Premier Pearl Hotel — Hotel in Vung Tau City

We booked two "Signature Suites" through Agoda, paying in advance. ||Check in at the hotel was slow, taking five or ten minutes, even though no guests were ahead of us. The clerk was constantly distracted by other things, sometimes walking away without explanation.||An overly friendly bellhop took us and our bags to our room, and we gave him a very generous tip. Before he left we opened the drapes to see the view of the South China Sea, but found we were looking at the blank wall of the next building just three feet away on the lowest floor. No view of the sea.||The worker told us that's because we had booked with Agoda. We replied that we are willing to pay for an upgrade to a room with the view. He replied that such a thing was possible and showed us two empty rooms right next to the rooms we had been given. They had beautiful views so we said we'd take them so he took us to the front desk. We again gave him a very generous tip and thanked him for helping us.||We left our bags in the rooms we had rejected and returned to the from desk to make the switch.||The desk clerk said the rooms had to be cleaned. (This hotel doesn't clean rooms until a guest is waiting for them?) We replied that they looked perfect, ready to go, and we'd take them just as they were. "No, they need to be cleaned." We went back to the hallway outside our future rooms and waited. Nothing happened. No one came to "clean the rooms." We waited and waited and waited.||Meanwhile, the bellhop repeatedly said with a big smile "It's okay" "Don't worry" and "Be patient" although nothing at all happened. No one came to clean the rooms. Then the bellhop disappeared. ||After about ten minutes of no action I returned to the front desk to inquire while my friend stayed outside our future rooms. The bellhop with the big smile kept repeating "It's okay" "Don't worry" and "Be patient" although no progress was being made to get us into our rooms. No one seemed to care.||After 35 minutes we finally got our upgraded rooms. Mine had ants in it but I decided to tough it out rather than again deal with the front desk staff.||Check also seemed to be run by amateurs. The desk clerk would help me a little, then walk off without explanation, then answer a question from a guest who had walked up to the counter, then help me a little, then help another guest, then walk away, etc. It took twelve minutes to check out. When I tried to pay for the upgrade the hotel rejected my AmEx card and my Visa card although I had used them elsewhere that very day. ||I've stayed in about six hundred hotels in the 64 countries I've visited but never encountered a hotel staff as inept as this, or with poorer customer service. The breakfast was wonderful, the massages were excellent, but the service from the front desk and bellhop was so truly awful that I'd never go there again. ||It's as if this was the hotel's first day in business and the staff...

A nice hotel, but not as nice as I'd hoped. It holds the dominant place on the main seafront drag which makes it stand out a lot compared to its competition, however in reality the service was middling and in general the hotel was nothing special compared to many others that I have stayed at in Vietnam - the only real highs were the breakfast and the location.

Our party had a number of rooms of different types and one pair had chosen a suite, which on the website makes claims about champagne on arrival, a fresh fruit platter in the room amongst other things, however none of these were actually provided.

What was provided in the suite however was a full bathroom sanitary bin, which was quite embarrassing and upsetting for the lady using that room. It was dealt with quickly after being reported (and a fruit plate left in the room as an apology) to be fair, but it was incidents like that gave the distinct impression that the hotel coasts somewhat because of its location and doesn't feel the need to go 'the extra mile' on service.

For those of us 'slumming it' in deluxe rooms, the description of the room as a 'sea view' room was also somewhat disappointing - without going all Mrs Richards from Fawlty Towers ("That is Vung Tau, madam", etc) as although you could see the sea out of the side windows (which were extensive), it wasn't exactly what you picture of a 'sea view' room from a hotel in the UK. On top of that, the view is mainly across an empty lot next to the hotel, so when that gets built on, I imagine the description will become harder to justify.

Finally on the subject of rooms, everything inside them seems to need to be paid for as an extra, even more so than in a typical hotel here in the west. It comes across as a real 'nickel and diming' operation, which is unfortunate, especially as you're banned from being your own food into the hotel (understandable for durian, but why can't you bring your own snacks in if needed).

The infinity pool on the roof was rather nice (though obviously windy) and gave us a nice rest bite for an hour. There will be an attendant there who will provide you towels, so there's no need to take one from your room - I did this and ended up having a 5 minute discussion with two different people on leaving the pool, who insisted that I give my towel back or be charged for it. That was probably a communication issue though as my Tieng Viet is poor and the people working up near the pool seemed to be less English-trained than those on reception.

The finest part of the stay for me was the breakfast, which was served wonderfully in the dining room and had a wonderful selection of items that kept both my family (British) and my in laws (Vietnamese) happy.

Far from being a bad hotel, but for the price I expected more. Next time I will look to other options instead...

Mutton dressed as lamb. For £70 a night or 2,000,000 VND this place is terrible.

Service is lacking from the moment you arrive. Reception seems to not want to be working.

Then onto the "signature suite" although it seems to be decorated well a room for £70 a night in a beach front hotel doesn't even have a window to see outside. You get a complementary mini moon cake of which the ants in the room seem to really enjoy. There is 0 complementary water or snack and if you are thirsty after your long trip to Vung tau the dasani water in the room will cost you 30,000vnd. Then onto the "entertainment" tv in the room. No channels work and if you select a movie it will buffer and stop half way through.

The Internet speed seems to be from 1990 so you will be lucky if you can load google to give them a bad review.

Outside the main entrance they seem to allow the taxi drivers to hang out and pester the guests for an expensive drive around Vung Tau. And if you politely say no ill take a grab. They don't care they continue to pester.

No onto the included breakfast. First of all you will have to stand and wait for 10 minutes while the staff try to figure out who has included breakfast and who doesn't because they don't want to miss potentially charging someone some more money.

Then when inside you will get possibly the worst coffee in Vietnam and food that has been slapped together.

Overall I wouldn't even call this a 3 star hotel I would suspect they gave it 4 stars because it looks good.

I've stayed in much better hotels for half the price of this one. I would...