UASPG

:Do not forget your Ziplock bags.

https://target.scene7.com/is/image/Target/12971768_Alt01?wid=520&hei=520&fmt=pjpeg

imverge

Better yet.... just roll in a cooler.

Seriously, we should applaud the hotel for their goodwill gesture in providing buffet breakfast to PLT & GOLD loyalty members which is more than is required being a resort property. Instead, we have people who are acting ungrateful by packing picnics.

Vince Chan

At least I never had that issue before.

olouie

SO TRUE! Its not like the food is that expensive either. Ate a big breakfast so most days didn't even eat lunch or happy hour. But when I did I found I could just eat an appetizer from RedRum and be fine. The fried baby octopus is pretty good if you like seafood. Fresh ones (cooked) for dinner are even better for only 50,000 VND each.

azepine00

So how expensive is food at the hotel? Can anyone scan and post a menu?
Ime hotel restautant food in asia varies a lot depending on what you order - some dishes are excellent some are odd depending on chef's knowledge and interpretation and typical local preferences... local cuisine is usually good though...

C17PSGR

I always wonder why lounges have these policies about taking food or drinks outside the lounge ... after all, is it really a big deal if I take some chicken fingers and a diet coke back to my room.

Then I hear about the cooler and stacking up for lunch ...

imverge

Here are some photos of room service menu....

imverge

I personally don’t have an issue taking food from the lounge to enjoy in the privacy of your room. In fact some lounge attendants have even promoted this. For example in Berlin and Taipei.

Here - The hotel has graciously extended MR members with breakfast - a benefit not required from resort properties but they go beyond that in offering a full buffet breakfast not a continental breakfast, and they go even further by extending it not only to platinum members but gold members too!

Instead of being grateful you have someone filling up a tupperware container with items from the buffet and concealing it in a bag - to enjoy a picnic lunch to hold them over to happy hour with free canapés and wine and boasting about it - is just sneaky, tacky and shameful.

ankomonkey

How does the pricing work? Are they thousand dong?

Diplomatico

Has to be. So the pho would be 180,000 VND or about $8 US. Expensive for a bowl of pho, relatively speaking; a bowl of pho in a Mom and Pop restaurant in another location would be around 50,000 VND.

karstenth

But are you staying at a mom and pop hotel? I spent 5 days here and our F&B spending was cheap compared to other luxury resort I have been to.

Diplomatico

And that is precisely why I used the phrase "relatively speaking".

imverge

Yes it is.

Baby61212

Whoa, guys. Didn't expect to be eviscerated for my last post. You all must eat a lot. Mini-charcuterie to me is 4 slices of salami and a piece of bread. No, I don't condone trucking in a cooler and gallon Tupperware to abscond with a pound of food. Sheesh. I just want something to nibble on especially if I'm out and about instead of trekking to one of the restaurants to sit around for 30 odd minutes (there being only 2, it's like Groundhog Day multiple times a day). There is not really an option to order a snack like this, unless you want a pastry from French & Co., and I don't eat sweets. The purpose of the Tupperware (perhaps I should mention again here it's the small, snack size one as people invariably are imagining a normal sized container) is to be able to toss this in the fridge to keep it cold for a few hours if needed, or put it in my bag if I'm on a bike ride. I mentioned my giant purse not because I am filling it with bananas, but because i genuinely couldn't tell if the staff noticed or cared because it wasn't visible. But, to each his own. It is rather more hilarious to imagine myself stuffing salamis down my pants and apples-no, coconuts!- in my bra, so if that's what my legacy on flyertalk will be, so be it. Pretty awesome the more I think about it.
For anyone who hasn't passed out from the tacky shamefullness of the above, here is some information I'd have found useful prior to my visit:

You can negotiate full-day taxi fare, where the driver will take you around for up to 8 hours. The driver will wait for you at various stops. Our driver initially quoted us 700k for the whole day, but later charged $1 mil and we didn't really argue since we thought it must have been a misunderstanding. We tipped 200k on top of that and later learned from the hotel staff that $1mil total would have been plenty (so I'm still unsure if we overpaid at $1mil, but $1,200,000 was definitely too much according to the staff).

