Sunday, February 17, 2013

Hotels and Guesthouses in Siem Reap
- and your reviews



Hotels to stay in Siem Reap

See the locations on Siem Reap Hotels Google Map

Auberge Mont Royal: From 39 USD. French-Khmer charm, a cuisine from Cambodian curry to French pastries, a family-run hotel with only 30 rooms, owned by a Canadian-Cambodian. With Spa L'Auberge. See picture on flickr.com. Very good reviews on tripadvisor.com

Bunwin Boutique Hotel: From 69 USD. National Road 06, Phum Banteay Chas, Opposite Samaki Market. 10 rooms, pool. Very good reviews on tripadvisor.com.

Golden Temple Hotel: From 56 USD. 7 Makara Road. Within walking distance from Psar Chas Market. Very good reviews on tripadvisor.com

Picture by Golden Temple Hotel
Twin Superior Room

Picture by Golden Temple Hotel


Heritage Suites Hotel: From 155 USD. Near Wat Polanka. 26 suites and rooms and pool. Outstanding according to reviews on tripadvisor.com

Picture by Esme_Vos
The Pool


Hôtel de la Paix: Closed for renovatipon until 2013.

Picture by daveperkes

Picture by mhiran1

Picture by chloe Q


Journeys Within Boutique Hotel: From 110 USD. Very good reviews on tripadvisor.com


Karavansara Retreat and Residences: From 74 USD. Street 25. The main building is a renovated colonial villa. A wooden Khmer house hosts the Karavansara Café Lounge. There is a pool on the rooftop. Quite good reviews on tripadvisor.com and on rustycompass.com.

Picture by marhas
Rooms in a white colonial villa

Picture by Karavansara
Colonial Heritage suite

Picture by marhas
Karavansara Café Lounge in an old Khmer House


La Maison d'Angkor: From 107 USD.Outside the town, but free tranmsport in the evening. Very good reviews on tripadvisor.com

Picture by La Maison d'Angkor


Mystères d’Angkor: From 63 USD. One step ahead from Royal Palace, behind Wat Polanka, in the shade of a tropical garden and a a colonial-style villa and a short stroll from the banks of the Siem Reap River, with private terraces and a swimmingpool. Take a room a bit away from the wall on the streetside, if you want to avoid some noise from the street, recommends a guest on tripadvisor.com, but most reviews say it's a quiet retreat.

Pictures by Tjeerd


La Residence d'Angkor: From 285 USD. River Road. Phone +855 63 963 390. Orient-Express hotel on the banks of Siem Reap river.

Picture by disney_den

Picture by shu tu


Pavillon d'Orient Boutique Hotel: From 95 USD. Located a bit outside of the main town, bot transfer from and to airport is included as well als Tuk Tuk to town, temples and lake. Each room with balcony. Salted water swimming pool. Excellent reviews on tripadvisor.com.

Picture by foonie
See more pictures on flickr.com


Royal Bay Inn Angkor Resort: See picture by markren. Oum Khun Street. Phone +855 63 760 500.

Raffles Grand Hotel d'Angkor: From 330 USD. Opened in 1932. Elegant cage elevator. Raffles Spa.

Picture by travfotos

Picture by travfotos


Shinta Mani Hotel: 39 rooms. Good reviews on tripadvisor.com.

Picture by laihiu
The pool of Shinta Mani


Siddharta Boutique Hotel: From 80 USD. Excellent reviews on tripadvisor.com.

Picture by ggallezot


Sokha Angkor Resort: From 109 USD. National Road No 6, Sivatha Street Junction. Very good reviews on tripadvisor.com, but one guest points out: It's a smoking hotel, so the hallways can smell of smoke.


Somadevi Angkor Hotel & Spa: From 105 USD. The 40 metres pool is an asset. Good reviews on tripadvisor.com.
Picture by e_chaya


Sorio Moria: From 50 USD. Wat Bo Road. A hotel owned by two Norwegians and the Khmer people working at the hotel, with a nice rooftop bar with great views over Siem Reap. Sorio Morio was established in 2007 by a Norwegian couple with a strong interest in Sustainable Tourism Development. With ongoing training the local employees are empowered. In the second step in this process 51 percent of the ownership of the hotel business were handed over to the local employees. Environmental practices help reduce energy consumption and waste. The hotel also offers traditional Khmer massage. Read the review by Kerry Law on www.goodtrippers.co.uk. No pool, but you can walk down the street and use the pool of another hotel, as you can read in the very good reviews on tripadvisor.com.

