'I stayed at world leading family resort next to a gruesome tourist attraction'
Located on Vietnam's largest island, 227.5 sq mi Phu Quoc, an hour's flight from Ho Chi Minh City, the resort is now the place to flop for families needing some R&R after completing the country's classic tourist trail.
Vast infinity pools stretch endlessly into the Gulf of Thailand, king-size daybeds are shaded by giant palms, and white sands lead to waters warmer than your morning shower.
With 459 rooms, residences, suites and villas, you might worry about crowds, but with four expansive pools and six restaurants and bars it manages not to feel like a mega-resort – we could always find a sunlounger.
The hotel's largest restaurant, Sora & Umi, serves modern Japanese and Vietnamese classics such as bun cha pork meatballs and pho noodle soup.
Our nine-year-old, Fred, preferred the laid-back vibe of Sea Shack, where you can enjoy world cuisine – think pad thai, cheeseburger sliders and tiki cocktails – with the sand between your toes, a band performing pop hits and table football.
At sunset, head to INK 360. On the hotel's 19th floor, it's the highest rooftop bar on Phu Quoc, providing panoramic views of the island and sparkling ocean below. It feels like the sort of chi-chi gin joint Jack Sparrow might have opened had he kept the Treasure of Cortés for himself.
The design is inspired by the mythical Kraken octopus, so the whole place is enveloped in enormous steel tentacles, the table legs upturned suckered limbs.
The mixologists have had fun with the drinks menu too. Sit back and watch the parasailing with a Fishing Boat in hand (VSOP Cognac, infused sesame, cucumber syrup, pineapple juice, lemon cordial and almond milk). As the sun sinks low it bathes the bar's gunmetal tentacles in a suitably golden glow. Once darkness falls, LAVA is the place to be. Tuck into red snapper and grilled squid while watching the night trawlers get to work by moonlight.
Named Best Luxury Beach Front Restaurant in 2019 at the World Luxury Restaurant Awards, it serves haute cuisine without the UK price tag – three courses, with wine, cost us under £50 a head. I can vouch for the freshness of the seafood too – having taken a wrong turn while searching for the facilities, I found myself in a room lined floor to ceiling with fish tanks.
The Harnn Heritage spa is world class – its bamboo treatment suites 'float' over a lake dotted with lotus pads, reflections of palm trees and climbing vines. Treatments are inspired by the five elements philosophy (wood, fire, earth, metal, water) and incorporate native ingredients such as black pepper and pearl. A therapeutic bamboo massage targets tight muscles using rolling heated canes on areas of tension, while the radiance facial uses a delicate pearl scrub (from the country's ubiquitous oyster farms) to leave you glowing.
True relaxation somewhere this special requires forward planning. At check-in I discovered all slots were full for four days, and I couldn't get a massage for love nor money. Unwilling to miss spending time here, I booked a private family yoga session in one of the spa's vaulted studios. It left us feeling virtuous, despite a telling-off for going straight there from breakfast.
If you prefer to ditch the little ones before you chill, Planet Trekkers kids club (for four- to 12-year-olds) will keep them busy with kite-flying, cooking lessons, art classes and magic shows. You'll have to drag them away from the fabulous Splash Pool first though (Fred didn't have to ask twice to get me to join him on the flume water slide). Teens, meanwhile, won't be able to resist The Hideout, where they can play games, watch movies or jump on the PlayStation.
To explore Long Beach, which spans nine miles of coastline, bicycles are available without charge. Itching to go further afield? There's a shuttle service to the night market in Duong Dong, 25 minutes away, where you can haggle over nón lá (conical sun hats) and get a taste for Vietnamese street food. Just don't risk saying yes to pate in your banh mi (a baguette with meat, fresh herbs and pickles) – even locals advised us they wouldn't eat it for fear of 'repercussions'.
Twenty minutes in the opposite direction is Coconut Tree Prison, built by the French in the 1950s and once home to 32,000 North Vietnamese and Viet Cong PoWs. It's fascinating, but gruesome, so you should probably book younger children into Planet Trekkers beforehand. For activities with better holiday vibes, take a snorkelling tour or head for the Hon Thom Cable Car, which spans the five miles from Phu Quoc to Hon Thom Island and gives great views of the archipelago.
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