Best Western Premier Sonasea Phu Quoc — Hotel in Phú Quốc

Honestly I have a love hate relationship with this place. Our first night we were put in a room with the air conditioner not working and it was 29° in the room. It was stifling. We alerted the front seat and they sent an engineer over and he never fixed it after 30 minutes. Fast forward several hours later there was no solution to our problem and we were suffering from lack of moving air. At this point we already asked to speak to the manager several times and it fell on deaf ears. We asked to just be switched to another suite and many hours later it did not happen. I booked this place through the Hotels app so I reached out to them and suddenly we have everyone’s attention at the resort. We were moved into a new suite within a half hour of talking by with the hotels app people. The manager finally came around and was apologetic and offered us a late check out as a compensation. I told him that it was not enough compensation because we lost out on our plans on our first night there because the ‘engineers’ were working on our a/c. I said that a fair compensation would be one extra night compensated. The manager said he will ask the GM and so he reached out to him but he refused our request. That was disappointing. I suggested maybe the buffet dinner each night we are there as an alternative because why would they care if it’s an all you can eat anyway? It’s made in mass portions. That was denied too by the GM. I won’t say his name here but it rhymes with Nubash. Highly disappointed that they couldn’t offer that. In the end they upgraded our room and gave us a 1 hour, 1 time massage.

To be fair, outside of the GM’s unwillingness to be fairly compensated, the staff there were kind, friendly, and helpful. The upgraded room we got was in the centre with a direct view to the pools and ocean. The room itself is nicely designed and spacious but there was mold all around the bathroom sink grout and the bathroom tiles.

The housekeeping staff is very friendly and easy to communicate with for the most part. The breakfast buffet is a nice bonus as the options are plentiful - from fruits to local dishes to international and salads as well. They also have a donut wall to grab one anytime you like.

The lazy river is nice but it doesn’t flow so more like a long u shaped pool. But it’s so spacious that you don’t feel like you have a million people around you at the pool.

The beach is just steps from the pool too and is so nice and the water is warm! There are vent over trees and swings and hammocks for taking nice photos there.

Derek (Thien) was a really nice manager there that tried to help make everything good for us despite our rocky start. He was the most helpful and didn’t give a lot of lip service like another manager there whose name slips my mind. The bellboy was a bit lazy and exuded a bit of an arrogant attitude as I handed him our luggage - I had one I each hand and tried to pass them both to him but he was busy texting in another hand on his phone so that kinda sucked. Maybe he just doesn’t like his job.

The staff are all hard workers there for the most part and they put a smile on even though there were some really rude clientele there. Please always just remember that when you visit a country like this that you are the foreigner and should be more adaptable to their ways and do not talk to them like they are below you. The people and culture here is so amazing and resilient in all that they do. Despite the GM’s cheapness, I would still recommend this as a place to stay because the staff, the food, the amenities and location are all ideal. Just make sure the a/c works right...

Where shall I start with this review?We stayed at Best Western from the 7th of March until the 11th.We celebrated our anniversary a couple of years ago in Phu Quoc at Novotel which is next door (the best experience we had)We wanted to try another 5-star resort and thought Best Western might be a good pick.This was probably the worst mistake we made.If you want to pay $$$ to stay at a resort where staff are all grumpy/moody Noone smiles you found the place.80% of staff knows no English, staff at the swim up pool barely can communicate in English.You can't charge drinks/food onto your room and finalize the bill at the end. You need to give them money and use that as credit and top it up along the way. With other 5-star resorts, they either just let you charge it to the room and pay at check out or ask for a credit card as a holding deposit. Nothing was explained to us on these policies…Only when I got overtopping up money and demanded they just do a running tab so we could charge it on the credit card that's when they allow it to happen.Before we knew about this running tab issue this embarrassing/upsetting issue happened.When we got to the pool my partner asked them if they could charge our drinks to the room they all looked confused and yelled out “you pay now”, this was extremely embarrassing to begin. They couldn't even say sorry sir you need a tab we can charge it to your room. Only word they know and could say was aggressively YOU PAY NOW!Our room wasn't cleaned even with the please clean room button turned on, so we had to call down for this to happen.Amenities were never replaced, ie face towels unless requested.The buffet staff was probably the worst.Not even one smile, when I was getting food the staff just pushed me across so he can replace some items.Firstly he could ask for me to politely move or wait until I finish.Let's just say I will never be staying in any best Western chains anywhere again! When you pay to stay at a 5-star resort you expect service with a smile.With Novotel when I wrote in my booking we were celebrating our anniversary they put petals on the bed, did a handwritten note to say Happy Anniversary and a small plate of fruit.With best Western nothing at all…We came back to Phu Quoc cause of the service we received last time at Novotel the staff and service were 100% but this time wanted to try another resort. However, This hotel really let us down. If I could turn back time I would NOT be booking a place here and wasting my money and getting annoyed.I think they need to review and retrain their staff.Hiring more staff that can speak English and actually smile.A smile is free, greeting your customers with a...

Service Attitude Rating:

The front desk staff were very indifferent, even colder than a cold-faced bear. There were no smiles, no thank yous, and they behaved like robots. I almost thought this was an AI-operated hotel.

When we returned to the hotel in the evening, the taxi driver dropped us off, and the staff just silently watched us carry our luggage ourselves. I can't say much about this; perhaps it's a local custom (but the service level was vastly different from the five-star hotel I stayed at a few days ago). What I found particularly displeasing was when we checked out in the morning and asked for help with our luggage. As soon as we were out of sight, they threw our luggage onto the cart. Either we were extremely unlucky to encounter bad service every time, or the hotel isn't running a hospitality business but an airline, given how they handle luggage. I hope next time they can do this out of guests' sight, as it left a very bad impression.

Crisis Management Rating:

On the evening of July 14th, it rained heavily. The hotel lobby is semi-open, and rainwater made the hallway floors very slippery. Many guests who were playing in the pool hurried back to the lobby to avoid the rain, but there was no staff at the door to manage the situation. We saw several people slip and fall while the nearby staff just stood and watched. Only one cleaning staff was mopping the floor. Although those who fell weren't seriously injured and were laughing it off, hotel staff should have quickly stepped in to show concern or station someone at the door to manage the traffic. They should have laid down mats to prevent more guests from slipping. Why did I find this so outrageous? Because after resting in our room for an hour and then heading out for dinner, we saw that people were still slipping in the lobby, and the hotel staff still showed no concern. It's fortunate no one broke a bone, but it seems like they are just waiting for a serious accident before taking action.

Facilities:

The beach was a bit dirty, possibly due to the rain. The pool was decent and quite large, but the gym was very basic and small.

Breakfast was fairly abundant, but the staff were equally indifferent. When I ordered freshly made items, they handed them to me without saying a word. Perhaps the hotel's unique feature is its silent and...