my experience is a bit limited but I’ve been to Hurghada and Pattaya and I think Phu Quoc weather is the best I ever experienced. It’s so warm I don’t want to come out. I don’t know the temperature but I think it’s no less than 86F. The sand is very nice. The water is clear and not terribly salty for the eyes. I’m very happy with this part.

The food. This is good and bad. Breakfast is amazing imo. You can find lots of options and variety is enough not to get bored for a week. At $35 before discounts it’s well-priced. At $17.50 after Gold discount it’s a steal. Aside from the breakfast the food situation is not good though. Prices are very high. Essentially they charge what you’d expect to pay in the US. My wife told me that it’s reasonable to be charged US prices at US chain resort but I think they’re too expensive. $30 for the local grilled fish? $35 for steak? You’ve got to be kidding. I didn’t have the time yet to venture outside of the resort but I’ll try.

Service. Everybody is trying very hard and for the most part I’m happy with the service. Room service is the one that’s lacking because they consistently miss something that we request. One time they missed the side dishes, another time they missed the topping on the ice cream we specifically requested. You have to stay in control and check after them.

Entertainment. Kid’s Club is very good and free. It’s nice to be able to drop our daughter there and she likes playing there. Adult entertainment is not as good as I read about. Mixology class is very boring and these guys don’t do a good job for cocktails in general. We passed on the pastry class after reading the reviews. Nobody showed up to play soccer at the “Champions League”. So there’s not much to do honestly.

I booked 12 days using 2 7-night Cat 1-5 certs and this is way too much for this place. In a way I fell victim of the raving reviews by several bloggers. I think one week here is fine when the value is so good but it’s a long way to get here from the US so I’m not sure if it’s really worth it. If you’re already in the area, this could be a good spot to finish off the vacation and get a few days of rest.

The reason I made the trip so long is to be able to drop off my wife and daughter here and make a side trip to Siem Reap. I just returned from there. Logistics is a bit difficult as it takes a full day to get each way. On the way back I chose to overnight in SGN instead of wasting day time. So it’s not the best base to fly around but it worked in my particular situation.

I’ll try to post more if anything new comes up in the next few days. Feel free to ask questions as well.