Sài Gòn Côn Đảo Resort

I liked the Saigon-Condao Resort and might stay there again when I return for scuba diving, relaxing, and letting myself get overwhelmed by the Con Dao prison exhibit. I am from USA living in Vietnam, so I know what hotels and resorts are like around the country. What I most liked is that we were among the only Westerners there, the guests were predominantly Vietnamese, and cultural immersion is a big item on my travel agenda. The front desk checkin was easy, and the staff are all very friendly and most spoke basic English, and a couple spoke very good English. Vietnamese are generally shy and lack confidence about their English fluency, and this is often mistaken for unfriendliness. But if you engage these magnificent people with a little smile and speak slowly, their smiles come alive at the front desk. ||||The building and grounds are beautiful, and the location is excellent in the village center-- walk to everything. The rooms are not luxurious by Western standards, but they are by Vietnamese norms. We got a suite, and it had a spacious king bedroom, large beautiful bathroom, and small functional living room. It did not have the advertised balcony (only a couple of rooms do), but faced the ocean and had nice views through the thick trees that obscured it. The furnishings were typical Vietnamese- unremarkable but clean and maintained. The air conditioning in our suite was excellent. The maid service was prompt and nicely done. The minibar had a few little things in it, and a hotpot is provided for your instant noodles which await you.||||The buffet breakfast was almost all Vietnamese food, but with an individual order grill so I could have fried eggs, and pile on some rice or noodles. The buffet food labels are all in Vietnamese, and many I did not recognize, but it was fun. Many of the Vietnamese guests are business people at the resort for retreats and meetings, and I enjoyed talking to them, they are educated and speak English. Again, like most Vietnamese, they are not going to speak first, but when I did, they jumped right in. ||||The swimming pool was pleasant, set in nice tropical landscaping, and most importantly, was clean inside and out. The hotel is across the street from the "beach", not really a beach you could lay on, but locals like to perch on the sea wall, and many Vietnamese guests went down the stairs and had swim. It was a beautiful scene to see them and their kids having fun in the water. The neighborhood is tree-lined and some great old abandoned homes are busy being engulfed by the tropical vegetation. Vietnamese believe every old structure is inhabited by ghosts, and I had a lot of fun at Trang Mon's expense making ghost noises as we strolled around late at night. If you want a taxi or a guide or a restaurant recommendation, the front desk will hop right to it for you. There are many little parks all around.||||This hotel is not pleasing for some Westerners, but few Vietnamese hotels could be. It is too expensive for Western budget travelers, but not luxurious enough for Westerners with money, so it gets mixed reviews on the travel sites. If backpackers could afford to stay here, the reviews would be effusive. Nonetheless, this is a sweet little property in my opinion, with very friendly staff, tropical plants, a serene ocean front, and a management that tries to make you happy. I recommend it.

Well we enjoyed our stay on the island. The sea was just INCREDIBLE (compared with other dirty beaches in the north of Vietnam). I really really love its beautiful turquoise colour!||Back to the hotel, I think its just okay. Food was just acceptable and if you arrive later than other guests, you won't have anything left. The pool - very dirty and we didn't even dare to swim in it. Our room had beautiful view, but it was a bit small. ||||Recommendation: Tri Ky restaurant (just about 15-minute of walking from the hotel). Fresh and excellent seafood. The restaurant next to it is also a good choice :)

This is a typical vietnamese hotel resort. The staff is friendly. The rooms in the villas are ok. The bathrooms need refurbishing. However, I can recommend this hotel. Particularly the location directly at the beach is very pleasant.||Stayed here for the second time. The island is in general a quiet place outside the high season.

Well, where to begin. We were booked into this 'resort' and I use the term loosely, for 6 nights. We arrived after a brief flight from Saigon and a reasonable bus ride that wasn't too bad but the bus very old. That's ok, you're on an island so don't expect too much more. We checked in at reception and were then walked about 500 metres up the main road to our room. The rooms were quite well set back and we noticed access to the beach would have required an even further walk across two roads and over a stone wall and a mound of huge rocks. As we walked up to the front verandah we noticed two big white leather chairs, now these may have been beautiful in there day but now are covered in mould with the innards falling out. We were taken to our room which once the door was opened smelled badly of mould and mildew to match the two leather out the front. There was mould everywhere, bedroom walls and bathroom. I suffer with asthma so had to leave the room straight away. This was a most disappointing experience as we then spent the rest of the day looking for another place to stay. I know some reviewers say it is ok so I'm not sure what room they were in. We were placed right next to the other restaurant which would have been incredibly noisy. We are not difficult people as we go camping frequently but this was too much. If you've seen the movie 'the shining' then you will know what I mean when I say ... do not stay here. There are much nicer alternatives available. Enjoy!

