Panache

Yes, those were exactly the buggers I was digging up!!

If you crush them with a stick, you'll see loads of fish come eat them up in seconds!

UASPG

Never met the enemy and it might very well be the one on that picture, but I believe I was shown the other one by 2 guys from the staff at the pool, on a mobile phone. They might have been wrong or it could be me that does not remember correctly, but beware that the problem exists and that it is not easy to avoid.

hockeyinsider

Hopefully, everyone who finds the food average to disappointing said so on Trip Advisor or Marriott's post-stay surveys to ensure the property and management knows.

milgom

I'm currently staying at the resort. Arrived yesterday at 1pm.

First the positives:
- The beach is great (and there wasn't much garbage yesterday, just a few pieces of plastic which were promptly cleaned by the staff)
- Activities are a lot of fun
- The decor is a bit disneyesque but really well done. I really enjoy walking around
- The view from the room is gorgeous
- We really enjoyed the fresh seafood at Red Rum, it was good, a bit pricey but the quality made up for it. (If you want cheaper great seafood, go to Ham Nimh and eat on one of the floating restaurants)

Negatives:
- The breakfast (which I'm currently eating) is the worst breakfast I've eaten in a luxury hotel in Asia. There's quantity but the quality of most dishes is very very low (the crepes are fine and the grilled fish is the exception). Since I'm paying about 50 euros for me and my wife (I'm not gold, I don't use marriott and SPG much mostly Hilton and IHG), I'm a bit pissed. It's not worth much more than 10 euros per person... The infusion my wife had is very very low quality, I'm still waiting for my green tea after 30 minutes, so they most likely forgot. I wonder if people here rave about the breakfast because they're not paying for it.
- The first room we stayed in had a strange chemical smell, they told us that it had been freshly painted which explains that. They used lemongrass to cover the smell but I don't think it's healthy to stay in such a room and they should let such a room air out a bit longer before putting customers in it.
- We changed to a new room, the new room is nowhere as nice as the first room, there are yellow stains on the bathroom floor and the floor (especially in the corridor), the mirror on the balcony is dirty, the black out curtain doesn't have a handle rod so it's not possible to completely close them (since the ceilings are rather high) and anyway in the bathroom there's a window with no shutter. There's no way to sleep in in the morning in that room.
- When we changed room, they told us to wait 10-15 minutes only to be told to wait again 10-15 minutes when we called back after 20 minutes.

In term of service, it's a bit hit and miss, you can feel the employees want to give good service but they lack training.

We also stayed at Salinda hotel and while the beach, swimming pool and hotel grounds are not as nice but the customer service and quality of food is much much higher.

So, on points, the JW Marriott is obviously a great deal but I would be very disappointed if I paid the full price.

azepine00

Many items are indeed so so however with some improvisation you can for example take pork belly (far on the right) put it on excellent sourdough (on par with one from europe) and ask to make benedict out of this - the end result was far far better then the generic benedict they make.. then the variety of fruits, awesome mango shake etc etc...
Overall probably not as refined as high end city hotels (supply chain is simply not the same) but definitely better than most resorts i've been to...

milgom

The sour dough bread and pastries are actually pretty ok and better than the rest of the buffet. Didn't see the pork belly. But that would have been a good idea.
There were no mango shake but the banana smoothie was quite good.

I'm not going to pay for the breakfast tomorrow though, it's just too expensive for what it is. I'll just grab some pastries at the bakery.

I'm mostly comparing to Salinda resort on the same island where I've stayed just before coming here and they had a much much better breakfast buffet (additionally to being quite a bit cheaper).

estnet

I absolutely agree that the breakfast IMO is seriously lacking, with the exception of excellent breads/pastries and fruits (but many are hidden and unless you ask you'd never know they were there) and one or two other items.
I found a few stand out items that were good, but the food in general was not. I asked for a typical Vietnamese pancake for breakfast which had to be ordered a day ahead - but was made terribly the next day and without bean sprouts - "sorry we don't have any" - and it was basically inedible. The pho was tasteless, etc.
I don't understand the raves by many about this breakfast - but in my experience other spg hotels in Vietnam and Thailand surpass it by a mile. As a plat I didn't have to pay - but I agree that if I did I would eat elsewhere!

hockeyinsider

I wonder if the real issue is that the cooks just don't have the experience, training and skills to consistently cook high-quality Western food.

milgom

Not only Western food. The pho at breakfast is the worst I've eaten in Vietnam. There's no excuse for that, I don't think finding someone with experience and skills to cook a decent pho should be that hard. I live in Asia, I'm used to Asian food and I'd say that the Asian food part of the breakfast buffet was the worst actually. The bread and pastries are decent enough (but it's much cheaper to just go to the bakery and eat there).

hockeyinsider

So it really sounds like it comes down to a lack of experience and training. I'm only guessing, but I guess the hospitality industry in Vietnam lags behind other southeast Asian countries.

Srisarin

Right, the hospitality business in Myanmar, Cambodia and Laos are so much further ahead (NOT)

hockeyinsider

No, but Singapore, Malaysia, Thailand, Indonesia and the Philippines are all more established markets with high-quality products.

Srisarin

5DMarkIIguy

The pho is so bland, I agree. The worst pho in hotel ever. Actually, there is no good pho in any hotel. None. The asian food is not that good, but the quantity and the variety made up for it. I was hitting the fruit stand hard. Where else in Asia where they serve you soursap?
I love the fresh coconut juice as well.
I think the hotel breakfast is one of the better one in Asia due to the sheer variety they are offering. Something for everyone. Name a few Asian hotels where you think they are better.

l380

Since we are on the topic of hotel pho, I highly recommend the pho at Hyatt Regency Danang. Even the club lounge serves pho in the morning and it changes every day too! If another hotel in Vietnam can do prepare pho well, this hotel just needs to step up its game...... Hopefully it will improve by March 2018!