Hotel Review – Best Western Suites and Sweet Resort Angkor

Background

Southeast Asia is notorious on the travel circuit as a location where it’s likely your money will go quite far.  For a little over $100 USD a night you can often secure a very comfortable room at a five star hotel from well-known global hotel brands that would cost you five times as much in other parts of the globe.  When I found myself spending a few days in Siem Reap, Cambodia with the goal of exploring the vast ruins of the Angkor Archeological Park, I quickly hit the internet to find the best value for money spent hotel in the area.  Despite some solid price offerings from famous hotel brands like Le Meridien, Sofitel, and Raffles, it was the local Best Western property that caught my eye.

I’ll freely admit – it wasn’t the flashiest hotel.  The linens weren’t made from the finest unicorn hair, nor did Tibetan virgins perform the housekeeping in my room each day.  At the end of the day what I’m looking for is the most bang for my buck, so I had to look past the allure of a brand name and seductive loyalty program and realize that I was getting more value at the Best Western Suites and Sweet Resort Angkor (BW) property than anything the Le Meridien or Raffles could offer me.

I booked the BW for $90 USD per night including all taxes and fees and free breakfast.  Contrast that with the $152 rate offered by the Le Meridien or the $176 USD rate offered by the Sofitel, neither of which included breakfast.  I had some concerns prior to arriving at the hotel as to whether I’d made a solid investment, but those fears were washed away as soon as I stepped into my room.

Location & Check-In

One of the biggest concerns I had with the BW was that it wasn’t located within the main tourist core of Siem Reap.  While normally that would be an ideal location for my style of travel, the website and reviews for the hotel seemed to indicate it was in a rural area on the outskirts of town.  I was worried I’d be trapped at the hotel with very little ability to explore on my own or find food and drink other than what the hotel was offering me.  This concern was somewhat alleviated when I learned that the BW offers complimentary tuk tuk service from the hotel into Siem Reap after 6 PM.  This meant that I could spend the day exploring the Angkor Wat ruins, come back for a quick shower, and then head into town to find a bite to eat and explore without having to worry about paying for or arranging my own transportation.

Another perk of booking with BW was that my rate included complimentary airport transfers to and from the property.  After clearing Cambodian customs and immigration I was met by one of the hotel’s managers, a friendly Filipino man named Rudy, who quickly took my luggage and ushered me into the hotel’s passenger van.  The ride from the airport to the BW took approximately 10 – 15 minutes.  The road from the airport is quite modern and paved but you quickly turn off that road and onto unpaved dirt paths to reach the hotel.  It is indeed in a bit of a rural setting.  There are a few farms and homes located within walking distance of the BW’s gate.  The tuk tuk ride from the hotel into the main tourist core of Siem Reap seemed to take an additional 15 minutes.  That being said, the location was very quiet and peaceful as there as very little noise and absolutely no hawkers patrolling the street looking for a sale.

When we arrived at the property Rudy escorted me out of the van and into the BW’s lobby building.  This housed the check-in desk as well as the restaurant.  The formalities required across the globe to receive my key were handled a little slowly by the staff member at the desk, but I didn’t mind as someone else had already dropped off a chilled moist towel and a cold orange juice to nurse while I waited.  After about 10 minutes I had my room key in hand and the desk agent escorted me from the lobby to my villa.

Room

What I didn’t realize before arriving at this property was that they only offer one type of booking – villas.  The entire property is centered around a small lagoon with individual villas encircling it.  There didn’t seem to be any upgraded facilities or fancier digs (variations on bed types excluded), just a simply property offering the same product to all visitors.  The villa I was provided was almost directly across the lagoon from the restaurant and administrative building.

Upon entering the villa I was immediately pleased with my purchase and had no lingering regrets about refusing to ponying up for the more expensive properties in Siem Reap.  The front door of the villa opened into a living room.  A couch was pushed up against the wall and directly in front of the couch was a small sitting area with two chairs and a table.

On the table was a complimentary bowl of rambutan.

On the opposing wall from the couch was a cabinet with a television that also seemed to double as a desk.  The television featured both local and international programming and appeared to be satellite-based.  The stools weren’t very comfortable for sitting and writing, but with a full couch and several other seating options, it wasn’t a very big deal to me.  The cupboard directly under the television set in the picture featured a mini-fridge stocked with several complimentary bottles of water since the tap water is not potable.  On top of the table were were also a few additional bottles of complimentary water and provisions to make your own tea and coffee.

The villa featured some small but interesting artistic features – wooden Buddha statutes, paintings, alcoves with sculpures, etc.

Directly off the living room was the bedroom area.  Quite simple and a bit understated.  The bed mattress was firmer than I prefer, but that tends to be quite common in Asia when you’re staying outside of luxury name brand hotels.  Besides the bed and some end tables there wasn’t much to the bedroom.  It was functional and reasonably comfortable, enough that I did use the complimentary wifi to surf the net while lounging in it quite frequently.

An off-shoot from the bedroom led to the closet/storage space as well as the bathroom.  The short, stubby “hallway” into the bathroom featured both a traditional closet on one side and shelving units on the other.  I was only staying a few days but there was certainly more than enough space to hold all of my belongings.  I could have easily unpacked for a week’s stay with the amount of room provided.

A functional safe was included in the room as well as some fuzzy slippers which never did manage to make it onto my feet.

The bathroom in the villa was quite spacious and luxurious, though it ended up being the most disappointing part about the accommodation.  The bath amenities were rather low quality but I typically travel with my own personal care products since I have sensitive skin.

The bathroom also provided ample towels for use in the bathroom and around the villa, as well as a serviceable robe should you wish to lounge about after a refreshing shower.

The disappointing thing about the bathroom was the shower.  It had the potential to be quite awesome since it was open air and came with loads of space.  So if you’re interested in a wet and wild ten person dance party in a shower, I know a place you can do just that.  But in terms of actually washing away the sweat, grit, and grime that comes inherently with physically being in Cambodia?  This shower gets a D – from the teacher.

The major issue here was the water pressure.  There was absolutely none for the entirety of my stay.  Despite having more than enough space to frolic under the shower jet stream, I found myself huddled against the wall trying to get the meager stream of water to coat my body.  Yes, physically smooched against the wall at times.  The pressure was so bad that despite the massive shower head, water only came out of the first few nodules closest to the wall.  The water temperature was excellent, and despite being an open shower inside the villa, it never got too steamy.  If the property could just find the ability to raise the water pressure, this would have been a flawless stay.

My favorite feature of the villa was the small outdoor space that was provided.  Through the sliding glass doors in the bedroom you’d find a small wooden veranda overlooking the lagoon.  It featured a small seating area upon which you could watch the sunrise or set, or simply read a book while enjoying the cooler Cambodian evenings (bring your mosquito repellant though!).

Depending on your villa, you can enjoy quite a bit of privacy or be on full display to your neighbors or those dining in the restaurant.  Sadly, as mentioned previously, my assigned villa was directly across from the lobby/restaurant building, so using my area meant I was on full display.  Luckily the restaurant was only busy for the breakfast hour and the occupancy at the hotel was relatively low, so I never encountered any privacy issues that would have made me considering asking for my location to be moved.