Where to stay in Siem Reap
 

Me again. Same family of 4 (just posted Khao Lak vs Phuket). We have 3 nights/2days in Siem Reap. Wondering where to stay. Will be doing whirlwind trip of Angkor Wat and want to see floating city. We want to be pretty central to see as much as possible in this short time. A hotel where we can book drivers easily etc. would be beneficial. One post mentioned travelling to a further temple early in the morning and therefore seeing villagers setting out for their day; this is the kind of thing we would like.

We stayed at the Victoria Angkor which was reallt nice, traditional and 5 mins from the centre. Great hotel + birthday cake!!

Likewise, the Residence d'Angkor. Those are both luxury hotels - is that what you're looking for?

I second the Victoria Angkor - fantastic location on a park with a shrine, great pool, cool authentic Asian decor, colonial charm...the sort of place where you'd expect explorers with pith helmets to be hanging out at the bar.

What's your budget? If you're looking for a mid-priced hotel, I can recommend the Golden Temple Hotel. Our room was $58 a night, though some rooms are higher-priced. It's an easy walk or a short tuk-tuk ride from the central Siem Reap. Wonderful service, and you can make all your arrangements for tours, etc. through the front desk. It has a nice small pool for cooling off after a hot day at the temples, and a good restaurant. Lots of other nice features as well, including a free 1-hour massage.

All hotels in Siem Reap can book car and driver or tuk-tuk or guide for you.

Do you have the Dawn Rooney book yet? Angkor: A Guide to Cambodia's Wondrous Temples

We are staying next to the fangianpini villa hotel. it is very nice and has rooms overlooking the pool ( much quieter than street side) for $66.

This is a very peaceful hotel with a lovely modern design. I was just there checking out the lobby and pool and kitchen, could not see rooms as they are fully booked.

I was very touched this morning as I walked there and saw a foreign couple embracing their tuk tuk driver and both crying as they must be saying their goodbyes.

You become so attached to your young poverty stricken drivers.. I imagine all of us end of up "adopting them" in our own ways forever. They become family.

Cambodia will change your life.

I think the spelling is Frangipangi Villa, but I agree, it seems like a very nice hotel. I spent some time there at the pool and looked at a room, and even though we got in a tiff over the pool charges, I think it is a nice mid -range hotel. ( I like 7 Candles, at $20/night, better though!)

booking.com Grand Angkor was great for me
www.goldenbanana.info boutique B4 that
theangkorguide.net good guide.

I think 7 candles could be a bit too basic for some people.. but i agree, we are happy here .. having a pool though, with kids is almost a necessity. ( even without kids would be nice)

By the way, the pool is free for non guests if you eat $5 of food and drink.

Abbyo, without giving us a budget, it is difficult to make recommendations. Do you want something for $20 a night or for $200 a night?

We just got back a few days ago, and we have nothing but good things to say about the Pavillon d'Orient hotel. It's a little out of the way, about a 10-15 minute tuk-tuk ride from Pub Street, but that's no big deal. (And, like others have said, our assigned driver became a welcomed part of the overall experience and helped "save the day" with heads-up help more than once.)

The Pavillon doesn't really look like much from the outside, but once inside it's like stepping into an old French Colonial manor built around a wonderfully lush garden. Good meals, decent pool and exceptionally friendly service.

http://www.pavillon-orient-hotel.com/

Price range: $100-ish.

lin- Just make sure if you go to use the pool that you actually eat $5. I ate something like $4.50 worth of food, and figured they would just up the bill to $5. Instead they charged me $9.50; the $4.50 food bill PLUS the $5 pool fee. when I realized what they were doing, I asked if I could buy another drink to meet the $5 minimum and they said no, they couldn't change the charges.

I still think it's a very attractive hotel and good location, but that was really irritating.

I also highly recommend the Pavillion d'Orient as well as their sister hotel, the Pavillion Indochine. Indochine is slightly less posh but both are wonderful boutique hotels with fabulous service and lovely rooms. I prefer the out-of-pub street locations personally, as you get out of the tourist ghetto and into "normal" Siem Reap, and the hotels always have tuk tuks waiting to take you the new minutes into town for your dinner or shopping....it's not an inconvenience at all, in my opinion.

lcuy.. can see your irritation! cute place though. love the resident toads that come hopping out around the restaurant near pool at night. we had a coffee there last night and it was fun just watching them.

Thanks everyone. I will look into several of these. We are trying to stay under $100 and in most places we need 2 rooms as seems like they don't seem to book 4 per room for a family. Is this correct? Anyway, much under $100 is even better when it is x2. I'm happy with $20 if it's in the right location and is clean and reliable. I will definitely check all of these out. I'm more interested in "normal" Siam Reap than posh but if the price is right a little posh can be fun too.

OK,I've done some research now. Looks like we would prefer a smaller boutique hotel to the really large resorts such as the Victoria Angkor. Something with fewer than 15 or 20 rooms or so. Found family rooms to accomodate 4 people at Pavillion Indochine and Moon Boutique---can anyone comment on these?

Also saw recommendations for Kool Hotel, Hanuman Alaya---comments?

From this thread, I like the looks of 7 Candles and Golden Temple although Golden Temple has no vacancies for our dates.
We aren't really "huge resort" people. Prefer the "quaint" setting.

We were happy with the Bopha Angkor, just across the river (a very short walk, but out of some of the hubbub) from the center. Not a 5*, but was clean, had a pool, nice secure garden with the bungalows around it, A/C and very good restaurant with some authentic Khmer dishes (not usually very spicy, unlike Thai). Base rooms start at $50.

http://www.bopha-angkor.com/html/

Well, after much research we have booked La Niche D'angkor because we were looking for something small with less of a large "resort" feel. It looks like it is conveniently located walking distance to the market area. Hopefully it will be nice.

We stayed at the ATANUE in November and just loved it. See what they can do for you since you will need 2 rooms.
We had to stay in a standard for 4 nights and then moved to a poolside room for 3 nights. Because we stayed 7 nights, we only paid for 5.