Angkor Wat Questions
 

Does the Bangkok Air discover pass cover flights to Sien Riep? What's a good hotel in SR? Who is a good guide and how do we contact him/her?

Andy,

I have researched this a bit for our trip next year. The discover pass covers flights to SR. We are looking at the Sofitel which, although expensive by Cambodian standards, has had good reviews. If you are looking for a more "boutiquey" kind of experience the Shinta Mani is the one. I have not researched a guide but will look forward to seeing others' recommendations as well as hearing about your experiences if you go before we do.

Are you good for Sturbridge on 4/17?

I have stayed at both the SHinta mani and the Pansea and enjoyed both tho preferred the Shinta Mani. I think I was the first person to post re the Shinta Mani in Feb 2004 when it had just opened. Subsequently people have posted favourably re the FCC which was not open when I went first in AUg 03 then in Feb 04. I used the same guide both times - [email protected] - called Ta. Highly recoed.

I stayed at the Sofitel in SR this past November and could recommend it highly. The pool area was really nice to sit by during our afternoon break from sightseeing at the temples and after we returned in the evening. We had a wonderful guide, Pech Kunthea, who was very knowledgeable and friendly. His e-mail is [email protected]. I don't know if he sends other guides in his place if he is overbooked, as seems to happen sometimes, but we had a very good experience with him.

hi gpanda...
the bangkok airpass works for siem reap...the flights are always sold out
well in advance...and the each way price is $80 international rate but still much cheaper than booking it directly.

we stayed at the boutique hotel passagio
...it was smaller, nice big cool clean rooms...no pool, included breakfast for $80 per nite for 3 of us. it was just across the bridge from the market and we could walk into town or catch a tuk tuk just about anywhere cost us $1.

call the 800# for the reservations for SR using bkk air (i got a clerk in india by the way)...they tell you the price, make the res and then you have to send them a check, non-personal, for the fees (send ck to nyc)....you have to book at least 3 legs per person however....so you would need to book SR, r.t., and at least one other leg to use the pass....do they fly to krabi??? probably....they do go to koh samui and phuket...

Thanks Bob. Yes they have one flight per day to Krabi, but it leaves before the one from SR arrives. So it looks like we'll have to take Thai airways down to Krabi and the third leg on Bangkok Air as Krabi-BKK. Please E-mail me their 800#.

Any thoughts on the Pansea?

i considered the pansea on my trip but was taken by angkor village....sorry i picked as i did...beds were bad!!!

i'll dig out the 800#

I considered Angkor Village until I read where Bob said the beds were uncomfortable. So, I chose the Sofitel, ... where the bed was rock hard. Beautiful room, buildings, and grounds, though. And the pool is nice. The staff is friendly and attentive. The food was good but I did get sick. May have been from a gulp of water (my fault) in the shower, but might have been from their dinner buffet (my fault).

After making the reservations, I got an e-mail from someone who worked at the reservations desk at the hotel offering guide services. Good service at a good price, but no particular reason to recommend it except that it was convenient to arrange. I think that your chances of getting a good guide there are very high. My impression was that they were very well trained (saw other guides speaking other lanuages to other tourists).

The traditional beds in Cambodia are very hard, so you may have had the same beds at the Sofitel as at Angkor Village... I don't know about the beds at the Pansea.

Beds at the Pansea are comfy, rooms are large and the layout of the hotel is lovely. They also have a great first floor bar.

We thoroughly recommend, Saron Soeun. He was recommended by someone else on this site last year and he's fantastic. If you do a search you'll find reviews for him.

His website: www.sarontours.com
His email: [email protected]

Can't recommend him enough. He will pick you up at the airport and deliver you back there as part of his job. He is very knowledgable and will not pack toooo much into your day (unlike his replacement who thought that's what we would want).
If not available, Saron will arrange someone else.

We also asked Saron for his recommendation for a Khmer run hotel, not a multinational, and can recommend the Auberge Mont Royal. Deluxe room is USD50.00. Central, clean, very friendly staff, blind massuer inhouse, bar and restaurant. No pool though - we didn't need one anyway. When a driver failed to turn up one morning, one of their staff took over and drove for us.

We were there in Dec last year.

based on rec's found here, we have booked Saron Soeun as our REP guide. We've emailed aback and forth a few times and most recently, I told hm what we did and did not want to do with only 2 days; very accomodating. will post in mid-April (booked him in Dec.) GPANDA: based on a ex-pat's rec, am using a BKK-based travel agent for our DIsocvery Pass tix. Found that talking to "Gavin" in India for Bangkok Airways was a bit stressful and some of the legs we wanted were "full". However, when I contacted BKK tavel agent, Toom, with the same itinerary, she was able to book as we wanted (and seperately, got us a lower price from BKK to SIN than ANY web site ---and I searched zillions). her email is [email protected] I asked her if I could post her email as I thought she was very helpful and responsive, so tell her that Jan from NY forwarded her name via fodors. hope she can help you. (btw: will pay for Discovery Pass after our BKK arrival--no checks needed as for Delhi-based Gavin.) minimum 3 legs. (we booked BKK-Chiang Mai-BKK-REP-BKK-LP-BKK) hope this helps as you've helped me a lot. (also booked at FCC Cambodia. Jan

To take this thread one step beyond: does anyone have any recommendations for travel to Sien Riep, either by land or air from Vietnam?

