hotel advice in siem reap
 

I'm having a difficult time deciding where to stay in Siem Reap. I'm a woman in my early 30's, who is giving up her backpacking days to splurge on a beautiful hotel. However, I am traveling alone and would like to stay somewhere that has at least a little possibility of meeting fellow travelers. Here are some places that I have looked into/read reviews about:

FCC Angkor - reveiws have me worried about the "freezing pool" and the starkness.

Shinta Mani

Sofitel Royal Angkor

Angkor Palace Spa Resort - looks beautiful and is A LOT cheaper than the competitors, but can't find a lot of reviews

La Residence d" Angkor

Thanks!

We stayed at the Sofitel. It was a beautiful hotel with a beautiful pool. The rooms were fine.

As we went with a group, I can't tell you about meeting other people, but there were a lot of people there.

It is not in town, but just a US$1 tuk-tuk ride to anyplace. ((F))

The Shinta Mani and the FCC are pretty alike in terms of starkness as well as pool temperature. WE stayed at both properties and preferred the FCC. Friends stayed aat the Angkor Palace but complained of bed bugs and uncomfortable mattresses (with the bed bugs, I would think that is a given!). For the price, I would recommend FCC...not as stark as its made out to be!

We also have stayed in both Shinta Mani and FCC. We have to change from Shinta Mani because air conditioning was not enough for Cambodia hot spring and because we had the feelling that Shinta Mani is kind of experiment of a Hotel runned by some kids (employees are from some kind of school, teens IMO). Regarding FCC, the pool was ok for March, it has some big trees that may make it cool but depends on your dates. Both hotels are kind of boutique, FCC is bigger (and growing into seccond floor) and has bussy restaurant&bar. Regarding Sofitel, it is a huge lux chain hotel. I would recommend FCC.

You definitely should consider Hotel de la Paix. It is a beautiful new hotel right in the middle of town. We stayed there over New Years. The public spaces are stunning and the rooms are beautifully done with a wonderful amount of space including beautiful bathrooms. We upgraded to the deluxe or whatever the better grade room was and asked for a quiet room with a nice view and got all of that over New Years for $225 including breakfast. I would guess it's much cheaper at other times of year. I booked it myself using their website. Their quoted room rates say something like $450 but if you use their booking tool and input your dates you will find it to be far far cheaper than that. I got better rates this way than using Orbitz or other sites. The hotel was just remodeled/rebuilt a year ago with very cool, stunning architectural interiors that incorporate Khmer artifacts into the modern look to make a very interesting place. It would also seem very suited to your interest in meeting people as it has a very large, very cool bar/lounge off the lobby. It also has a very nice private pool area with amazing landscaping including both covered and outdoor areas -- very dramatic. We went by the FCC for lunch and thought the restuarant area was very pleasant annd possibly another good place for you to hang out to meet people but the hotel seemed very simple. But for that reason it may have a good amount of people your age. I would skip the Angkor Palace and Shinta Mani per what other people have said about it. There are many nicer hotels for good prices. A lot of the hotels in Siem Reap cater to middle-age tourists so that could present a challenge. I'd say De la Paix and FCC are younger. Possibly also consider the Sofitel or Victoria Angkor just because they are big enough to have a broad group of ages staying there and both are supposed to be nice hotels --but I did not get to check these out while there.
Skip the Raffles - pretty but definitely designed for those over 50. Nowadays there are so many bars and restaurants in downtown area that are fun that I think you should have no problem meeting people. You might also arrange a tour of the temples and ask to join some other group of younger travelers on the tour. There are many guides listed on previous postings here. Or you can ask your hotel if they can arrange something like that for you. It is really worthwhile to have a guide to explain the differnt temples and very inexpensive. Enjoy. It's a wonderful place to visit.

Thanks so much Paulo59! I'm going to try to book de la Paix...hope they are not full!!

We loved delaPaix in November. There were lots of young people in the bar area when we arrived late at night. It is a truly fabulous hotel.

De la Paix looks fabulous, but it's a little pricey for us for four nights. If you're looking for a good bargain, Pon Heary has recommended a new hotel named Angkor Holiday Hotel. The rooms are half price through October I believe and they look nice enough. I think the web site is www.angkorholidayhotel.com. We'll be giving it a try in April.

Glad to help gigi. Hope you have a blast. Feel free to post other questions.

Our guide, Sopheak,(a friend of Ponheary's) recommended the Bopha Angkor Hotel. Looks nice from the brochure and reasonably priced. Good location in town, but not on the main thoroughfare.
We had dinner there and it was excellent. Beautiful courtyard and my partner ordered the five course meal for $14 - fed both of us and they didn't charge us for two.

We stayed at La Maison D'Angkor. It's outside of town on National Road 6 just past the Cultural Village (interesting place to visit). It's a beautiful, small hotel and the Cambodian staff was excellent, but the French manager was extremely unpleasant (and I like the French). It was also a tuk tuk ride into town - not a pleasant experience because of the pollution and dust - I wear contacts and had to close my eyes and cover my eyes the whole trip - and was still in serious pain.

Don't know about the FCC Angkor. We stayed at the FCC in Phnom Penh and liked it. A bit noisy, but nice rooms (Bayon was fine - no need to pay extra for Ta Prohm).

I can also recommend Sopheak as a guide. He was very kind, helpful, knowledgable, and spoke good English - and charges only $20/day + $25 for a private car (which he leases from a friend). His contact info is chhim sopheak .
English speaking guide/driver siem reap of cambodia,
H/P 012 97 81 07 ,( 855 ) 12 97 81 07
email: [email protected]

We hired him for a day and a half. He met us at the airport, arranged a car and driver to Phnom Penh, and, at no extra charge, gave me a ride to the Cultural Village our last day and spent over an hour there with me answering my questions. He was also very patient with my lagging behind taking photos and asking lots of "out of the tourist box" questions - like "Who's really making the money from all the tourism?" Hint, not the average Cambodian.

Sharon