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Siem Reap Hotel Guide: Hotel De La Paix's Hidden Water Wonderland

Where: Sivuthva Boulevard, Siem Reap, Cambodia
October 24, 2008 at 9:56 AM | by ced138 | 0 Comments

A few weeks ago, we discussed the merits of Hotel De La Paix from afar. This week, we had the chance to step inside the hotel and snoop around. Despite a distinct feeling of inferiority like only the French can impose, the experience was pretty sweet.

Our takeaway? Other than enjoying the avant garde installations in the hotel's swank lounge and discussing with a cocktail waitress the myriad wildlife living in the giant Bayon tree in the center of the hotel's courtyard, the thing we most enjoyed about the place was its pool. This thing is ridiculous.

Hidden on the hotel's second floor, it has everything: a bridge, an infinity ledge overlooking the ground-floor courtyard, poolside beds and cabanas, benches and tables in the water, and a series of tree-laden canals that made us wonder how many lovers have taken advantage of the privacy all the nooks and crannies afford.

Whereas the rest of the hotel has this understated, Egypt-meets-Art-Deco feel to it, everything about the pool is over the top. And we like it.

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Siem Reap Hotel Guide :: Raffles, In Contrast, Is Fit For A Queen

Go To The Hotel's Web 
  Site Where: 1 Vithei Charles de Gaulle , Siem Reap, Cambodia
October 23, 2008 at 9:15 AM | by ced138 | 0 Comments

Raffles Grand Hotel d'Angkor provides what's expected of it...no more and no less. Like Amansara nearby, the hotel focuses on understatement to liken itself to royal tastes and emphasize its subtle class. The hotel's sterile, colonial exterior continues inside the building's hallways and guest rooms. The result is a removed feeling from the air and bustle of Siem Reap--welcome to some and disconcerting to others.

Still, it's the best way to see how high society of yesterday (and today) experience Angkor, from a safe, removed distance. The newly-built extension continues the hotel's austere feel that the more critical might (and do) call "uninspired." The rear gardens resemble a place where Queen Elizabeth might let her basset hounds roam. And the buiscuits served at tea resemble something she might serve her guests, though the confections seem a bit too rich for such a disciplined woman.  

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Siem Reap Hotel Guide :: La Residence Gets A Facelift But More Work Is To Be Done

Go To The Hotel's Web 
  Site Where: River Road, Siem Reap, Cambodia
October 22, 2008 at 10:15 AM | by ced138 | 0 Comments

La Residence D'Angkor is Siem Reap's greenest and wettest hotel. And as of August 1, the place just got greener and wetter. La Residence reopened after a three-month revamp. Orient-Express, which owns the hotel, brought in Pascal Deyrolle, a 16-year veteran manager with the company specializing in "troubled properties."

Pascal added even more trees to the already dense foliage, he says, updated the grounds' many ponds, redecorated the outdoor lounge terrace, and added a new outdoor BBQ spot (complete with $50 imported Australian steaks). To hammer the theme home, guests receive complimentary coconut-flavored, green welcome cocktails.

And Pascal has more grand plans for the hotel, he tells Hotelchatter. While a few guests right now have to suffer through the adjacent construction, by next year, the hotel will feature a multi-story spa with VIP treatment rooms.

He's also adding eight new suites, with indoor/outdoor spa bathtubs. And with all the new trees, nobody swimming down at the saltwater pool below can see how you choose to use this amenity.

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Siem Reap Hotel Guide :: Angkor Century Resort Goes Big

Go To The Hotel's Web 
  Site Where: Komay Road, Siem Reap, Cambodia
October 21, 2008 at 9:30 AM | by ced138 | 0 Comments

More than eight million tourists visit Angkor Wat annually. The innumerable hotels in Siem Reap, the neighboring town that houses and feeds these visitors, all seem to shout for market share. Cheapest! Priciest! Best Golf Course!

Undoubtedly, Angkor Century Resort & Spa, yells the loudest. It's by far the largest hotel in Siem Reap, in terms of the size of its ground--2.4 hectares--and its number of rooms--190. Even the swimming pool is the biggest in town, the hotel's friendly Malaysian manager informed us.

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Siem Reap Hotel Guide :: Of Course, Amansara Is Fit For A King

Go To The Hotel's Web 
  Site Where: Angkor Road, Siem Reap, Cambodia
October 20, 2008 at 4:00 PM | by ced138 | 0 Comments

It makes sense that, after a long day of visiting Angkor Wat, the famed temple ruins of Cambodia, that one should retire to Amansara, the five-star hotel in the adjacent town of Siem Reap.

That's because, throughout the 10th, 11th, and 12th centuries, Khmer kings vied for glory by one-upping each other and building the most impressive temples honoring themselves, and, secondly, the popular Hindu and Buddhist gods of the day.

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Cambodia Hotel Guide :: Siem Reap's Hotel De La Paix

Go To The Hotel's Web 
  Site Where: Sivutha Boulevard, Siem Reap, Cambodia
September 25, 2008 at 1:50 PM | by ced138 | 1 Comment

HotelChatter and Jaunted Contributing Editor Claire Duffett is now reporting from Cambodia and this week she is giving us the low-down on the hotel scene. Any questions about accommodations? Send 'em to us and we'll get them answered for ya.


Angkor Wat is Cambodia's penultimate symbol, source of national pride, and hottest travel destination. The network of ancient temples'--built during the height of the ancient Khmer culture and abandoned in the jungle during its decline--attracts hundreds of thousands of visitors annually. Dozens of hotels in the nearby city of Siem Reap accommodate this steady influx.

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