I really really want to love this place...
stay tuned to find out why I can’t.
Green Bay Resort Phu Quoc is located around 28km north of the airport and 17km north of
the main town of Dương Đông.
Taxis are easy to book, but keep in mind it's around a 30 minute drive to town.
The reception area- more of a welcome pavilion really is open air and a bit sparse, but not
quite in a purposeful way- and that more or less defined my experience in general during
my stay.
On their website, they refer to themselves as Five-Star, on all booking sites they are
Four-Star, which is the rating I’ll use to judge them, but things were a bit all over
the place as I’ll explain.
The grounds and the facilities though were all immaculate for the most part and between
the lush walk ways and the lighting, walking back to my bungalow at night felt like a scene
from Where The While Things Are… in a good way.
The resort has two really large main pools, plus another smaller pool I’ll show you
in a bit.
The two main pools both have roped off sections for little kids, which isn’t that common
in Vietnam but is a great comfort for families considering a stay.
The main beach at the resort is located directly in front and had plenty of spots to lounge
in the shade or sun.
The resort has around 70 total rooms and bungalows and between the two large pool areas there’s
plenty of room for everyone- even though tonight, I was the only guest.
Note that normally there are two restaurants, the larger of the two behind the pool you
just saw, but that one was closed for maintenance during my stay.
Green Bay brands itself as an Eco-Resort, which by the looks of it seems to be true
in the original design of the property when it opened a few years ago- though some of
their practices aren’t quite eco friendly.
This villa complex by the way it is shown online I think can be rented as one huge four
bedroom villa- or four separate villas with a shared semi-private pool, the 3rd pool I
mentioned earlier.
I know there are bikes available for guests that want them, but if you enjoy just walking
around on your holiday, this is a really nice place to do it.
The property is deceptively large with over 750m or 2500 feet of coastline and a total
area of around 12 hectares.
And one of the benefits of a resort like this where the original foliage is mostly undisturbed
is that you don’t need a hundred gardeners to maintain it.
Honestly I don’t think I ever saw any gardening staff, but everything looked great and natural.
Now we are headed to the 2nd beach and pool area- probably the one that I would prefer
as I imagined it would be less crowded during high season than the other side.
Private dinners or special events can be arranged on the pavilion which is connected to a mini
beach which would be great for families with smaller kids- behind it, the 2nd main pool.
On the other side, the smaller of the two restaurants.
This is the one that was open during my stay and the views and the setting from it were
truly top notch.
As we see this set of chairs and umbrella setup, let’s talk a bit about the service.
When you’re the only guest in a resort, you come to realize that the single set of
chairs setup at each pool and at the main beach is all for you.
In this regard, the service was great.
But on the other hand, the staff- except for in the restaurant- just weren’t that warm.
Additionally, reception wasn’t open 24/7- I was given a 24 hour hotline if I needed
anything after hours.
I do understand this given the circumstances, but they are the ones that designate themselves
5-Star, not me.
Coming from the restaurant or pool, a climb up these steps will bring us to my room during
this stay.
My room was an Ocean View Pool Pavillion.
You will see why in a moment, but in my opinion, if you’re coming to Green Bay, this is really
the only room you should be considering.
The exterior door leads directly into a huge, bright and airy bedroom.
The interior was well furnished, if I had to point out one thing, it would be I wish
the desk chair wasn’t quite as uncomfortable since there’s no other spot in the room
to get work done.
The mini bar was disappointing.
Not only is this “eco-resort” using plastic bottles, but they’re also trying to sell
you larger bottles of the same water- not to mention, only instant coffee is available.
Power points were easily accessible around the bed and the storage space was beyond adequate
for I think just about any traveller.
The bathroom was spacious but had two disappointing problems.
First, it’s great that they use bulk soap dispensers, it’s not so great that they
don’t check them.
I’d rather not think about what it might have been, but let’s just say the body wash
container was surely not full of soap.
Secondly, you cannot see it on camera- and I didn’t even notice when filming- but the
outdoor shower’s floor is covered with small berries that fall from the tree above along
with around 1000 gnats hovering near the ground.
That said, everything else about the room is great.
I can understand why they refer to these rooms as Pavillions as they really are pretty massive.
Here we have the outdoor tub which is also connected to the pool deck.
One thing I really do appreciate about these rooms though- you must go through the locked
main door in order to access the pool.
I’ve stayed in many pool villas or similar over the past year and this is only the 2nd
I’ve been in with a totally private pool- the other being Zannier Bai San Ho.
For a bit of orientation, we will go through the bedroom to access the pool deck and the
best part of this room- if not the resort in general- this pool.
I really cannot overstate how great this pool is- it’s rare to get an infinity pool that
is this close to the water, but is also completely private.
And, it has nice and safe stairs to climb in and out.
As we get a better view of the Pavillion, I will say though they could have done a better
job “hiding” the pool instead of just having the exposed concrete sides- just a
thought.
Due to the unique orientation of the resort on the island, we were treated to beautiful
sunrises and sunsets everyday.
But now, unfortunately, we must talk about the food.
It was really not good.
The Caesar Salad was quite possibly an entire head of Iceberg Lettuce, undressed with some
bits of chicken on top.
And the pizza, let’s look past the frozen premade crust.
This was supposed to be a mushroom and either Proscuitto or Parma ham pizza- clearly, that’s
regular ham.
So what happened?
The menu is way too big.
Instead of serving subpar food from 100 different options- give me a menu with 3 options that
you know you can do well.
The next morning, I’ll take you on a stroll back to the restaurant for breakfast.
The rooms you see are Hill View Pool Villas- honestly, spend the extra bucks and get the
ocean view if you’re coming.
The
food program really is a shame because the restaurant is beautiful and the views are
absolutely stunning.
I’d have to say it’s one of the best settings on the entire island for breakfast.
Breakfast was a small a la carte menu served along a bread basket, fruit and yogurt.
The quantity was more than enough, the quality- ok at best.
Thankfully, the coffee was really good.
Not too much more to explore besides this seemingly unfinished pier- but it gives a
great overview of the resort.
I will also mention that there was a small fitness center and spa that I didn’t include
in the video.
And finally, I’m going to give you a fast view of driving from my villa to the reception
just to give you an idea of the scale of the resort.
As we are driving along we are also coming to the end of this video.
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