Sonata Resort & Spa

We paid $754aud for our family, for two rooms for three nights and two rooms for two nights. Amazing value, and an amazing resort. It's 30 minutes from the local town, though there is a shuttle. The stay is also three hours from Saigon, but it was worth it to relax before flying home to work.

The shuttle to Phan Thiet was a complete mess. There was no order based on arrival, staff ignored the situation, and guests rushed and pushed to get on. It felt like either the result of the crowd or a serious lack of organization and management. The sun loungers were another problem: people put towels on them early in the morning to reserve them, then didn't return until midday, leaving others unable to use them. That should be clearly prohibited. The restaurant was far below what I'd expect from a resort. The food was bland and poorly prepared, and some menu items just weren't done well. We ordered Tom Yum and got tasteless soup with shrimp that hadn't been cleaned properly. The bike service was misleading too. Bikes can only be used inside the resort, but the stairs, bridges, and stone paths make the grounds unsuitable for cycling. They'd be better off not offering it. The facilities are good and staff are generally kind and polite, but the management problems seriously hurt the experience. This is nowhere near a premium stay. It felt more like a low-category resort for guests with little regard for basic courtesy. I wouldn't return or recommend it unless you're ready to deal with poor organization and a lack of basic consideration.

The food was really poor for a 4 star hotel. With about a hundred different options on the menu, it made me wonder if they reheat dishes instead of cooking them fresh. The beach could be beautiful, but there's a lot of plastic waste washed up there. It isn't directly the hotel's fault, though they should work with the local government on beach cleanups and cut down on their own single use plastic. It's sad to see so much plastic on the shore. On the plus side, the staff were friendly, the grounds were beautiful and well maintained, and the rooms were modern.

We paid in full for nine rooms for our wedding party through the MyTour app after calling the hotel and being told they had availability. It took around 12 hours for the booking to be confirmed, then the hotel declined it. The refund did not come through right away either. Be careful booking this place through a third party, and with the MyTrip app.