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Bad Rate :: Ummm, No Bad Rate in Phnom Pehn

[Ed. Note: This is the Bad Rate in our Good Rate/Bad Rate feature. The rates here were valid on November 14, 2006 and are subject to change. Enjoy.]

Each week in this space, we usually counter our listed Good Rate with a corresponding Bad Rate in the same city. This time, however, we've been stumped. The truth is, even looking at hotels during a major festival, it's hard to find a bad rate in Phomh Penh, Cambodia.

Traveling in developing countries isn't for those who need everything to be perfect all the time, but the irony is that hotel facilities and services in a country like Cambodia are often far better than you could expect at home. The English language proficiency might be iffy, but you'll have an army of people waiting on you even at the cheaper places. And you can't beat the prices. Here's what we found for November 15-18 on various booking services:

· Price range of $52 to $98 on Expedia
·Price range of $23 to $147 on Precision Reservations
·Price range of $25 to $290 on Travelocity

That last one was for a room at the Raffles Hotel Le Royal, which Precision Reservations listed at $147. The hotel's own buggy site took a while, but finally quoted us $140 double to start. (Expedia says it's sold out.)

This is the top hotel in town, putting up lots of foreign business people, World Bank types, and NGOs living high on the donation hog--and this is festival time, so demand is high. After that it drops down to $120 a night for a standard at the Prince D'Angkor Hotel & Spa in Siem Reap--pictured here--or $320 in the best suite. At Precision Reservations, which lists 27 available hotels, a half-dozen hotels of those three stars or more are under $60.

Related Stories:
· Raffles Hotel Le Royal reviews [TripAdvisor]
· Prince D'Angkor Hotel & Spa reviews [TripAdvisor]
· Good Rate: Cambodia's Reversal of the Currents Festival [HotelChatter]