Very good, with the potential to be great

After a busy 2019 and a particularly exhausting December, total seclusion was what I was after. With Phu Quoc being a popular destination for the year’s end, the Nam Nghi, located on its own on a small peninsula in the northwestern part of the island, seemed like a logical choice for some disconnection from the world.

As mentioned above, the Nam Nghi occupies a small peninsula on the northwestern section of Phu Quoc island. The property sits on its own with just about nothing to do in the immediately accessible area, save for a small restaurant just outside the main entrance. Duong Dong, the main town, is about forty minutes away via the hotel’s twice-daily complimentary shuttle, and offers more options for restaurants and exploration beyond the property walls [the Night Market is particularly active] - even if the town itself is a bit scroungy. Alas, one does not go to Phu Quoc to hit the city…

Phu Quoc International Airport [PQC] is a fifty minute to one hour car ride away. Metered taxis are readily available from the airport, and the hotel has a complimentary scheduled shuttle service that can be arranged in advance.

A short driveway ends at the hotel entrance, where a small set of stairs leads up to the open-air lobby. The lobby isn’t expansive as is fitting for a property with only 114 accommodations, but is sufficiently spacious. The reception desk, whittled out of a large block of wood, lies dead ahead with seating to the left and right of it, while the main restaurant, Ocean Reflection, is to the right of the entrance. To the left is a hallway leading past the kids’ club, gift shop and first-floor guest rooms.

We arrived past 10 PM following a delayed flight from Saigon and an eventful taxi ride over unpaved road, so we were exhausted and wanted check-in to be quick and easy. We were offered a welcome beverage while the agent worked on checking us in. The agent mentioned that my rate did not include breakfast and when I mentioned it did as I had booked a Hyatt Privé rate, I had to physically show her the reservation on my World of Hyatt app before she acknowledged it and went back to her computer. Halfway through this process, the hotel’s shuttle arrived with a family from the airport, and as they stood behind me in line, the agent asked if I could have a seat while she checked them in. Confused, I mentioned that we were in the middle of checking me in so we should just finish that first, at which point she agreed and continued with me. Okay…

Check-in took twenty minutes, which was too long. Upon having my correct rate details and benefits explained to me, keys were issued and we climbed into one of the hotel’s electric buggies for the ride to our villa.

I had booked a garden villa, and despite a one-category upgrade subject to availability as per my Hyatt Privé rate, the hotel was fully-booked so I received the same room I booked, which was totally fine.

The entry-level garden villas sit in single-story structures with two villas per structure that share a balcony between them, and are spread throughout the property in the middle of the peninsula surrounded by beautiful foliage and landscaping. Approximately sixty square meters in size, the entrance opens onto a the main square-shaped bedroom area. The bed sits in the middle of the room facing the window, with a wood screen forming the headboard that divides the room and acts as a ‘wall.’ The desk sits at the back end of the headboard, and a long chaise connecting to the closet served as the luggage storage area. Below the window at the foot of the bed was another long chaise, with two units on either end; one housed the minibar and the other glasses. A television was positioned above one of the units. The décor is dark wood-heavy and Asian minimalist which was nice, but form prioritized function: aside from the general space feeling tight, there were no bedside tables [nooks above the bed in the headboard served as table surfaces], and plug sockets were not immediately accessible, so charging your devices means leaving them on the desk behind you or on the floor by the bed.

The bathroom, unlike the bedroom, was spacious, with an open floor area with a column-like sink, stone table to its side, oval freestanding bathtub, glass-enclosed separate shower and separate toilet in a glass stall. A window with blinds overlooked the front end of the villa unit. While the bathroom had space to move around, the them of form-over-function again won out here: there is no vanity space on the sink itself, and the table by the sink quickly filled up when two people loaded it with their items in addition to all the items placed by the hotel. The shower stall, which was beautifully designed with a gravel drain and three [!] outlets in the form of handheld wand, rain shower head AND waterfall spout, did not drain efficiently enough, and this coupled with the fact that the door does not seal properly and the position of the overhead fixtures meant that the bathroom floor flooded every time the shower was used.

The shared balcony between both villas was spacious and furnished with two chairs and a lovely wood table each. Beware if sharing a balcony with a room occupied by a young family; our neighbors had young children that awoke each morning at 6, and the family would sit outside with their kids clawing and screaming at each other despite the parents’ awareness that they had neighbors. Alas, people can be oblivious.

Wi-fi is open, and coverage was generally good throughout the resort. It had a tendency to weaken and drop out entirely in certain spots, but speeds were good.