There are flights on Vietnam Air from Saigon (HCMC) to Siem Reap.

Thanks to everyone. I know there a definitive book oin Angkor Wat, but have forgotten the name and author.

GPANDA: one of them is "Ancient ANgkor" by Michael Freeman. got it from Amazon; read it all last night and found it to be very accessible and easy to comprehend. even rates the wats with1*, 2** & 3***. won't take it tho, very heavy.

I prefer Dawn Rooney's book, Angkor, as a guide to take along. I do have Michael Freeman's book as well, but it's larger to carry.

For what it's worth I have Dawn Rooney's book, the fifth edition which has no set release date, on order from Amazon. Hopefully it will come out this summer as projected.

I checked and DR's book is due in July. I'll see if I can wait. A travel agent (to whom I was sent by Bob) recommended the Victoria Hotel. Any thoughts?

There are several reviews on the asiahotels.com website - all are positive. It is French colonial style hotel with 130 rooms that opened December 2003. Price is about the same or slightly less than the Sofitel. I will definitely consider it.

I checked tripadvisor.com for hotel reviews - not much on the Victoria but recent reviews of the Pansea have not been good at all. The Shinta Mani is the top rated hotel with many excellent reviews - apparently the owners are building a new larger hotel which opens in May. Sofitel, the #2 ranked hotel also received good reviews.

Craig: have you found any feed back on your web sites about the Days Inn? Now I am vascillating between Shinta Mani (as that wa smy first choice a while ago) or Days Inn which came back with all inclusive (incl airport r/t) of $65 last night. FCC Cambodia, based on report here seems just too much at$120 for what it offers.thanks Jan

Janak626 - I saw nothing on the Days Inn.

Janak626
The rate you got for the Days Inn seems a little high for an April booking. They are showing on the Direct Room website for $50 and for $46 on this site
ahttp://www.passionasia.com/ Both are inclusive of taxes/service charge and breakfast but not airport transfers. Taxi is around $6 each way. Agree that the FCC is overpriced. The one in Phnom Penh is just as nice and charges only half the rate.   

Craig, I just checked the Shinta Mani web site again. Did you see wherein for whatever amount you want to donate, one can buy a pair pf piglets for a family to raise, buy a bicycle for a kid to ride to school, repair a well, purchase school supplies and so on? How cool is all of that for those of us with many heartstrings to be pulled in the name of the world's forgotten people? Am in the process of booking there for 2 nights in early April. what did you decide? (fortunately, ahve not paid any deposits anywhere else, yet.)I appreciate allof your feedback. Jan

I have just booked a room at Angkor Hotel; it's deluxe for US$60 for 4 nights, so $240 in total (inclusive of taxes). That includes a free transfer to the airport, although I don't believe it includes breakfast. Not that it matters, as hotel breakfasts usually turn out to be horrible anyway.

Will report on the hotel when I get back.

Janak626 - I do not have to make any decisions on hotels for a while as my trip is not until Feb. 2006. Very cool about the Shinta Mani though.

checked 6 (SIX!!!) web sites and just booked Shinta Mani for April @ $89 on www.precisionreservation.com (same site as www.planetholiday.com,btw) all inclusive for 2. thanks for getting me back on track, Craig...and my friends all want to "buy" pairs of piglets. just think of the possibilities......

yeh, definitely have those piglets on my shopping list also...

craig---i think i know someone who does not want to raise piglets??

Bob & Craig: I've enjoyed this thread and thank you, again for your help. A while ago, I emailed my list of friends and asked for any kind of school supplies to bring to Siem Reap. I received tons, incl solar powered calculators which our guide suggested. (Once I off-load those things, then the shopping begins---fair trade in my mind) Now, I sent one asking for piglets, et.al. I will post about the Shinta Mani as well as all the rest. Jan

Janak626 - The rate you got of $89 for the Shinta Mani is not all inclusive. That rate is $110 as per the web site. Several sites list it for less than this such as http://www.cambodia-travel.com/shint...hotel/room.htm for $95.

Scotters; I owe you one. THANK YOU. the former site was willing to match the lower fare via a credit but since the res. wasn't confirmed, I canceled it out and booked through your site @ $95. I really appreciate the link. btw, do you have a secret site for 'the lowest" BKK fares? take care, Jan

Jan: I'll be interested to read your feedback on both the Shinta Mani and the Day's Inn when you return. They nearly face each other on the street...

azucena. I have certainly vascillated now haven't I? Shinta Mani is where I started months ago. Ther idea of buying school uniforms and piglets is quite endearing. I will post, compare, and so on. thanks for your time and feedback, too.

a good bkk site is: www.huahin.20m.com and slightly lower is www.asiavoyage24.com....i have only used the hua hin site...

Scotters: great web site for reservations. already have confirmation back and $95 all inclusive includes airport r/t transfer. good deal. thanks. Bob, will try huahin site for that extra night in BKK. thank you