Review: InterContinental Phu Quoc Long Beach Resort

Tucked away off the coast of Cambodia lies the Vietnamese island of Phú Quoc, a hidden paradise that is set to become the next must-see destination for island lovers and experience seekers alike.

Rising up from the palm-lined coast on the south-west side of Vietnam’s Phú Quoc Island stands the InterContinental Phú Quoc Long Beach Resort, one of the first of many international resorts to open on the island. The design of the resort, with a 19-storey middle tower flanked by two wings that wrap around the main pool, is impressive but not imposing, thanks to an abundance of tropical plants – especially the palms and rooftop gardens that work to almost blend the resort into the natural landscape of the island.

InterContinental Phu Quoc Long Beach Resort — At the end of each day, everyone in the resort stops to watch the sun set over the water.

Upon arrival at the Intercontinental Phú Quoc you’re met with the uniquely designed foyer of the main tower (the traditional basket boats that line the ceiling are a striking addition), and taken through to the windowless reception that opens out to give you views of the pool that seemingly stretches out to meet the sea.

Details

InterContinental Phu Quoc Long Beach Resort

Bai Truong, Duong To Ward, Phú Quoc, Kien Giang, Vietnam

The room

The resort has 459 rooms, suites and villas to choose from that vary in size to cater for groups, families and couples. But three nights in the Panoramic Suite is enough to ruin you for all other accommodation. At 101 square metres, the suite features an open-plan bedroom, office, lounge and bar that connects to a large bathroom with a bath and shower, separate toilet and walk-in wardrobe. Tall glass doors open out onto your own generous-sized balcony with views of the beach to be enjoyed from your outdoor setting.

Ombra InterContinental Phu Quoc Long Beach Resort — The poolside Italian restaurant Ombra, is great for lunch, snack and freshly-made juices and smoothies.

It is the finer details that really make this room a standout: the sensor lights of the walk-in wardrobe, the view of the ocean from the deepest bath I have ever bathed in (complete with cushioned headrest and bath salts, of course!), the shower with sit-down bench – and multiple shower heads, and the balcony with private cabana for those days when you want to escape the other guests.

Food and drink

Lava InterContinental Phu Quoc Long Beach Resort — An aerial look at the resort’s LAVA restaurant.

There are six restaurants and bars to choose from with a variety of different cuisines on offer. Ombra is the resort’s Italian restaurant, located just beside the main pool area. You can also order fresh juices and smoothies for a lighter option; I’d recommend a mango and mint smoothie.

A full buffet breakfast is served at Sora & Umi (you must go the full Vietnamese spread for breakfast at least once) and it is also a Japanese and Vietnamese restaurant at night.

For an extra special night out, you need to eat at LAVA, the resort’s seafood and steak restaurant. You’ll be able to watch the waves roll in from your table and dine under the stars. Then there is Sea Shack to satisfy your barbecue craving, Pearl for a fusion of international cuisines, and finally INK 360.

Ink 360 InterContinental Phu Quoc Resort — Take the lift up to the 19th floor to find INK 360, the resort’s rooftop bar.

The rooftop bar – which is the highest sky bar on the island – is the work of Australian-born interior designer, Ashley Sutton. He’s famous for his Iron Fairies bar in Tokyo and The Bookshop in Bangkok, and INK 360 is the latest in his growing list of fantastical creations. The ginormous octopus tentacles that spill out from the roof to envelop the bar will have you feeling like you’ve stumbled upon a shipwreck floating in the sky. Make sure you’re here for sunset and order a Coral Mule from mixologist Giuseppe Tronik. The cocktail is adorned with a flowery pink snow mushroom, which is guaranteed to bring in the Instagram likes.

Services

InterContinental Phu Quoc Resort — The Harnn Heritage Spa is an oasis of tranquility.

No island holiday is complete without a spa treatment and the HARNN Heritage Spa is a tranquil oasis of indulgence that is too good to be missed. There are eight spa treatment rooms set within individual retreats overlooking a large lagoon filled with koi fish. Try the signature bamboo stick massage – it’s like a hot rock massage only better!

