Kinh Bac Hotel

The staff was very nice and helpful. In particular the woman who runs the place (forgot her name). She rented a bike to my girlfriend. It was her first time on a motorbike and the woman taught her everything she needed to know. The food was really impressive, in particular, the fish clay pot. It would be good to know how to ride a motorbike really well to stay there so you could tool around Sao Beach and other destinations. It is close to the beach but not walking distance. Also there is a little local cafe two doors down from the hotel that serves really nice Vietnamese coffee.

We got into this hotel around midnight because of a change the airline made. Nonetheless, we were able to get a late night dinner. An attempt to discuss a change in the number of nights we were going to stay, was met with what I can only call an unprofessional, unbelieveable RANT by who we presume was the manager - I don't think he's the owner. We booked 3 rooms for 3 nights, but wanted to see if we could drop that to 3 rooms for 2 nights. Because of his hostile response, we just let it go and went to our rooms. These were in a bungalow behind the hotel proper, When my son tried to take a shower in his room, the electricity went out. So, he and his girlfriend stayed in another room and our daughter shared a room with my husband and me. In the morning, when we tried to explain the lack of electricity and that we were only using 2 rooms, the manager got very angry and said he would fix the room, but we had to pay for all 3 rooms all 3 nights. As other reviewers have mentioned, this place is far from the beach and the main drag - which is why we wanted to stay there; however, the manager could find no motorbikes for us to rent. The first day we took a taxi to the beach and back to the hotel. I had noticed on a morning walk, a resort called the Montana Resort, just down the road. We walked over there and the manager was amazing! - he tried desperately to get us motorbikes, but only found 2 and we needed 3. We ultimately took a taxi into town and rented bikes from a really great place. We really enjoyed Phu Quoc - especially the night market and motorbiking up to the very northern coast. However, when it came to check out, we again tried to explain that we felt we should only pay for 2 rooms because the third room was NEVER fixed and continued without electricity/water. The manager truly went "nuts". We all wondered if he was mentally stable. My son has lived in Vietnam for a year and he has never encountered anyone like this guy. During our 2 week stay in Hanoi, Danang and Hoi An, we also had never met anyone this confrontational, unwilling to listen, unwilling to understand, in fact, quite the contrary. Furthermore, we were scheduled to fly back to Hanoi that evening and the manager had all of our passports..just adding to the anxiety. Ultimately - although I am not sure how - we ended up paying for 2 rooms for 3 nights, eventhough we only stayed 2 nights. We didn't even ask the staff for a taxi to the airport, we walked down to Montana Resort and asked the manager there... who gladly called a taxi for us. I have to say that this guy's staff was very, very nice and helpful. But the interactions with manager threw a bit of a shadow over the whole phu quoc experience. In addition, the restaurant food is only mediocre, at best, and very, very expensive - particularly compared to the Montana Resort or an awesome coffee shop a few doors down. The rooms were clean and the beds, although very firm, were comfortable - no complaints about that. I think if we returned to phu quoc, we'd probably stay up north - to be away from the craziness of the "strip" and the resort scene, but still near the beach. If we had not had a bad experience at Kinh Bac and new about Montana Resort, however, we would definitely stay there - nice bungalows, great food and a swimming pool. Nothing like that at Kinh Bac.

So the location is something you have to consciously choose for. The nearest beach is about 6km. The city is about a 30 minute drive by scooter and the very nice north beaches around 60 minutes. If taking a nice ride through a tropical island is your thing, Kinh Bac offers a great room/price ratio. The people running the show are also very friendly! The breakfast is simple, be sure to keep asking to get your eggs well done if you do so prefer. Ask for coffee or tea or anything else you might like. It will be free but they wont give you anything if you do not ask.