Oceanview The Arena Cam Ranh Apartment

The beach is beautiful, but the complex is still being built and feels quite isolated.

The beach is lovely, with clear, clean water, but it was upsetting to find cigarette butts, plastic and food wrappers scattered along it. Each resort seemed to clear only its own little stretch and push the rest of the rubbish aside. The beachfront location is beautiful, but after more than five weeks at Arena Cam Ranh, I found too many problems, especially for a resort claiming five stars. The property is huge and poorly maintained. There was rubbish in bushes and under bridges along the lazy river, which only ran once during our entire stay. The buildings seem to use cheap materials, and rust was visible on mirrors, handles and other metal surfaces. Emergency exits were blocked or tied shut with ropes, cables or sandbags despite signs pointing to them. The indoor playroom had a second door that I assume was for emergencies, but it stayed locked the whole time. Neither play area was in good shape. The outdoor playground was broken, rusty and unsafe, so kids couldn't use it. The indoor room was bare, with hardly any toys, and was always dirty, with leftover food and stains. It seemed recently built but was already in poor condition. Weekends brought busy lobbies, parties for company employees and loud music. During the week it felt deserted and oddly abandoned, without a steady atmosphere or sense of community. There are only two restaurants, Coral in the hotel and Korean restaurant Spoon. Both were decent, but nothing special. There are no other food choices, cafes, shops or convenience stores. Laundry is expensive at 15,000-50,000 VND per item, and there's no self-service option or alternative. For a short visit, you may enjoy parts of the stay, particularly the beach. For a longer stay or a family trip, we wouldn't recommend it.

The beach is what won me over. It's a five-minute walk, with very smooth sand, beautiful blue water and an amazing ocean view from the room. You can catch the sunrise easily. I just wish they did more about the rubbish on the beach. The building has unique architecture, and there's a decent gym, a huge pool and a long lazy river. The area has a lot of potential, but they need to make better use of the location and facilities. Service is at a bare minimum and doesn't live up to the five-star claim. Food choices are limited, so most people seemed to go to Newby seasfood restaurant.

The beach was nice, and breakfast was lovely. The coffee machine was inefficient, though, and making a cup took a while with the breakfast queue. A pleasant resort, but in my opinion it doesn't quite feel like five stars.