Victoria Phu Quoc Hotel

The beach is very close, though the shore is so dirty that swimming there isn't really possible, unfortunately a common thing in Phu Quoc. My room didn't have a direct sea view, or it was so limited that it wasn't enjoyable. It wasn't very big, but it was comfortable, and the staff were friendly. I enjoyed my stay here.

The reception staff were friendly, and the room was cleaned daily. But at the price we paid, it wasn't worth it. The closest beach was the dirtiest, most run-down "beach" I'd seen on the island, and the rooms felt dated, with peeling paint. There's no laundry. There's a kitchen, but a family lives in it, with a bed right by the dining table. I used it once and felt like I was intruding. An older man was sleeping there, and an older woman brushed past me doing household chores. The kitchen was often closed while the family ate, and when they weren't there, they'd taken most of the plates and other things. We had a smart TV, but YouTube and other services stopped working halfway through our stay. Apparently it was only a "3 month free trial". If the hotel had cost half as much, I'd have rated it more generously.

The bathroom smelled bad even after I asked the cleaning staff to use room spray, and she didn't respond. The kitchen was so dirty it wasn't usable for cooking, and the stove was badly rusted. Hygiene needs to be checked. Staff need more training in how to treat guests from other countries. The receptionist should improve her language skills and manners when responding. It was sad that she didn't even get up when we were leaving the hotel.

They advertise "free breakfast, lunch, and dinner," but then provide none of those meals. Instead, they try to placate you with a breakfast buffet voucher for a hotel down the street. They also tell you to ask Expedia or similar for compensation, then deny it because you accepted the breakfast you didn't want, even though you still got neither lunch nor dinner, the whole reason you chose them. They claim the customer didn't complain during the stay, so how did they know to offer the other hotel's buffet? This seemed to happen to everyone else I spoke with who stayed there, too. And the beach they're supposedly "1 minute" from is covered in litter, by far the worst stretch on the island. BEWARE!