You’ll also find four outdoor swimming pools, a 24-hour gym complete with self-defence classes, kids’ clubs for all ages with certified nannies, and you can pick up food supplies from the resort’s grocer Mercado (or sit down for an ice-cream, Vietnamese coffee and a snack).

Nearby activities

A holiday on Phú Quoc can be as chilled or activity-packed as you want it to be. You don’t have to have a standard resort holiday with every day spent by the pool, punctuated by meals and cocktails – unless that’s your jam. The island has much more to offer than nice views.

Hire a catamaran and go snorkelling

Of course the InterContinental has a number of activities you can book within the resort, from cooking and cocktail classes, to basket boat rides and beach yoga sessions, but you can also take a catamaran out for the day, snorkel the nearby islands and enjoy a freshly cooked seafood meal on board.

Night markets, beaches, sculptures and cable cars

The bustling night markets are only a short drive away (try the warm banana and sticky coconut rice wrapped in a banana leaf), as is Sao Beach. Or better yet, hire a motorbike and make your way to the secluded Starfish Beach. You’ll need to pack food, drink and sun protection and ride along sandy trails through the national park to reach the beach. You’ll find a colony of red starfish sunbathing in the crystal clear waters waiting for you.

Phú Quoc even has its own mini-version of Sculpture By The Sea at Sunset Sanato Beach Club. You’ll find elephants on stilts coming out of the water and a large, imposing sculpture of a head sliced in two, adjoined by a doorway that visitors can walk through.

Sun World Cable Car Phu Quoc — The best views on the island are found on the Sun World cable car.

The island is also home to the world’s longest non-stop sea cable car. The Sun World cable car connects An Thoi town on the south of the island with Hon Thom Island and it will take you 15 minutes each way. But it’s the views of the pastel-coloured fishing boats that speckle the bright turquoise water below that really make this ride one to remember.

The IT verdict

This resort has something for everyone. Families can take advantage of the first-class kids’ clubs and kids’ cooking classes and facilities, while couples can relax by the adult-only pools, wine and dine at the many restaurants, and splurge on indulgent spa treatments.

Harnn Heritage Spa Phu Quoc — The Harnn Heritage Spa takes care to make every detail of your time with them an indulgent experience.

Location: 9/10

More than half the island is a UNESCO-listed Biosphere Reserve, making it a lush green oasis that also boasts crystal-clear waters, powdery white sand and an average annual temperature of 27 degrees. It is a quick 45-minute flight from Ho Chi Minh City to Phú Quoc, and the resort is a 15-minute drive from the airport. It is the perfect end to a longer stay in Vietnam for those looking to relax for a few days before returning to reality.

Style/character: 9/10

The style and decor of the resort can only be described as understated luxury. It seems that every detail has been designed with the sunset in mind: from the layout of the resort that aims to capture the ocean from every angle, to the rooftop bar, INK 360, on the 19th floor – which is arguably the best of many excellent places to watch the sun set over the ocean.

Service: 10/10

I can’t fault the service I received at this resort. Staff were kind and attentive; there is a whole office space full of staff ready and waiting to organise activities for you on the island and in the resort. Checking in and out of the resort was seamless.

Rooms: 9/10

Nearly all rooms have views of the ocean and each accommodation type is stylishly designed with superb attention to detail and understated luxury – regardless of whether you’re staying in a classic room, suite or villa.

INK 360 Phu Quoc — Order the El Copete (like a pisco sour) at INK 360.

Food and drink: 9/10

Incredible variety and quality: the perfect mix of Vietnamese, seafood and modern international cuisine. The architectural design of each restaurant makes dining here as much of a visual feast for the eyes as it is an edible one.

Value for money: 8/10

A King Bed Resort Classic Room (without ocean views) starts at $225 a night, which is an affordable resort holiday for most. You also get a fresh fruit bowl upon arrival and complimentary access to the wi-fi, the 24-hour gym and the resort’s car park throughout your stay.

