Itinerary & Accommodation

There was a slight change in our planned itinerary because we decided to spend another day in Phnom Penh. Accommodations had to be rearranged, but thankfully they were still available at such short notice.

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Itinerary:

Day 1 (Evening): Siem Reap (Angkor Wat, Angkor Mondial Resturant)

Day 2: Siem Reap (Angkor Thom - Bayon, Baphuon, Royal Palace Area, Terrace of the Elephants, Prasats Suor Prat; Ta Prohm, Phnom Bakheng [sunset], Pub Street, Noon Night Market, Angkor Night Market)

Day 3: Siem Reap (Banteay Srey, East Mebon, Ta Som, Neak Pean, Preah Khan, Angkor Wat)

Day 4: Siem Reap (Angkor Wat [sunrise], Prei Prasat, Prasat Komnap, Prasat Leak Neang, Tonle Sap, Old Market, Noon Night Market, Angkor Night Market)

Day 5: Phnom Penh (Central Market/Phsar Thmey, Sisowath Quay, Phnom Penh Night Market)

Day 6: Phnom Penh (Wat Phnom, National Museum, Royal Palace, Sliver Pagoda, S-21 Tuol Sleng Museum, Independence Monument, Russian Market, Central Market/Phsar Thmey, Night Market)

Day 7: Sihanoukville (Serendipity Beach, Ochheuteal Beach)

Day 8: Koh Rong Salem (Ko Tas Island, Saracen Bay)

Day 9: Sihanoukville (Serendipity Beach)

Day 10 (Morning): Siem Reap (Old Market)

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Accommodation:

All prices are in USD.

1. Siem Reap - Alliance Villa

Alliance Villa is situated just 5-10 minutes walk away from Angkor Night Market (taking the shortcut, which consist of 3 short dirt routes, 1 of which was pretty dark). Which makes it one of the plus points of this accom. You don't have to stay near Angkor Wat because it closes at 5.30pm everyday (restricted access by the guards), so there's pretty much nothing to see at night. Your best place to chill out would be at Noon and Angkor Night Markets. Noon Night Market is less than 2 minutes walk from Angkor Night Market and Pub Street less than 8 minutes walk away. They're all connected in a sense and is closer than it looks on the map.

It costs $20 per night for a decently big room. Provides basic amenities and 2 bottles of mineral water. Has a fridge, which works fairly ok (water dripping within) and you can get 1L mineral water for 50 cents each (good deal). However, the water pressure for the tap is pathetic and the cleanliness isn't quite there. Lamp shade was spoilt (was fixed later on but broke again after accidentally being touched lightly). Air Con unit was huge, but functions pathetically. Always starts at around 25-27 degrees Celsius and through the night, would decrease by 1 degrees gradually, till it reaches about 22 degrees in the morning.

Provides a decent hairdryer and extra floor towels.

Breakfast was pretty awesome, especially with the Sunny Side Up American Breakfast (inclusive of 2 pieces of toasts and bacon).

Contrary to the reviews on TripAdvisor, Kimshay, the GM, was friendly indeed but not very helpful. I think he has fallen to the dark side... We engaged him for 3 days to bring us around Angkor Complex and costs us $20 per day. He was on the ball most of the time, but didn't interact much with us. Didn't defend us when we were being hounded by the local children to buy stuff and the deals (meals and Tonle Sap Boat ride) he recommended to us were very touristy and expensive (I believe he got commission from them).

Overall ratings: 7/10 (good location and value for money)

Cleanliness: 5.5/10 (grainy feeling ground, bad location of gully trap in toilet, near towel hanger)

Amenities: 7/10 (plus: mineral water, hairdryer; minus: air-con, water pressure)

Service: 6/10 (didn't like the recommendations and service felt pretentious - email response was delayed)

2. Phnom Penh - Bolyna Palace Hotel

If you check out the web, you'll be wondering if the spelling of this Hotel is Bolyna or Bolina. Well, guess what, it's both "right". That's because at the hotel location itself, there's actually 2 signboards, referring to the same hotel, with 2 different spellings. Speak about consistency. They couldn't even be bothered to proof read it...

