River Ray Resort — Hotel in Phuoc Thuan Commune

We live in Vietnam and have seen a lot of crazy places so I can say this with confidence — our stay here was plain weird. ||We arrived early afternoon on a Saturday -- taking a 600K VND Grab car from the Greenlines Ferry terminal in Vung Tau. On the surface, the place looks great. The pool is beautiful, the beach is long and deserted, the buildings seem in good repair.||But there was no one staying there. After a couple of hours it began to feel spooky.||We had booked rooms in the wooden houses overlooking the river but got upgraded to beach front villas at no extra cost. There was no explanation for the move although other friends later told us that they were moved to the beach because the less expensive rooms near the river had a rat problem. We saw no rats during our stay but we did not see the wooden houses either.||There was an extensive lunch menu although it became clear that only a few things were on offer. What we had was good value. Three of us ordered simple plates of stir fried beef, bean sauce pork etc and were stuffed at the end of the meal. The vegetables were crisp, fresh and delicious. Beer was available but there was no wine.||We had the pool to ourselves, of course. It's quite beautiful but a bit too shallow for serious swimming. Being early May, the water was luke warm -- as was the sea which we tried a bit later.||My wife and daughter thought the beach was littered in garbage but I think most of it had washed ashore. There were fishermen working the beach through the day but few other people around to actively litter the beach.||Compared to similarly priced beach resorts in Mui Ne and Phu Quoc, River Ray Estates Resort had few beach facilities. There were no lounge chairs. In fact the path from our beach house to the beach led straight to a three foot drop instead of to the stairs that were several meters away. The staff was friendly but were there for laundry and house keeping -- no beach maintenance. The cook had to be called in from her home when we wanted dinner because we were the only diners.||When we went for dinner, the outside dining room was swarming with mosquitoes so the staff offered to bring our food to our room -- we had a baby with us and were happy to shelter inside. Oddly though, there were no mosquito nets in the bedrooms which is quite rare in my experience.||Our free breakfast was NOT the continental promised on the website. The young waitress told us Sunday morning that they only had eggs, bread and coffee. No apology or explanation offered -- that was just the way it was.||The Medina villas were outdated as noted by other reviewers. The kitchens had no cutlery, cookware or dishes. But the fridges worked fine. The furniture was rudimentary but comfortable enough. There was a small dining table plus a sofa and coffee table in each suite. One bedroom had a Thai-style hard mattress while the other was soft and comfy. The AC worked great. The bathrooms were functional but 1960s ugly and stained.||At one point an older German guest with a dog walked by us on his way to the river walk and explained that there were no other guests because the units were all rented out to staffers working at the new casino down the road. But in our 21 hours here, we saw no sign of anyone -- no scooters, no people, no voices.||Maybe the new casino and other mega resorts in the area have killed off business at the River Ray and its neighbours. Too bad because it is a great setting. For now though, I recommend it for seasoned Viet travellers and I certainly wouldn't pay more than $50US a night. Expect to get upgraded to a much more expensive room near the beach. (If we had paid over $100 a night per room we would have been pretty unhappy.)||I found the stay amusing and enjoyed the peace and quiet. We had heavy rain in the evening and in the morning so didn't get a chance to really explore the beach or the river walk. Great view of the lightning storm over the sea though. My daughter (mother with baby) was visiting Vietnam for the first time and found the whole experience unsettling.||If you go, bring your own snacks and beverages and a sense of humour. I hope the owners find a way to get the business thriving again because it could be a...

We stayed in Medina 2 unit. It faces the ocean and is about 100 yards from the beach with a small Grove of tall trees between. It has a comfortable bed (double I think), two air conditioners that work well, a living area/dining/kitchen with refrigerator. Stove is not hooked up to gas. No utensils or plates or pots or pans but you can ask for basics like plates, cups, silverware. Don't plan to cook. We stayed 4 days so they gave us a giant water container for drinking - saves on plastic. It was Tet (new year) so staff was less than normal but also fewer guests so it worked out. The grounds are fairly quiet all the time other than kids having fun and some adults having fun in the evening. Around lunch time, the vacant property next door has some sort of gathering with semi-loud local music but not too bad. The weather at this time of year is wonderful. Sunny days, decent humidity and temperatures are 30 in the day and 24 at night. Very comfortable and warm enough to swim in the pool or ocean. The European owner said the weather in summer is moderated by the ocean so it doesn't get up to 40 like in ho chi min. hotel arranged car to take us back into the city PROS truly beach-front (with some shade trees and small yard between hotel units and the beach excellent staff, especially the young man, Phong, who knows some English - but he only worked during the Tat new year holiday. Other staff are OK but know very little English. breakfast was included in our rate and it's decent; noodle soup with chicken or egg "omlet" with wonderful French bread with butter. VN coffee. Ask for fruit. restaurant food is pretty good. May not be what you expect, eg, salad is not lettuce but various vegetables in sauce very secluded. Resorts on either side are basically vacant. Not too many guests here. Most of the sound was the ocean waves. Peaceful. motorcycle rental - but it's a beat-up old Honda that basically just gets you from point A to point B. Brakes don't work well. Horn and lights don't work. CONS poor (sometimes none) internet in rooms - either no connection or unbearably slow just for email; just a little better in lobby area lots of garbage on the beach; not hotel fault, but mankind in general. could probably use a good grooming only one staff seems to know English; owner is European and is available of necessary very secluded. Basically you're stuck here unless you have a car or motorcycle. I'm not sure if taxi and Grab...

The River Ray Estates Resort is situated on a beautiful piece of property right next to the ocean and a river. The land is absolutely beautiful, and the peace, quiet, and solitude make this resort a great destination for those who want to escape the city life. For me, however, it was a bit too secluded and far away from civilization. Fortunately, there was a restaurant on site, although it was outside and very hot.||||From the outside, the resort looks well maintained and clean; however, the interior seemed to receive less attention. I understand that replacing major appliances or furniture can be costly, so I tend not to be fussy over those sorts of things, but the bathroom needed some work. The blinds that should cover the large window in the wall of the bathtub were falling apart and impossible to close. Anyone from the outside could look into the window, especially at night, which made me uncomfortable. ||||When I booked this resort, I was under the impression that they had airport transportation. I had to take multiple cabs and vans to get to the resort, which cost me over 1,250,000 VND. My suggestion - take the hydrofoil! ||||I will say that I did appreciate the resort's flexibility about my arrival. I had issues acquiring my visa, so I had to stay in Thailand a few extra days. The resort allowed me to push my reservation forward with no penalty. They were quite friendly, too, and were very welcoming upon my arrival. Their hospitality buffered other difficulties. ||||Again, a beautiful place with peace and quiet for those looking to escape...