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Getting there:

Vietnam Airlines flies direct to Ho Chi Minh City from Sydney and Melbourne in under nine hours and it is an additional 45-minute flight to reach Phú Quoc Island. Spend a few nights exploring incredible Saigon before changing pace by moving on to Phú Quoc.

My Dreamliner flight from Sydney to Ho Chi Minh City was more than comfortable, with generous sized economy seats, excellent service and good quality food and drink. There was also a wide selection of TV shows and films onboard to choose from, including the knock-out hit, Crazy Rich Asians.

Once you reach Phú Quoc you’ll find taxis, cars and motorbikes for hire, and resort shuttles are available for getting around the island and to and from the airport. A new wing has recently opened at the airport, roads are being relaid and there is plenty of construction work underway in preparation for the expected influx of tourists in the coming years.

Do you need more help planning your Vietnam trip? Read our guide on everything you need to know before you go.

After youth-led protests in 2025, this year Nepal elected a 35-year-old former rapper as Prime Minister. In a country where tourism is its biggest industry, what’s next for travellers?

In 1986, Nepal changed its clock. It had used India Standard Time since 1920 so, to differentiate, it wound its clock 15 minutes ahead of, not behind, its big-brother neighbour. Boss move. “Nepal is strongly opposed to the idea that our identity is connected to India,” says Community Homestay Network (CHN) guide Bikal Khanal.

Tharu dance is traditionally set to hand drums. (Credit: Kate Lewis)

Today, Nepal is the only independent country with a 45-minute deviation to universal time; an oddity that’s become a symbol of national pride. The quirk is nearly as endearing as Kathmandu’s Tribhuvan airport where carved varnished wood and shiny red bricks rule. One sign points to a ‘Travelator’ and another to a ‘Grievance Handling Desk’ while visas are noisily stamped at customs for US dollars, cash only. When am I?

Spot the endemic Nepal gray langur. (Credit: Simon Urwin)

The 15 or 45 minute anomaly sees me tap out completely on timezone calculations. Why bend my brain calculating if it’s quarter to or quarter past elsewhere when I’m in the honking here and now of Kathmandu where the air is high-altitude crisp, the prayer flags flutter and the street dogs howl?

How tourism is changing in Nepal

Bardiya National Park is rich with wildlife. (Credit: Simon Urwin)

India is not the only association many Nepalis would like to shake. With eight of the world’s 10 tallest mountains, including Mount Everest and Annapurna, Nepal has long attracted mountaineers and trekkers, and expedition numbers are continuing to rise.

Tourism is one of the country’s biggest sources of foreign currency, so this growth is not negative, per se. But according to Ang Tshering Lama, who co-founded Phaplu Mountain Bike Club, being reduced to a mere trekking destination is limiting.

“Trekking is just one layer of our identity,” says Ang. “When it becomes the dominant narrative, it limits how we’re seen and how we see ourselves.” Nepal’s recent success, however, in diverting trekkers to less-trafficked areas such as Manaslu mofuntain, where visitor numbers rose by 117 per cent last year, offers hope that tourism can diversify even more radically.

Local men in Bhada village. (Credit: Simon Urwin)

The founder of CHN, Shiva Dhakal, wants that change. “The whole idea of the Community Homestay Network is to promote experiences outside of trekking,” he says. “Community tourism changes lives and helps kids stay home instead of coming to the city or migrating to the Middle East.”

Ang grew up seeing people leave, “not because they wanted to but because there weren’t enough opportunities to stay”, he states. Yet from remote villages to living traditions; food, art, music and emerging subcultures, “there’s so much that’s not being seen.”

CHN is opening some of those doors. It doesn’t own, or fund, any homes. Rather, it promotes homestays to travellers on a single, slick platform, while fostering entrepreneurship in places where women, marginalised castes, Indigenous people and the youth stand to benefit the most.

