Raffles Le Royal, Phnom Penh

5/5   Posted by Dr. Andreas Koestler, Austria in November 2008
"The Raffles Le Royal is one of the few remaining classic hotels in South East Asia, and plays in a category with the Raffles in Singapore, the E & O in Penang or The Strand in Yangoon. Being built in colonial style at 80 years ago, it charms you with delightfully stylish public spaces (including the great Elephant Bar), but also spacy guest rooms with balconies and period bathrooms - without missing any of the 21st century necessities like wireless internet. The swimming pool is central to the whole hotel, a place to hang out all day long, with delightful snacks and fruity drinks being served. The breakfast buffet is sumptuous without feeling overloaded. The whole experience is well balanced by the excellent service the staff offers to all travelers. Overall, it will be hard to experience this quality of old style hotel and environment at the price of the Raffles Le Royal. It is the best hotel by far in Phnom Penh, and has kept this standard - at least since my first visit in 2002. "

5/5   Posted by MR. PAL, Michael, Germany in July 2008
"This is really a classic, wonderful old world hotel. My brother and I were in a wonderfully quiet, twin bed room, all organised superbly by the Raffles Le Royal team. The breakfasts, included in the Asia Rooms rate, were wonderful, with a lovely selection. They pressed a fresh "health" juice in front of my eyes each day. The continental pastries were first class and, best of all, I have not had smallgoods (Schwarzwalder Schinken, Bierwurst, etc.) and cheese like that anywhere in Asia. The pools are wonderful, and having a late-ish night swim in warm water with the beautiful art deco surrounds lit up was magical. The Elephant Bar was a real treat, and happy hour with Raffles Singapore Slings less than $4 was wonderful. Only things that weren't perfect was the advice from the concierge - advice was good, suggested prices for events (drivers, bus tickets, tours, etc.) were significantly more expensive than could be found on street or outside agencies... a real pity. The other things were (i) a bit of grim in the bathroom and (ii) the fact that we could not turn the aircon down in our room (full blast freezing). Otherwise a wonderful stay in a fascinating part of the world."

5/5   Posted by MR. GUERANDEL, Vincent, France in April 2008
"Really loved this hotel. We almost did not stay here due to the negative response from loyal Raffle customers "the hotel was not up to Raffle standards". I guess our expectations are not so refined. The hotel was beautiful, excellent pool, great breakfast and wonderful Seafood buffet. We have 3 children and found the hotel was very child friendly. We spent our last night here and it was a perfect ending to our wonderful vacation in Cambodia."

4/5   Posted by MS. RESEK, Diane, United States in January 2008
"I was disappointed in the hotel. I have stayed at other hotels in the chain and felt they were a better value. I did not feel my stay was worth the price. The room was not really as nice as the one at the Amanjaya where I stayed previously. That hotel was less than half the price of Raffles. That said, the service at Raffles was outstanding. I was met on my arrival by a nice man who wanted to know my plans and how he could facilitate them. I had hoped to make a special purchased and he researched the stores and made several recommendations to me. "

0/5   Posted by MR. HANDELMAN, Howard, United States in January 2008
"The Raffles is an extremely elegant hotel and its guest relations person (John) was fantastic. My major criticism, and it is not a trivial one, is that the air conditioning was set way to high giving me and my partner colds. Also, the old fashioned style (lighting system in the room, room key) was fine for those seeking a totally colonial experience, but we preferred a more modern style. It's a very fine hotel but not worth paying about twice the price of other excellent AsiaRooms hotels."

3/5