Baby61212

Loaded a bunch of pics of the local food and the resort onto a Tumblr: https://laxtopqc.tumblr.com/

Kim Dao just outside the hotel (exiting hotel road, turn left and it's on your right hand side) had very fresh squid and seafood. I didn't catch the names of the other places I ate at, but they were mostly hole in the walls, chosen based on how fresh the seafood looked that they display outside or in fish tanks. Ask the hotel staff- they are super friendly and have lots of recommendations! Other places recommended that I didn't get to try out were Mango Bay, and Zion Hut retreat, which the people at reception said had excellent food.

I'd write more but I'm getting a headache from this giant Carmen Miranda fruit headdress that I constructed from the buffet fruits. I'm afraid I included one pineapple too many. Pro tip, refrain from placing a pineapple in those cargo pants. Learned this the hard way

estnet

Ate ate at loc qoc - about a three minute walk on the left (same side as you turn left from the resort) and on the opposite side from kim dao. For 6 the bill was around 420000 dong (USD about 20) for sauted bamboo clams (1 kilo), steamed small clams (1 kilo), squid 4 medium ones steamed and cut (at our request) (300 gm which was plenty), sauted noodles with seafood, dish of peanuts. They don't have rice (I was told by staff that it is b/c it is a place people go to drink and ?rice and beer don't digest well ?)
Challenging b/c no English and no menu - but pointing works (sort of). A surprise to me was that squid and medium sized prawns were the same price per kilo. I liked the food a lot, but the people (chinese) I was with thought it was too spicy for them.
Another night we ate in the local town at Pho Sai Gon - which we were told had seafood pho - not so - only various kinds of beef. Did have a menu in English for the dishes they had and it was cheap and flavorful but the best was the small stand across the street that had barbecued small birds (?swallow) for 20 k dong/per. Really good. I wouldn't make a trip for the pho, though - not worth paying for a taxi for something you can get closer or ate breakfast (for free) at the resort - altho the broth was better at the restaurant.
Some of the hotel staff will only recommend you to places suitable for "foreigners" eg ?better hygiene and not to the local hole in the wall local places unless you make it clear that is what you want

baxxter

Stayed there last weekend. Platinum hour is no more since first of December.. Just happy hour (1 for 1 for limited set of drinks) from 3-5 (red rum beach bar) and 5-7 (department of chemistry).

Still nice place.

Some notes:

• Beach was remarkably clean after all the stories I read;
• Food in Red Rum was great (did not try Tempus Fugit);
• Breakfast was awesome;
• Felt relatively quiet, always enough space at all three pools, but also not busy during happy hour which is a bit of a shame;
• I think our upgrade (as Marriott Platinum) consisted of a room at level 4 of the building ('improved view'), rooms are good though
• University theme is really cool, place looks amazing;
• Happy hours were limited (just some basic cocktails, nothing fancy);

Overall great place to visit for a couple of days if it fits your plans.

SkiAdcock

Thanks for the reviews & also the info re: things to do & places to eat, as well as taxi info, outside the resort.

A FT friend just emailed me

JW Marriott Phu Quoc named Asia's Leading New Resort

http://vneconomictimes.com/article/b...ing-new-resort

Yinha

Hi,

I am going to stay at this hotel for New Years Eve, does anyone know if the hotel has any special event for NYE?

There are other options outside the hotel?

Thanks

spellbound2

This is great to hear. We'll be here next month and are really looking forward to it!

imverge

I just checked out today and here are my thoughts.

The beach was much cleaner than what has been reported. The bull dozer some posters are talking about cleaning garbage from the beach belongs to the construction site next door. The bull dozer doesn’t actually come on hotel beach area.

As a platinum member I received a better situated room in building #5 on the ground floor with direct access to the pool. Honestly, the regular rooms are larger than some suites I’ve stayed in and decorated much nicer too. The bathroom was WOW. You won’t be disappointed.

Breakfast was fantastic. There was fresh juices and smoothies, fresh coconuts, made to order eggs, noodle station, salads, sushi station, french toast, fruit etc... The spread was massive. I was really surprised by the quality of the baked goods such as breads and pastries. All are baked from scratch onsite and tasted better than what I’ve tried in France!

The staff are extremely friendly and yes not all can speak fluent English but you can tell they really want to please you and genuinely care. That really stood out.

I ordered room service x2 and both times my food was delivered within 30 min. The presentation was really nice and the food was fresh, hot and tasty. They even accommodated my request to substitute fried spring rolls for fresh spring rolls.

Upon departure the front desk clerk escorted me to my taxi (there were several outside the front entrance) and wished me a pleasant farewell. Taxi by the meter was 280K.

estnet

The beach situation is HIGHY dependent on the winds - the bulldozer definitely WAS on the hotel beach a number of times when I was there so I think it is only there when litter/storms are high (with lots of seaweed, palm fronds, etc.) but not when conditions are better

bobdevens

Also staying this week and the beaches look fine with usually a half dozen folks cleaning throughout the day. PQ has lots of issues with beaches in general, so I don't think this island is where I would target if I was interested in swimming in the ocean around pristine beaches. As far as a great resort destination for relaxing with incredible rooms, 3 great pools, good food, great staff and great scenery, it is one of our favorites ever. Used a 7 day package I had and one would be hard pressed to ever find a better cat 5 value. Love the rolling happy hours (3 to 9pm at the various bars) and lots of activities and classes, cooking, pastry making, thai cofee making, cocktail making, bike trps, etc, to break up the day (recommend signing up early as they seem to be booked a couple days out). Also travelled with 3rd adult (grown kid) and found the room large enough to comfortably accommodate. Requested an upper floor and amazing view just laying in bed. Highlight of a 3 plus week SE Asia trip and would definitely return.

spellbound2

Have any of you hired a boat and driver to take you to some of the more remote islands off Phu Quoc? It sounds like some of the islands nearby have better options for snorkeling and swimming so we're curious if anyone has done it while staying here. Thanks!

5DMarkIIguy

You should ask the concierge. I think the going rate is roughly 2-3 millions if the concierge can find someone to do it.

azepine00

A couple dive places mention $300-350/day for private boat.. not sure about boat size...
Most tours seem to cater to divers so snorkeling is an afterthought and prob not ideal locationwise. Id like to explore the options more as well...

tempra

Does anyone have an idea which month will the construction complete?

Srisarin

There's over US$14-Billion in infrastructure development money already committed to Phu Quoc.
The time to go is NOW
And to others who complained about the ALLEGED noise I spent a week there the end of November and the only noise I heard were from chirping birds in the morning

http://www.telegraph.co.uk/travel/destinations/asia/vietnam/articles/things-to-do-in-phu-quoc-vietnam-tips/

imverge

What construction are you referring to? The one next door with the new hotel/resort development? That's not going to be completed until at least a year from now. The concrete frame is completed so it's just a shell at this point. Besides, I can't see that being much of a problem except as an eyesore.

If you are really concerned just request a room in building #5 which is on the complete opposite end of the resort.

If you are referring to the cosmetic patch-ups of the resort itself I didn't notice anything other than painting and some minor drywall work all of which from what I could tell was done during the afternoon.