A new generation demanding more

Dalla Town Hall, where volunteers discuss anti-poaching tactics. (Credit: Bheem Thapa)

The future prospects of next-gen Nepalis can no longer be ignored. On a Kathmandu tour with 33-year-old guide Monica K.C, we pass buildings torched in the September 2025 ‘Gen Z protests’, including the Supreme Court and Parliament House. Seventy-two people died. “They were anti-corruption protests,” says Monica. “Politicians’ children are living a lavish life but the airports are crowded with youngsters leaving to find work.”

We stop in ‘little Tibet’ at the wondrous sixth-century Boudha Stupa. “The wheel of life is Buddhism in a nutshell,” says Monica. “Things such as hate, ignorance and anger keep you rotating around the wheel, so you must follow the principles of Buddhism to detach. If you can’t, there’s no nirvana for you.”

Boudha Stupa's prayer wheels — Boudha Stupa’s prayer wheels are used to recite Buddhist prayers. (Credit: Kate Lewis)

In a sun-drenched twist to the usual temple visit, we ascend the stupa’s sloping plinth and roam its whitewashed dome. Tendrils of diaphanous prayer flags stream from a steeple-like structure where the Buddha’s unblinking eyes stare out. No nirvana for you…

bouda stupa prayer flags — Tibetan-style prayer flags embellish the whitewashed dome of Bouda Stupa, a Buddhist temple. (Credit: Kate Hennessy)

The dome is delightfully free of guard rails or chiding from security. There is, however, a stern ‘No TikTok’ sign, perhaps in response to the youth’s newly flexed power. The booted-out Prime Minister, K.P. Sharma Oli, was replaced in a resounding election victory in March by 35-year-old Balendra Shah of the Rastriya Swatantra Party (RSP) – a former rapper and mayor of Kathmandu. The RSP’s manifesto indicates tourism is a priority, and that Nepal’s cultural identity in areas such as gastronomy will be strengthened.

Boudha Stupa vendors — Vibrant souvenir shops and cafes around Boudha Stupa. (Credit: Kate Hennessy)

A more confronting stop awaits at Pashupatinath Temple. Today is Bala Chaturdashi, a Hindu festival where thousands of devotees gather to honour their dead ancestors. Vendors hauling foam mattresses do a lucrative trade as people set up for a night of vigil. This includes burning the bodies of recently deceased relatives on bamboo pyres in the Bagmati River, which flows into the sacred Ganges.

A woman at annual Hindu festival Bala Chaturdashi, in Kathmandu. (Credit: Kate Hennessy)

Wrapped in a shroud, the bodies are positioned with their heads facing north to the Himalayas where Lord Shiva resides. They’re covered with flowers and straw and set alight by male family members.

Hours later, the ashes are swept into the river where devotees will take a holy dip the next day. As much as Monica assures us it’s not voyeuristic to watch, I struggle to do so. “Here you see the reality of life because everyone ends up there,” she says, gesturing to the river.

Life unfiltered in the Terai region

tharu woman — Tharu woman and master weaver Parbati Chaudhary in Bhada Village. (Credit: Bheem Thapa)

The reality of life needs processing time, which the western Terai region delivers in spades. The Terai is largely separated from India by the Karnali River and Bardiya National Park, where elephants, rhinos and the elusive Bengal tiger roam.

Once a nomadic tribe, the Indigenous Tharu people are now the largest ethnic group here. “They didn’t know their daily life was interesting for international travellers but they’re starting to understand now,” says CHN founder Shiva.

Take a Jeep safari through Bardiya National Park. (Credit: Bheem Thapa)

We fly Buddha Air to Dhangadhi airport and drive five hours to stay in Tharu homes. The journey to Bhada village is a blur of roadside fruit stalls, traffic-stopping sacred cows and fields sown with wheat, rice, mustard, spinach, cauliflower and potatoes. Nepal’s agriculture feeds only Nepal.

Marigolds are an important part of Hindu rituals. (Credit: Simon Urwin)

“The only thing we export is young people,” says our guide Bikal. As the light dims and we plunge evermore rural, mysterious mounds of compacted hay – some house-sized – loom like the creatures from Where The Wild Things Are. Even our trusty driver gets flummoxed by a dirt road that abruptly ends and we find ourselves hurtling across a paddock.