Staff was not very friendly, amenities was horrible, they only provided soap and not even an extra floor towel (dirty floor rug). It was the only accom that didn't provide breakfast. There was this fairly young guy at the counter which was the worst. It felt like he was mocking us all the way. He was the one who said he would be willing to lend us his handphone, but just that his sim card didn't have any money left (what's the point of telling us that?) Don't get me wrong, he sounds fine from the description, but the tone, the way he answered my questions, were all proof of how pretentious he was.

Because of him, I created a 5 tier people grouping, with 1 tier being the most genuine, and 5 being the worst. He belongs, undeniably in the 5th tier. There was 2 other ladies, 1 of which was rather helpful. She even offered her own shampoo when I asked if the hotel provides it. Though awkward (we rejected of course), it was the gesture that moved me slightly. She, belonged to 2 tier.

The hotel had a majority of Malaysian guests. Costs $20 a night for a standard room. Specially requested for a hair dryer and a non-smoking room but non of my requests were met. Saw an ash tray with cigarette ash in it even though the room didn't stink of cigarette smoke...

You'll be better off booking an accom nearer to the quay as Bolyna Palace Hotel was quite a walk away from the "night life". Heard it's cheaper as well (about $15/night).

Overall ratings: 4/10

Cleanliness: 4/10

Amenities: 4/10

Service: 3/10 (none of the staff could speak English and were not helpful at all)

3. Sihanoukville - Reef Resort

After reaching Sihanoukville and checking in, we realised that Reef Resort was one of the more Atas accoms in the area. From TripAdvisor, Reef Resort came in behind Coolabah Resort. Both costs around the same, but we ended up paying more for Reef Resort as Coolabah was fully booked and only the more expensive rooms were available for Reef Resort. Decided to give it a go due to its good ratings.

Well, I have to admit, the service there was good. Oce, Jay (front desk - noon) and a few other Cambodian staff (night) were very helpful in assisting us and directing us around the area. However, on the last day of our stay in Reef Resort, we were kinda "outcasted" from the resort because we would have to pay a 50% rate for a late checkout of 7pm since we booked a night bus back to Siem Reap and it was impractical to pay that much to hang around. The room costs us $47.50/night for a poolside room and that would require us to pay an additional $23+ more.

What I thought they could have done for us were to allow us to stay till 4pm at least, since Oce mentioned that house keeping was at 4pm. However, it wasn't suggested to us. She did however, said that we could hang around the poolside area.

There was a massive black out in the entire area and most of the accoms were run on generators. Most accoms either reserve the backup power for the night, or for their pubs (yes, no electricity in the rooms! Imagine that!) but Reef Resort was one of the few accoms which had electricity the entire day (possible cos' they were richer and could afford a better generator).

My biggest complain about the resort is the woody tasted tooth brush and some spoilt tooth paste which came along with it. Together with the weird tasting tap water, it always left a bad taste in the mouth in the morning and at night. You can request for a power hair dryer at the counter and can return it once you check out. Bed was very squeaky and felt like it could give way anytime... though looking under, there's a few solid wood planks to hold it in place.

Good location, where it's at the main street, one of the most happening areas at one wing of the Golden Lion Roundabout and it's easily accessible to the convenience stalls, eateries, banks (Western Union to change $$$) as well as to the beach. There's a nearer road to the beach but it's more of a dirt road and there's more hostels lining the street so there's a compromise on the accessibility to other above mentioned services.

Overall ratings: 8/10 (comfortable, relaxing, good location but slightly costly)

Cleanliness: 8/10

Amenities: 7/10 (hated the toothbrush/toothpaste, taste of water and squeaky bed; high tech shower head which allowed us to change water modes)

Service: 8/10 (we were welcomed with a glass of cocktail/mocktail each upon our arrival, additional plus for them)

4. Sihanoukville - Koh Meas II Guesthouse

This guesthouse is located nearer to the beach, and costs $8/night which we temporarily bunked in to wait for our night bus on the last day at Sihanoukville. Managed to get a slight discount of a dollar since I told them we would not stay for the night.

