I love resorts and hotels. Anything that will keep me from doing household chores and have someone else do everything for me, am all for it! 😛

We have been fortunate to visit Phu Quoc for the second time and stay at the newly-opened Salinda Resort which was just a short 10-minute ride from the PQ International Airport.

We arrived early in the morning and had a filling breakfast with a view of the resort’s pool area.

Facing Salinda from the ocean, the right side of the property is still being developed. But within the confines of the resort, the place was immaculate.

I love the beautifully designed and airy open spaces.

Since it was the start of the week-long holiday (Hung Kings Commemoration, Independence Day, and Labor Day), there were lots of vacationers. But it didn’t feel quite like it as there were enough space for everyone to relax.

The receiving area is built to receive a number of guests.

The staff here are always welcoming, gracious, and helpful. My mom appreciates that the staff are always smiling and you can feel their warmth and sincerity.

Special mention to the above sofa set. Love the combination of marble and wood. Meshes well to the whole resort feel even with the seemingly “heavy” furniture.

The mosaic wall behind the counters hid a door to another room. This was really pretty!

One thing though — they did not offer welcome drinks. I just thought about it now actually writing this post.

I’ve been to other 5 star resorts in Vietnam and welcome drinks (and sometimes, a cold towel) are the usual. Although, I really didn’t notice it at that time. 😛 Am not too particular on that, but it would have been a nice touch. BUT WAIT. We were ushered quickly for breakfast when we arrived so maybe they offer welcome drinks to other arriving guests? 😛

This is the lovely hallway to the dining area, conference rooms, and ballroom.

It would have been ideal if we had our gala diner done outside but lately it has been raining sporadically at Phu Quoc albeit just short periods of time.

This intricately designed chandelier adorning the ballroom was awe-inspiring. I honestly wanted to lie down on the floor and just stare at it.

Above is this relaxing area adjacent to the dining area. Oh and I must say, the food in Salinda is superb!

When the kids got tired of the pool and beach, we bring them to the kids place. There is a person assigned to look after the kids. And right across it are a couple of billiard tables for the adults and nearby, was the lounge that serves alcoholic drinks.

The hallway to the rooms and the lounge area are decorated with paintings by Vietnamese artists all of which are for sale.

We stayed at the main area of the resort just above the reception area. We didn’t have a view of the ocean but those parts overlooking the ocean are detached from the main area which isn’t ideal when it’s raining.

But yeah, I envy the view!

We had 2 small kids and 3 adults in this room. The extra bed was perfect! We all slept soundly.

My boys enjoyed the smart TV. I didn’t! They kept on watching Minecraft videos on YouTube!

No tub! But really, I like this better.

The sink is not chuva-approved but am not too picky. 😀

When you step out of the elevator, this wall-design will pique your interest. The concentric circles reminded me of the crop circles.

The main pool was deep for my height of 5 foot 1. But yeah, I could manage. Adjacent was a a small shallow area where you can chill and another area for kids.

However, this kiddie pool has a slope where I unceremoniously fell. Luckily, my arm broke my fall and didn’t break. But it was quite sore for two days.

Since it was a working vacation for me, I didn’t get to spend much time on the beach. I only did when we had our teambuilding activity here.

On our first day, the crowd was mostly foreigners — singles and couples. No noisy kids around — our group brought that. 😛

The weather was humid for the most part.

This part of Long Beach is way better than the one fronting Beach Club on our last stay.

We also saw fellow Filipinos, Jacob’s Well performing for the guests. 🙂 They’ve been in PQ for 6 months.

My youngest son, Rafa loved their music. He caught their night performance and danced the night away. 🙂

We also tried the resort’s Jett Bikes. Just to say that we biked at Phu Quoc, we borrowed a couple of bikes and biked into the town.

There was a narrow, steep road leading towards the water and saw that it was a popular hang out for the locals (especially couples) to fish and just watch the sunset. It was some 4 kilometers away from Salinda. Just a comment on the bikes though, if you decide to get on one, check the brakes. Mine wasn’t maintained well and the breaks was almost busted. But otherwise, it was a nice sweet ride. I’ve always wanted my own Jett Bike.

Thank you Salinda for a memorable vacation! I could live in your resort forever!