Picture by Sorio Maria
Happy moment: the staff became owners of shares of the Sorio Maria Hotel


The Samar Villas & Spa Resort: From 160 USD. Around 1 km from centre. Two villas, an apartment and 5 junior suites, overlooking a swimming pool and a tropical garden. With a library with literature and documentation of the archaeological sites of Angkor. Very good reviews on tripadvisor.com.

Picture by JVR_UK


Terrasse des Elephants Boutique Hotel: From 71 USD. With pool on rooftop. Streets on all sides of the hotel. Rooms with Angkor decor - even in the bathroom. Quite good reviews on tripadvisor.com

Picture by Motoeque


Victoria Angkor Resort & Spa: From 224 USD. A hotel in French colonial style opposite the Royal Park with saltwater pool and three vintage Citroën cars. It has big suites. Very good reviews on tripadvisor.com.

Picture by yukop

Picture by kenworker

Picture by kenworker



Guesthouses to stay in Siem Reap

See the locations on Siem Reap Guesthouses Google Map

Golden Banana Bed&Breakfast and Superior Hotel:From 25 USD.

Picture by Thom Watson

Picture by Thom Watson
Stone bathtub on second floor blacony


Golden Mango Inn: From 25 USD. Very good reviews on tripadvisor.com.


Golden Takeo Guesthouse: From 14 USD. With rooftop restaurant with Khmer food and good fruit shakes. Free bicycles for the guests. And free fish foot spa. And very helpful owners, according to the very good reviews on tripadvisor.com.

Picture by Prom Pov


Golden Temple Villa:A few minutes walk from pub street. From 18 USD. 40 rooms. Tropical garden with fish ponds. See video von youtube.com. Very good reviews on tripadvisor.com. See pictures on flickr.com.


Seven Candles Guesthouse: 307 Wat Bo Road. The 28-room guesthouse is owned by Ponheary Ly and her family; natives of Siem Reap; and managed by Lori Carlson from Austin, Texas. And they promise: "Your tour will focus on people, places, and culture and not just the main tourist attractions, for a more enriching experience." Ponheary Ly formed a foundation in 2006 o be of service to the children of the rural poor in the villages of Siem Reap Province. Read more about School is the answer.Excellent reviews on tripadbvisor.com about this guesthouse and their guided tours.

Picture by bluelizardworld


The Rose Apple: From 29 USD. Tim (from Belgium) and his wife Ohn (locally born) live in a two story building in a guarden with mango trees in a residential area about 5 minutes by Tuk-Tuk south from the city center. The upper floor holds two spacious double rooms for guests. And they offer self created excursions to the daily life of Cambodia. Very good reviews on tripadvisor.com. See picture on flickr.com.

Picture by The Rose Apple
The bigger one of two rooms with seating area



Read more:

Siem Reap - the gate to Angkor

Mouthwatering food in Siem Reap: Reviews of restaurants.

Angkor Archeological Park : The incredible remains of the Khmer kingdom

Magical Tonle Sap Lake: Living on the water and with the nature

Saturday, February 16, 2013

Magical Tonle Sap Lake: Living on the water
and with the nature

See the locations on Tonle Sap Google Map

Picture by cucumber!

Picture by to ang, with love
Walking in Tonle Sap Lake

Tonle Sap lake and its resources are a very important food source for Cambodians. Over 500 species of fish are reported in the Mekong river system, which includes the Tonle Sap Lake. The Fishery Law from 1987 protects flooded forest around the lake, so clearance and cutting is prohibited. The lake was listed as a Biosphere Reserve by Unesco in October 1997.
There are three core areas in the Tonle Sap Biosphere Reserve: Prek Toal (approximately 31,282 ha) in Battambang Province and the other two Moat Khla-Boeng Chhmar lake (approximately 32,969 ha) and Stoeng Sen river (6,586 ha) in Kampong Thom province. At Prek Toal you find waterfowls and relatively intact flooded forest. You can discover Painted Stork, Spot-billed Pelican, Lesser Adjutant and Black-headed Ibis. Highly endangered Grater Adjutant and Milky Stork were also observed, as well as White-winged Duck. Access to the area is only available by boats, that take one hour from Chong Kneas and 4 hours on average from Battambang via Sangke river on speedboat.