Breakfast was included in my rate, and we took it at the main restaurant, Ocean Reflection. A buffet arrangement of your usual items as breads, baked goods, meats, cheeses, greens, fruits and egg station featured, in addition to hot dishes and Vietnamese specialties as noodles and rolls. While the food was of good quality, I found that the hot dishes were predominantly meat-heavy and as such limited my options as a vegetarian and unfortunately didn’t permit for me to take advantage of some good-looking dishes.

As the hotel sits on its own away from immediate dining options, one is more or less marooned and has to eat at the hotel. I expected the hotel to charge a premium for being ‘the only game’ in the area, and while it does, the pool bar is not extortionately priced. We ordered pizzas twice and found them to be well-made if a bit greasy. We had dinner at Ocean Reflection one night, and ordered off the à la carte menu. We were able to find sufficient veggie options, and the staff offered to alter some dishes to make them veg-friendly.

The hotel offers a Mediterranean-inspired restaurant, Tree House, which we did not check out. Pricey, too. 

The hotel offers a pricey spa, outdoor infinity pool, children’s pool and a beach on the main peninsula. A unique feature was Rock Island, an adjacent small island housing a small beach and bar that belongs to the hotel and is accessible by a quick boat ride from the hotel’s pier.

The main beach was clear, and water quality was good and as such allowed for nice dips. The beach at Rock Island was much quieter, but as the name denotes, was rocky and scraggly. Space on loungers was limited, and while both beaches offer complimentary snorkel masks to check out the corals, the Rock Island coast is shallow and has some particularly sharp rocks - I spliced my foot and got a few nicks trying to navigate the rocks, corals and choppy waves, so watch out.

I believe the hotel offers a meeting room or two, as well as offers wedding arrangements on the adjacent Rock Island. We didn’t see these facilities used during our stay, but I’m sure the wedding one in particular has its takers.

I had repeatedly read reviews where guests complained of issues as language barriers, comprehension difficulties with staff and related service frustrations at the hotel, and I kept this in mind before going into this stay. As a frequent traveller to Asia, I am aware that language can always pose difficulty for travelers and that generous patience is required, but I’ve generally had the good fortune of passing through unscathed.

This being said, there were a few questionable moments I had experienced at this property, some of which include the following:

1. The aforementioned check-in issues where check-in took too long, and the strange interaction where I was asked to take a seat halfway through my check-in so another guest’s check-in could be attended to.
2. As per my rate, I was supposed to receive a welcome letter and gift, neither of which were in my room. I called and visited the reception several times about this over the course of two days before just giving up. I never received the welcome letter, and only after noticing a bottle of sparkling wine in the refrigerator on my fourth day at the hotel that wasn’t listed on the minibar price list, I brought this up with a manager roving around the front desk who checked and verified that that was my welcome gift.
3. The staff at the pier for boat transfers to Rock Island spent a lot of time playing with their phones, and sort of froze and stared when we asked them about the transfer schedule.
4. Simple requests from housekeeping and the reception were either met with moments where the staff could not fully understand what was being asked to brusque responses. I’m sure they all meant well, but a sudden burst of a response over the phone can come off a bit harsh.
5. We made a reservation for a big beachside dinner one evening that was advertised all over the hotel as starting at 5 PM and ending at 10 PM. We arrived at 5, and were told that they were setting up, the food would only start at 6 PM and we could have drinks in the meantime. We were starving at this point, and despite showing the staff photos of the flyer where it clearly stated a 5 PM start, they explained that we were wrong and didn’t see any fault in the flyer or the situation. Frustrated, we skipped out and went to dinner at Ocean Reflection instead.

I would, however, like to point out that the front office manager [whose name I didn’t catch but I believe was Vietnamese] was extremely courteous and professional, stopping by to say hello when he’d see us and ask if we needed anything. Simon, the general manager, is frequently on foot throughout the hotel popping in on guests and gets involved with everything from guest interactions to clearing dishes - that’s something you don’t often see a GM do! A very special ‘thank you’ has to go out to Lam from Ocean Reflection. Aside from being sassy and wonderful to deal with, he frequently honored special requests to make veg-friendly dishes, kept the food coming and always provided amazing service. Thank you for being awesome, Lam!

While this wasn’t a perfect stay due to some service issues and idiosyncrasies in the room design, I’d come back to the Nam Nghi for its seclusion and the beauty of the property. I hope that management can iron out some of the above issues with more training and can entice the owners to make some simple design changes; if this can be done, then this hotel can truly maximize its potential and shine brighter.