The hotel recommended Phu Quoc Countryside which was a pepper farm some ways north, and we absolutely loved it. We also visited the prison, a bee farm and and local market, and Sao beach.

The resort's bike tours are delightful and informative, with brand new Giant bikes and excellent suspension. We did the one to the pagoda, which is just the right amount of exercise to earn you a big seafood dinner in the evening.

I am still unclear about tipping. We did because we're accustomed to it, but I have heard people say it is not customary to tip at all in Vietnam. This might be true as we kept leaving cash on the counter for the maids, but they never took it. However every time a room service person came they always seemed to really appreciate a tip.

Airport is about 20 minutes via taxi, and cost around 270k one way.

The night market is also about 20 minutes away, so if you miss the free hotel shuttle (which was fully booked most of the week I was there), taxi isn't that bad especially if you make friends with other guests at the resort and share. Or better yet, negotiate a flat rate and visit a few other places before the night market.

Overall quality of the food at the resort is, unfortunately, not as good as the restaurants elsewhere. You will really miss out if you eat only at the resort. I'd really recommend getting out to other restaurants, exploring the island and eating the local seafood. I did not have any stomach problems eating at various restaurants on the island. That said, the food at the resort isn't bad. It just isn't memorable.
Here are some pics of the resort and local food:
https://laxtopqc.tumblr.com/

Room service is quick and I was sometimes able to order things off the menu (such as the fresh spring rolls, which I saw on the Tempus Fugit menu but not on the room service menu). The green papaya salad and fried spring rolls were good, as are the chicken and steak dishes, but my favorite thing from room service was the book choy sauteed in garlic. It was great with rice.

Tempus Fugit - the yakitori was good and so is the banh mi, bun bo hue and fresh spring rolls. Breakfast buffet has a lot of options but I mostly stuck to the juices and congee (with aforementioned scandalous snack to go). The juices and fresh coconut were really good. Hubby really enjoyed the French toast and bread pudding which are made to order.

Dept. of Chemistry- I really didn't love most of the food here, and we tried out quite a few of their items from each of their several menus. I appreciated the efforts in the gastronomy menu but a lot of the things tasted a bit weird. Their house tequila is good, making for a good margarita.

Wine- not too impressed with the wines. Maybe bring a bottle from home if you want a really great wine during your stay. There are few good options at the airport either. Corkage at Tempus Fugit was reasonable IIRC.

French & Co.- you'll love this place if you love baked goods. The pastry chef is amazing. Unfortunately I don't really eat sweets, so only visited here for iced coffees (which were great). The bakery is the one aspect of the food here that really excels.

If you are in the Dept of Ornithology, Dept of Visual Arts or Dept of Architecture, you will be quite a bit away from the main restaurants, making it pretty inconvenient to hop down for a snack or drink. Red Rum is closer but when I was there is was very windy and unpleasant to sit outside. We ended up ordering from room service and raiding the mini bar a lot, which is fine as prices are reasonable.

Beach - as other reviewers have said, a lot of trash washes up on the beach. The team make a Herculean effort to clean it up and you mostly won't encounter the trash on the main beach, but watching from my balcony over the course of the week, I saw a good amount of it floating in the water and washing into the nooks and crannies of rocks. The pools are sparkling and there were constantly people cleaning them, though.

Design - brilliant, with so much attention to detail. This has been described in prior reviews, but I remain astounded by the beauty of the interior design and decor.

Construction- yes, there are maintenance issues, but I also saw many employees constantly working to maintain the areas. The floor of my bathroom seemed not to be level, which caused water from the shower to spill over the lip and make a big puddle, which is concerning for long-term durability of the room. Overall I don't think these issues merit skipping a visit to this resort.

Staff and employees- exceptional, and really stood out as some of the most caring and helpful team I've encountered at a hotel.

I had a lovely week here. The design, grounds and the room were beautiful, and it was a relaxing and luxurious stay made even better by the gracious and smiling employees.

azepine00

Thanks for the review and comments on food options. Any restaurants outside you tried that you can recommend?

(unless there is a solid alternative i am still tempted to bring a cooler or at the very least wear cargo pants to breakfast for salami hauling )