Picture by sharon.schneider

The flood of Mekong in rainy season, starting from June, reverses the outflow of the lake water pouring large amount of water through Tonle Sap river into the lake. The annual inflow from Mekong and the flows of rainwater from the many streams in the lake surroundings contribute to the rise of the lake water from less than one metre depth on average in dry season to 8-10 metres in wet season. At peak flood (September-October) only tree top and tall buildings including the floating houses are sighted.

Picture by cramsay23
Houseboat with garden

Between March and May the water retreats and leaves many small isolated deep pools of water. At this time, the mash and swamp which appears by the lakeshore at the fringe of flooded forest serve as feeding grounds for large colonies of waterbirds.
This all has been docoumented in a Unesco Report by Mam Kosal.

Picture by pinreader
Sunset over Tonle Sap

Picture by Marshall Segal

Picture by dee_
Sun down over Tonle Sap, seen from Phnom Krom


Chong Khneas: Vietnamese floating village, where the speedboats to Phnom Penh and Battambang dock. As talesofasia.com notes, you can learn quite a bit about the ecology of the lake at Gecko Environment Centre. Learn about the Tonle Sap, the Mekong and the way fishing communities live on the lake. But: "Avoid the 1 1/2-hour tours out of the boat ferry jetty Chon Khneas", recommends Frommer's.

Preak Toal Bird Sanctuary: West of Chong Khneas. A very special two-day-tour with canoes and overnight at a homestay on a floating house is offered by Terre Cambodge.

Picture by Peter Nijenhuis
The Lesser Adjutant (Leptoptilos javanicus), a bird in the stork family.

Picture by All Points East (The South East Asia Specialists) Where you go shopping

Picture by Tajai
How you move on in Preak Toal

Picture by fotofreund
Temple on stilts on Sangker River

Picture by Tajai

Picture by Tajai
At a womens cooperative, where handicrafts woven out of water hyacinth stems are sold. The cooperatives name is Saray. Much of the work is performed on the specially constructed Saray Platform in Prek Toal. This was built to allow the women to create some of the larger mats, which can be seen in hotels such as the Amansara Hotel in Siem Reap. It is also the principal selling point for the products for tourists who come to Prek Toal or are passing through on the way to or from Battambang. Read the background on osmosetonlesap.net.

Picture by Tajai
Looking out from the school


Waterway in the wetlands of Preak Toal


Kompong Phluk Floating Village: 25 kilometers east of Chong Khneas. The flooded forest is at its best for about four months, from August to November. Read more on talesofasia.com

Picture by synnvang

Picture by gregw66


Me Chrey Floating Village:
Picture by Peter Nijenhuis

Picture by Peter Nijenhuis
Cham people living in Me Chrey


Kompong Khleang Floating Village: A Khmer Village with more than 10 000 inhabitants. Many houses are built on stilts up to 10 meters up. Read more on talesofasia.com. The village can be reached by boat from the Chong Khneas dock, this takes about two and a half hours. Or you drive to Domdek on Route 6 (one and a half hour) and then take a boat for another hour. Alex in Wanderland shows, what she discovered here. Another experience is described by angkor wat tuk tuk. See also the video by robokeefe.


Picture by Brandon Shigeta


Learn more about the world on and around Tonle Sap Lake:
Exploring the Mekong’s Uncertain Future: Jeff Oppermann, a senior freshwater scientist for The Nature Conservancy, reports about a 1,500-mile journey down the river on green.blogs.nytimes.com
The Floating World of The Tonle Sap
Rare Wings over Cambodia
Cambodias Snake Slaughter
Facing up the Environment: Worries about pollution and dams along the Mekong River.


Tours from Siem Reap:
Osmose: Visit to the traditional floating village of Prek Toal and to the Osmose Projects. Also homestay at Prek Toal.
Sam Veasna Center: Birding Experiences in Cambodia
Tara River Boat: Tours on Tonle Sap Lake.
Terre Cambodge: Tours from Siem Reap.
Beyond Unique Escapes: Tours to Kompong Phluk, Mechrey Floating Village and Prek Toal Bird Sanctuary.
Angkor Taxi Service: TukTuks, Cars and Vans with driver and tours.


Recommended tour guides:
Cambodia Tours