2 hours ago
1
December 30, 2025 — 5:00am
It’s past midnight when I arrive at my hotel. The darkness is thick with humidity and the syrupy scent of frangipani. My long, two-flight day began early in Sydney and we were delayed arriving to Phu Quoc island. I am dizzyingly tired and discombobulated.
“Welcome to Vietnam, welcome to our campus,” says a young, bespectacled man, standing behind a counter surrounded by vintage suitcase trunks. “If you need anything at all, just ask me or one of the other professors.”
Say what now? I search his face for a knowing wink of irony and see only a genuine smile. I thought I was checking in to the five-star JW Marriott Phu Quoc Emerald Bay Resort & Spa, and somehow I’ve stepped into another world.
A porter ushers me past a trophy cabinet of historic wins. Framed sports memorabilia lines the corridor walls: tennis racquets, hockey sticks and football boots appear to be from a century ago. In a framed team photograph, sepia-toned and hand-scribbled with the words “Lamarck University, 1923”, the serious faces of 19th-century athlete-scholars stare back at me.
We make our way to my accommodation, passing by faded signs that urge a long-gone generation to “Run for the Ridgebacks at Phu Quoc”.
The porter shows me around the suite before handing me a student manual with all the information I’ll need to navigate my stay. Before he leaves, and I collapse into bed, I ask if this place really was a university campus before it opened in 2017 as a resort. “Yes, of course,” he says.
Really, really? He nods and leaves.
I scroll Google for answers, quickly falling into a deep sleep, still unsure what is truth and what is fantasy.
Search the internet and you’ll read that JW Marriott Phu Quoc Emerald Bay Resort is built on the former campus of a 19th Century university. The story goes that between 1880 and 1940, the children of wealthy locals and colonial residents were educated at Lamarck University. Closed and mothballed as World War II raged, the buildings stood still in time for almost a century.
Or did they? They did not. Further digging reveals the resort and backstory have been conjured by the creative genius of legendary hotel designer Bill Bensley, on the site of what was once a remote Vietnamese fishing village.
This isn’t the first time I’ve visited a hotel with a fictional backstory: The American Trade Hotel in Panama City’s historic centre does a good impression of a centuries-old, colonial outpost; The McKittrick Hotel, home of the immersive theatrical experience Sleep No More during its 13-year New York run, was eerily convincing.
What is most extraordinary about the Phu Quoc property, apart from the level of detail that Bensley and his team manufactured, is how committed the staff are to the illusion. Nobody wants to break the fourth wall.
Instructors lead enrichment workshops on lantern-making, baking and mixology. Prefects/waiters stick to the script in Tempus Fugit restaurant, where the buffet breakfast is so good, real-life students would never want to graduate.
It’s an elaborate fantasy, but isn’t that part of why we travel to exotic places? The idea that we’ll fly to Italy and eat the best pasta of our lives, instead of being ripped off at a tourist trap near the Trevi fountain. That troubles won’t exist in beautiful places.
I’m delighted by the immersive dream world that has been created with such wild imagination and diligent attention to detail. I’d tell you more, but right now I’m late for class.
THE DETAILS
STAY
Rooms at JW Marriott Phu Quoc Emerald Bay Resort & Spa cost from VND8 million ($472) a night. There are 244 rooms, suites and villas, including some with private pools. Several accessible rooms are available in each category. See marriott.com
DINE
Pink Pearl by Olivier E. is the resort’s fine-dining restaurant, offering elevated French cuisine by Michelin-recognised chef Olivier Elzer. Enjoy live music performances in a pink beachfront mansion that was once home to Lamarck University’s Dean (nudge, wink). See pinkpearlrestaurant.com
VISA
Australians can obtain an e-visa for travel to Vietnam at a cost of $US25 ($38) for single-entry stays not exceeding 90 days. Visitors to Phu Quoc island may take advantage of a special 30-day visa exemption. The official site is evisa.gov.vn
FLY
Vietjet offers low-cost direct flights from Sydney, Melbourne and Brisbane to Tan Son Nhat International Airport (Saigon/Ho Chi Minh City) several times weekly, with connections to Phu Quoc. See vietjetair.com
MORE
See vietnam.travel
The writer was a guest of the hotel.
Sign up for the Traveller Deals newsletter
Get exclusive travel deals delivered straight to your inbox. Sign up now.
