Hi,
I was trying to find your review of HDLP in SR on your blog but maybe it's been removed? I would love to hear your opinion of this hotel-am considering it for a solo visit in Dec. Thanks, Jackie

Jackie-

I'll check when I get home, and I'll find some photos to post for you to see.

Cyn

Jackie - sorry for the delay in getting back to you! Ok, photos - only found 2 that are <b><font color="blue">NOT</font></b> very helpful, but here they are anyway:

http://tinyurl.com/2tkct5

We really liked this hotel - we were on the ground floor, in a Courtyard Garden Suite room that opened onto a central courtyard. When you first walked into the room, there was a walled-courtyard that contained a soaking tub (we never used it, but it did look pretty cool!), the next room was the bedroom and the bathroom was behind the bedroom. It was very nicely appointed, bed was comfortable, they give you use of an i-pod while there. Their website has some pretty comprehensive photos of the rooms and the restaurants:

http://www.hoteldelapaixangkor.com/index.php (you can turn the sound off by clicking the upper right of the home screen - it gets a little annoying after a while!)

Breakfast was included, and consisted of lots of fresh fruits and made to order items. They even had mimosas if you were so inclined! You could eat inside or out - depending on the heat. We had dinner at the restaurant one night, which was good. The Arts Lounge is huge - if it were mine, I would break it into smaller rooms to add a little intimacy.

The staff was wonderful! We corresponded for a little while after returning with one the the lounge waitresses - she was so delighted to practice her English on us. They all seemed genuinely pleased to have us as guests, and always would make an effort to ask us how our day was, or what what we were planning to do for the day. They would also offer any information they could about our destination. Really Jackie - it was a true pleasure to stay at that hotel - makes me smile thinking back on it!

As far as location: it's in the center of town at a very busy intersection. At night, DH would just go out and watch the traffic in utter amazement - there is a traffice light, but <b>lots</b> of times, people just ignored it (tuk-tuks, cars, bicycles...they didn't seem to care!). Or if the light turned red, and they were turning they just used the gas station's property to keep going. It was fun to watch - but you need to pay attention when crossing!

It is within walking distance to lots of restuarants and massage places, and a market is walk-able, but it is a long ways from Angkor Wat. We were happy with the location, but I think some may not be, as it is not a &quot;peaceful&quot; area. (Don't get me wrong - the rooms were perfectly quiet, but when you're outside the hotel grounds, it is hectic.)

I wish I had done a better job on photos of this hotel - don't know why I didn't!

Re: the solo visit. I think if I were traveling alone, I would feel perfectly comfortable staying at HDLP.

Let me know if I've missed anything of importance to you, and hope this helps. I'll be interested to hear what you decide, and if you stay there - what you thought when you return!

<font color="green">Cyn</font>

moremiles, hope you don't mind me jumping in with a ?

Cyn- When you ate at the hotel restaurant, did you sit on the swing? Was it comfortable or would you recommend a table?

Liz

Tim_and_Liz:

No - no swing for us - DH has a very bad back and requires support, which the swings do not have. But even if he didn't have that problem, I doubt we would have used the swings - it looked like sitting on your bed to eat - what do you do with your legs - keep them straight out in front of you, or sit &quot;Indian-style&quot;?

We saw people using them, though, and they looked to be having fun. The first picture in my link above is of one of the swings.

I just read my description again - how many times can I say &quot;courtyard&quot; in one paragraph? Geez - sorry!

courtyard.

Thanks cyn. Tim is 6'5&quot; and I don't think he'll go for the swings! I will show him your photo.

Thanks so much for all the info! I like the idea of being in the center of things since I will be alone, as long as the rooms are quiet and I did request a quiet, inner one. What time did you leave in the a.m. for the temples? I have booked Dara for 7:30a.m. Is that early enough? I hope the breakfast buffet starts early too.

Cyn - Thanks for the info. We have booked 4 nights there in late March. I really appreciated your description of the location and traffic - others have thought it would be a negative, but you seemed to turn it into a positive. We will just be coming from 4 nights at Anantara GT, which apparently is a bit remote, so I think we will enjoy being a bit closer to the action. We will be travelling with our kids (ages 15 and 12) so dinner on the swing will probably be a must!

Liz - I don't know that his height would be a problem if <b>you</b> really wanted to try it, as long as he's fairly flexible.

moremiles - 7:30 should be fine - I don't remember what time we left, but we never set an alarm and had breakfast before we left. I have a TON more photos of the temples and Tonle Sap - if you're interested, let me know and I'll upload.

jgg - yes, I have seen some negative comments about the location too, but I really disagree. It was nice to be able to walk to restaurant etc.

Are any of you going to see the floating villages on tonle sap? That was really fascinating. We also went to a landmine museum that was interesting/sad/scary; and I went to a killing fields memorial that was almost unbearable, but important to help understand what happened during Pol Pot's reign.

Cyn-
We have requested to visit Tonle Sap lake with Ponheary in March. I loved the account on filmwill's blog. (I think it was his?)

I have also asked to visit the landmine museum if time permits. Did you comment on it in your trip report? I will have to check. How much time did you spend there?

Re: swing dinner at HDLP: tall Tim just cannot sit &quot;Indian style&quot;. I still have to show him your photo.

Thanks Cyn and I'm not sure what I'll have time for in only 2 days-may do a school visit but want to avoid really bad roads so don't know about going farther afield.

T&amp;L, jump in with any other questions, no problem!

moremiles- I am so excited for you that you are going in December already! I can't wait to hear how it goes. It's going to be so difficult for me to wait until our March departure!
Liz

cyn - Thank you for the info. on the landmine museum and the killing fields memorial. I was not aware that these were close to Siem Reap. We have Ponheary scheduled for 4 days so will ask about those as well. We are definitely planning on doing the floating villages at Tonle Sap, as well as a school visit.

Do you have a link to your blog/trip report? I would love to read it.

<b>Liz</b> - I hope you like the floating villages as much as we did - just amazing! The landmine museum is very small - but the tour is conducted by a victim of a landmine explosion. We probably spent no more than 1/2 hour. It was one of those things that is important to see, you know?

<b>Jackie</b> - Ah - with just 2 days you won't have time for much besides the ruins - not that you'll be sorry with &quot;just&quot; that!

<b>jgg</b>: Unfortunatley, I never completed the journal - I got so far behind, and then I came home and real-life kicked in...I was able to keep up with the photos, which are linked through the site, and our itinerary is on the site, so here's the link if you want to look at those:

http://tinyurl.com/yrgw6m

And of course, if there's any specific question I'm happy to try and answer! It was such a fantastic trip.

<font color="green">Cyn</font>