I have recently returned from an eight night stay at this hotel. It is, or has been recently||refurbished and is looking very nice indeed. I stayed at a Garden Suite, very nice, and peacefull.||Clean tidy and great views of the bay. The furniture inside the suite was okay but had the||look of prehaps, shall we say, having hosted a party of two. Bits knocked out of it, but do not||be put off by that. We had on entering the suite a room with a three seater settee, two armchairs and a pouff !, coffee/tea making, i.e a kettle, we then moved on into the bedroom, a Queen sized bed, very comfortable, a Samsung wide/flat screen television, wardrobe, with surprisingly for a change, sufficent coat hangers, which tend to be missing from Vietnamese hotel rooms. Both these rooms had air conditioners, which was handy. The bathroom off the bedroom was clean, tidy and nice, with a hairdryer, which pleased the wife.||The staff were good, nice and helpfull.||Just one word of caution the food was a bit crappy. The breakfast was minimal and boring.||Strawberry juice every day, okay if you like strawberries!, Pho dishes and fried eggs were||the main courses...... I did have lunch in the main building, beef and bbq sauce, the sauce||had a strong flavour of lemon!!!!, which was unexpected, and the beef was tough.||We did eat at a resturant in the hotel grounds called I thinh Hoa Bien, nice setting in the||evening, The food did come from the main kitchens of the hotel except for a local in-situ||place were various soups, rice cake and 'Banh Xeo' dishes. Which were very good.||However, I must say if you stay there - eat out!. Which is sad, because basically the||food let the place down, other than that a very nice hotel, in a nice area and very quite.||We enjoyed it a lot.||Should you wish to eat out try Thu Ba, a 25/30000 VND taxi ride from the hotel,||a great little place with very nice helpfull staff, nice decor and very good food,||again very clean and smart. The hotel should hand their catering over to the people ||who run Thu Ba, thereby turning the hotel into an even more excellent resort.||||There is I think a lot of 'tosh' wirtten by prople on Tripadvisor, the advice is often||confusing and contradictory so please dont be put off by my comments re food.||One mans poison is another mans pleasure, as they say. However the food I feel||could have been better, it was probably no better (or worse) than a lot of 'top'||hotels in Vietnam. So I would recommend you stay there and discover the islands||eateries.

The hotel occupies almost the length of the town ocean front. The two main buildings and villas are about 1 kilometer long. The check in counter is in the main building. Be prepare for a long walk with luggage to your room if you stay in the villas/bungalows. Across the street is the ocean. Traffic is non existence. Beside cars belong to hotels, the whole island only has seven taxis. The hotel provides shuttles to and from the airport. The beach is very shallow. When the tide is low, one can walk almost a kilometer out to the sea. The better swimming area is near the historic 914 Pier. Water shoes are recommended as the fine sand/silt gives a slimy feel to your feet. Dive and snorkel shops are also down past the pier. It feels refreshing to walk along the sea wall early in the morning. The room size is average. The bath room has shower/tub combination. Basic toiletry kit is provided along with the hair dryer. There is a small closet, fridge with mini bar. There is also a safe to store your valuables. There is a table with two chairs, desk, TV. The night stand has the switches for all the lights in the room. Wifi is free at the resort. The famous "Tiger Cage" jail house is directly across from the rear entrance of the hotel. The hotel restaurant is the open type with no wall. The complimentary breakfast has quite many selections for a three star hotel. Lunch and dinner are quite good. There is also a swimming pool. There is no activity for night life except going to the cemetery. Most guests are Vietnamese. They go there mainly to visit the cemetery.The better beach is the one by the airport with fine sand and crystal clear water. Better yet, you can rent a boat to go to the smaller island and basically have the whole island and beach to yourself. The beach there is beautiful and pristine. There only four guards live on the island to protect the turtles coming to nest there. It is also a good place to snorkel to see the corral surround the side of the island. Beside the Six Sense Resort, this is one of the best and most convenience place to stay on the island.

The hotel is located in quite convenient area and close to the center of the island. Step out of your room is the ocean. The facilities and services are everage. Guest room is old fashionable style. The design and interior decoration are not impressive.|The breakfast room and its quality are everage also.

The resort is very old. The food is not good. The breakfast is almost the same everyday. The air condition can not work, the room is very hot at night and not ventilator. I switched the light on and it could only turn on 10 minutes later. The swimming pool is not clean. Not qualified enough to be called a resort. The room even doesnt include iron machine. The furnitures are old and some even riped.