Review Salinda Resort Phu Quoc

Review Salinda Resort Phu Quoc

We booked us a suite in luxury 5-star beach hotel Salinda Resort, no. 1 hotel on Phu Quoc, according to Tripadvisor.

Let me give you my review about this resort.

The location

The resort lies between the airport and Duong Dong town. It’s located along Long Beach, but in fact it’s on the far end of Long Beach, so not the most convenient location. Having said that, that’s not a problem. You can take a taxi if you wanna go somewhere. Or rent a scooter or a bike and drive there yourself.

View from out hotel suite.

There are renovations going on right next to the hotel and also a bit further away, but fortunately those did not bother us.

The hotel lies at the beach, but the beach is not very wide. Just an observation, not a problem.

The beach with sunbeds.

The hotel and the gardens

Both the hotel and the gardens look pretty and are well-maintained.

We have stayed in hotels that looked more special and beautiful, with gardens and grounds that were more spectacular (#spoiledtravelers), but the hotel and gardens from Salinda Resort were more than okay.

The hotel clearly has a nautical theme, am I right ?

I looooove the mosaic wall in the hotel lobby.

Nautical patterns in the floors and in the lampshade.

There are a couple of restaurants/bars on site, there’s a pool with enough sunbeds around it and a beach in front, also with sunbeds.

I can do this. Every. Day. Yes, I can! #livingthegoodlife

I’m not big on beach and sea. I prefer to cool down in the pool on a hot day. No sand everywhere and no scary creatures frolicking around my toes and legs.

Watching the sunset from the pool.

Sky turning red.

Our suite

Our suite was ridiculously huge, and I mean that in the most wonderful way. Loved it!

The living room.

A bedroom, a living room, two restrooms, a bathroom, lots of cabinets and a balcony. What more could you wish for?

Top picture: looking from the bedroom into the bathroom, and bottom picture: part of the bathroom.

The bed was big and slept well.

Isn’t the wall art amazing?! Sort of glazed ceramic mosaic pots.

It was clean and well maintained. No complaints there!

Our experiences at the hotel

• We were welcomed with an assortment of aromatic, cold teas.They looked pretty and tasted nice. Refreshing, after some hours of traveling.
  

  Refreshing aromatic cold teas.

  

• In our suite we found a box with an assortment of sweets. They tasted good and we loved the gesture.
  

  On the left the box with sweet treats, on the right I’m reading out loud to Frits what’s on the accompanying card.

• Breakfast was complimentary and it was awesome! There was SO much choice and so many yummy things!
  
  

  Asian and western food, cold and hot food, there was something for everyone!

  The first thing every guest was offered each morning was a complimentary glass of champagne.

  

  Free champagne every morning and I -only the world’s biggest bubbly-lover- did not even take a sip. Kudos for me; yay! #sadface #diabetessucks

  I looooooove champagne, but first thing in the morning….not a good idea for me. Anyhow, I could not say yes anyways due to my diabetes. Too bad. But I loved the gesture.

• There was a beautiful lady playing piano (classical music) during breakfast time. Nice!
  

  Lady in white.

• The staff was friendly and hard-working.
• We are big cappuccino drinkers and getting us our coffees during breakfast seemed to be quite hard for the staff, since that went wrong quite often. Point of attention here, hotel management?
• The hotel has a sort of customer-relations person walking around on site. Her job seems to be to establish personal connections with the guests, ‘feel the waters’, give extra attention and care, etc. A sort of a liaison between the hotel and the guests. She’s a funny, charming woman. I liked her, although I found her a bit too present and too jovial for my taste. Maybe tone it down a little bit?
• Salinda Resort does something special for their guests each day. This could be complimentary ice-cream around the pool in the afternoons, or a special cocktail during a specific time. Lots of live music and entertainment too and quite good, actually.
  

  Some of the complimentary services and programs provided by the hotel: on the left free mini-massages at the pool (sorry for the fuzzy pic) and on the right a musical evening which we quite enjoyed.

• We ate a few times around the pool and two times in one of the restaurants. The food was good!
  

  Lunch by the pool. Big portions and very yummy.

  

  Dinner in one of the restaurants of the hotel. In case you are wondering: my hair is still wet, so it’s not as fluffy as normal. I did not want to leave out that vital piece of information. Hahaha…

  

  The presentation is a bit too rustic for my taste, but the food was good.

• What we did not like were the high prices. When you stay in a 5 star resort you don’t expect to pay prices similar to the local bar or restaurant around the corner. You know that you will pay more than you would and should, and way more than, let’s say, 25 meters away from the hotel. But having said that, this is still Asia. Vietnam. Prices should not be equal to or more than they are in Singapore, New York or Paris! That’s just insane. Yes, we thought that the prices of drinks and food were really too high. If you overprice your food and drinks as a hotel, you chase people away. Instead of spending more time and money around the pool, they will go into town for lunch and or dinner. And stay there, for drinks. It’s a missed opportunity, as far as I’m concerned. I strongly advice the resort to lower their food and beverage prices.

But apart from a few points of attention, we had a lovely stay at Salinda Resort and I definitely recommend this hotel to luxury travellers visiting Phu Quoc.

Would you enjoy a fancy resort like this one? Have you stayed in Salinda Resort? How was your experience? Or did you stay somewhere else on Phu Quoc? Any recommendations?