estnet

It's sort of useless to try to predict, change in wind or a storm can change things in a few hours! it's really a matter of luck.

t1c

rbw5t

I'm here now. There are bits of trash floating around, but otherwise the beach and weather are fantastic. The pools are fine, but the beach is really great. It's too bad about the trash, because it does detract somewhat. It's not the hotel's fault of course -- as others note, they do their best to clean up. Hopefully in time the culture will change to where people don't dump trash into the sea.

dsquared37

Don't hold your breath on that idea.

Yoksel

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.

Yoksel

By the way, happy to meet with fellow FTers for a drink while I'm here. We're leaving April 2nd. PM if interested.

estnet

Thanks for the detailed review - if you like local places I sure hope you do try some of the ones off property - way better value and much more authentic!

For others I think it is important to remember that the beach situation varies tremendously - you have it good, when I was there it was quite wavy and there were tons of debris (including used syringes and palm fronds, etc) in the water as well as a form of sea urchin in the shallow water. Every day I saw people limping after encountering some in the sand - they were small and unlike the ones I am familiar with so hard to see and avoid. Bulldozers were needed each day to collect the garbage that was gathered by the hotel crew on the beach.

Other times I have heard (and you confirm) it is calm and like a glassy lake.

msfrugalista

Are there any you recommend? Are there any that are walking distance? We will be there in about two weeks.

estnet

There are 2 ways - 1 is the (?still free) shuttle that takes you to night market
or
you can walk to the main road and turn left (or right I think) I went to ones to the left - small, local places with short stools, not the cleanest (no tableclothes, or stuff like that), be prepared to point and smile a lot! So amazingly shrimp or squid were the same price - around USD $6/KILO IIRC - you choose what you want from displays of fish, etc. then they cook it to order. I don't remember the names of the ones the GM recomended but the ones I went to were not those. The food wes REALLY good and unbelievably cheap (not a lot of drink choices as I was told later that these are places people (mostly men as I saw) go to drink beer and eat).

If you go to the town (need to take a taxi - fare one or two USD it's walkable but a bit long on a pretty dangerous road) there are lots of small places and bahn mi and other stands as well as people bar b queing small quail (about $1 and delicious) and people selling produce and fruits. Went to a local pho place (had a sort of English menu) where all the choices were around $1 and 1000's of times better than the tasteless pho they served at the resort.
Mind you, esp. the town will not appeal to those who want "western" standards, but if you're adventurous and know se asia type places it is great fun.
If you go to the night market there are lots of choices and there are restaurants on the street leading up to it as well - almost everyone there can speak basic English and there are English (and ?Chinese and Russian) menus pretty much everywhere. One or two more expensive places are inside and AC but I think all the night market places are outside (or with a roof only).

Yoksel

I'd certainly do it but I think it's too much trouble with a 4 years old toddler. And cleanliness requirements go way up when you travel with a child.

I still think we might hit Ben Thanh Street Food Market during our connection in Saigon.

msfrugalista

Thanks, estnet! That’s very helpful!

We are traveling with our 3 yr old and 9 month old and have no problems being adventurous. We are in Chiangmai right now, and loving all the Thai street food, as are the kids! Phu Quoc is our only VIETNAM stop on our month long SEA trip, so glad I have some good Vietnamese options on the island. I will be sure to get out and explore the options you mentioned during our week long stay.

azepine00

Xin chao should be ok with a kid and night market nearby has yummy cold stone ice cream carts (mmmm durian ice cream)..

Yoksel

Menu and pictures look good. Is it close to where the shuttle drops off?

azepine00

not sure - we booked a taxi for the afternoon to look around (nothing particularly intetesting) and went there half hour or so before sunset...

Yoksel

We just went to Xin Chao. The ride is between 350K and 400K depending on what route the driver takes. The bill was 1 million and we didn't eat too much - clams appetizer, grilled snapper, grilled squid, a plate of chicken, a few beers, orange juice, french fries, a fruit plate and a scoop of ice cream. The quality of the food was fine. Service slow and lacks attention. The worst thing is that in the middle of our meal they had ~70 Chinese guys come in. The setting became very loud, with smoking and heavy liquor drinking. I'm certain that for 1.8 million we could have had a more enjoyable meal at the hotel.