On arrival, some are ferried to mud-walled cottages greened by gourd creepers, with thatched roofs and rustic-chic mosquito nets. Myself and two others are ushered to the home of corner store owner, mechanic and mushroom farmer Man Kumar Chilaruwa and his wife Rajkumari.

community homestay entrance — A warm welcome at a community homestay. (Credit: Simon Urwin)

They escort us to a bunker-esque back building with steel doors and a folding security gate, behind which is gleaming linoleum, dolphin-printed tiles and a shower cavity that must be gingerly stepped through to reach the toilet.

The ceiling lights emit a rainbow of colours (the bathroom light gets stuck in, frankly, a quite frightening red). We’re nevertheless touched that our hosts invested in all this bling when the average salary is around $275 a month.

In the coming days, we participate in Tharu traditions such as making moonshine, dancing, weaving straw handicrafts and gold-panning. We’re fed well with staples of rice, mustard greens, lentil pancakes, daal, curried chicken and tomato chutney served on antibacterial saal leaves.

food at community homestay — Dig in. (Credit: Kate Hennessy)

Sonara community homestay president Indradevi Tharu tells us river snails are often served, and the boiled and pickled flesh of rats hunted in the rice fields. “Perhaps next time?” we say and all have a laugh.

The power of community homestays

community homestay owners in Nepal — Barda community homestay owners Parbati Chaudhary and Ram Krishni Devi Chaudhary. (Credit: Simon Urwin)

Immersing Western visitors in foreign cultural practices is not new. But with the Tharu, I never get that uneasy sensation that I’m being performed for. Despite being the only tourists, there’s no ‘othering’; just warm, composed and ultra-dignified welcomes. Like we’ve always been here.

“I love to have travellers in my village so I can see the world,” says local woman Parbati Chaudhary. “Why would I travel the world when the world comes to me?”

The graceful acceptance the Tharu offer, as well as the slow pace, works miracles on my frazzled nervous system. One day I even take a nap on a vacant homestay bed.

Sonara community room — An authentic stay in the Sonara community. (Credit: Kate Hennessy)

Roosters strut and goats bray as we sit on the ground in al fresco kitchens, rolling rice flour into cylinders steamed to make dhikri (dumplings). When water is needed, we fetch it using a hand-operated pump as a family of ducks strolls by, side-eying us like curious neighbours.

Animal lovers will delight in Tharu villages. Kind and resourceful inventions are everywhere, such as snacking stations where two posts lean together, with leafy boughs dangling on rope for baby goats to forage from.

CHN’s CEO, Aayusha Prasain, nods knowingly when one in our group says she cried when she left her host, Shayam Chaudhary, in Bhada. Shayam’s 17-year-old son, Prashant, had translated, which deepened the connection.

“Community tourism turns travel into a relationship, not a transaction,” says Aayusha. “It places decision-making power in the hands of local communities, especially women and youth.” Since 2018, CHN has hosted more than 4000 travellers from 52 countries in 408 households, and estimates women’s participation has increased by 381 per cent.

In the Bardiya community, where vexing human-animal conflict has been a balancing act for decades due to elephants raiding crops, long-time homestay operator Salik Ram Chaudhary says young people keep the older ones on their toes.

“We can’t keep homestays stagnant,” he says. “We have to upgrade our service and redefine our product or young people won’t see it as an attractive business. If we can keep evolving with this travelling trend we’re confident the youths will stay and continue it.”

Back in Kathmandu, Monica explains that after the deaths of young protestors in September, a determination had spread to not let their sacrifice be in vain. “We want to keep holding the government accountable,” she says. “We don’t know what situation we’re facing, but we’re ready to face it.”

Interested in Nepal but prefer to experience it in total comfort? Read our guide to luxury travel in Nepal.

Hotel review: InterContinental Phu Quoc Long Beach Resort