There was no electricity, and they saved on it till the very last minute when we returned to the hostel to take a bath. At least there was hot water. No A/C for that price, there's another accom place like this, The Big Easy which was situated just beside Reef Resort because they told us there wasn't electricity. Sama sama, no A/C but cost $8/night. So if you're looking for a budget room, these accoms might work for you.

Overall ratings: 6/10

Cleanliness: 6/10

Amenities: 6/10 (has the bare minimum)

Service: 5/10 (didn't interact much with them)

5. Siem Reap - MotherHome Guest House

Our last and final accom for Cambodia was back at Siem Reap, MotherHome Guest House. From TripAdvisor, it is ranked #1 out of 184 in Siem Reap B&B and Inns. If my memory didn't fail me, it was ranked #2 before we left for Cambodia. Also won some other award which I can't seem to find now.

My only regret was, that we didn't choose this as our first accom in Siem Reap. Though we only spent about 7 hours checked in at MotherHome, it left me with the deepest impression. It was the only place that I felt I was able to really connect with the locals there.

I was so skeptical about TripAdvisor ratings after checking into the previous accoms. It seems that reviews on TripAdvisor might have been posted by their own people to boost up their popularity. It might be true for most, but for MotherHome, it could be because Siem Reap has such a notorious reputation of ka-ing its tourists that the only "safe haven" you can find yourself in is at MotherHome.

Why do I say so? First off, right from the initial stage, the booking itself. It's the only booking from the website that you don't even have to enter your credit card details. Everything is based on trust.

Reply was almost instant. KimLeang, the manager replies via his iPad (wow, and you thought all Cambodians lived in poverty?) and though I didn't get to meet him personally to express my gratitude for making the necessary arrangements for us at such short notice, his staff rings of his kindness and efficiency. He was stationed at MotherHome Inn (or Motherhome 2 as known locally), the newer accom.

Secondly, MotherHome has their own Tuk Tuk drivers (dressed in Blue). They are very friendly and extremely polite. They will all greet you like their staff and there was even a Tuk Tuk driver who spoke excellent English. The most polished I've met in Cambodia. Christ! They provide free pick-up either from the airport or from the bus station and the Tuk Tuk driver who picked us up, though didn't speak much English, was extremely helpful. Carried our bags, "protected us" and for once in Cambodia, I had a peace of mind.

Location was not as good compared to Alliance Villa since it's not close to any night markets and is on the opposite side of the Siem Reap River. But fret not as I'm sure the Tuk Tuk drivers would be more than willing to work OT for you, especially if the price is right.

Thirdly, in our HoneyMoon suite of $25/night, they put in much effort to create a beautiful design of flower petals and towel folded swans on our beds. Prolly cost us $5 more for that but imagine walking into such a romantic room after a long hard night on an uncomfortable bus... Swept me off my feet.

I think the air-conditioner was fixed at a certain temperature to save electricity but was cool enough for me, and there were brochures on the prices of getting around in Siem Reap. Everything was so transparent. There was even a complimentary basket of fruits in the room, not your average budget kind but there were a bunch of bananas, dragonfruits and mango.

Upon arriving at our MotherHome, they gave us a glass of drink with cold towels. They would provide us with cold towels whenever we got back to our room.

There's really no other place I would recommend more than MotherHome because it's not just the excellent service, it's not just the value for money, it's the peace of mind and the trust that works both ways which is indeed rare to come by in a country like Cambodia.

Will give a more detailed experience from my post on my last day in Cambodia.

Overall ratings: 10/10 (we get so much more than what we pay for, and some things, money just cant buy; only accom toilet in Cambodia to have a bath tub)

Cleanliness: 9/10

Amenities: 8/10 (don't think they provide hairdryer and one of the lamp shades was slightly damaged)

Service: 9/10

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