Cambodia | Quick Guide On Where To Stay In Siem Reap

Tales of ancient civilisations, unique landscapes, and now UNESCO World Heritage sites. So you have decided on temple running through Cambodia's Siem Reap, but where do you stay in Siem Reap? Siem Reap serves as the gateway to temple ruins of the Khmer Empire.  It's a bustling city and you will want to be right at the heart of it, in terms of accessibility to restaurants, entertainment, and accommodation.  Siem Reap or Cambodia as a country for that matter is one of those places that you can surprisingly find a bed to sleep on for the price of a London Latte. Yes, I was just as surprised as you are right now. Yes, beds in a hostel can be as little as £3.75, which is great for those on a super tight budget. Fear not, for those with supercharged budgets as luxury hotels and villas, are a-plenty!

When I book hotels I can be a little fussy and sometimes I tend to opt for smaller hotels simply because I want a more peaceful stay without hordes taking up spots for the poolside lounge. Having scoured the internet and booking and cancelling places, we finally settled on Kiri Boutique Hotel. We booked this via Booking.com. You can check out deals on hotels, villas, and hostels in Siem Reap. You can also check out other sites like Agoda, Trivago, or Expedia.

Palm fringed villas and gardens, all surrounding inviting pools, with even better service are the makings of a perfect stay. In the land of $5 hour-long massages, you know you will be in for a relaxing stay. The beauty of our stay at Kiri Boutique Hotel was that in addition to the cheap and worth-every-buck massages you could get in the city, the hotel could arrange these in-house and have the masseuse come to our hotel room if all the temple running has got the best of us. Below I have listed a few spots covering most budgets just to get you started on your search if thinking of heading to Cambodia's Siem Reap.

Siem Reap -  Cheap to Budget Stays

- Check out the Rambutan whitewashed buildings set out swimming pools, terraces, and outdoor baths. It's also close to the markets and Pub Street; an ideal place for entertainment in the city. Rooms are around £38 on B&B basis.

- La Niche D'Ankgor is another reasonably priced spot with doubles starting at £30. Paths to your room are all lined with palm trees and orchids with plenty of poolside lounges to for those chill out sessions for a day's run at Angkor Wat.

- Hostels don't get any cheaper than £3.90 for a dorm bed and doubles for £8 and guess what, breakie is included too! Check out Jasmine Family Hotel if you are on a tight budget.

- Angkor City Hotel is situated close to the airport and offers rooms from £28. Although there is a benefit to being close to the airport but is not that great if you are in Siem Reap for a few days as you will want to be close to the main hang out places like Pub Street.

Siem Reap - Med-range to Luxury Budget Stays

- Sofitel Royal Angkor - With landscaped gardens, luxurious and calm surroundings you will have a choice of three bars, a spa and many treatments to keep you busy so just make sure you don't forget to explore the ruins and temples that brought you to Cambodia in the first place. Rooms at Sofitel start from £150 to about £300 per night.

- Raffles Grand Hotel D'Angkor - This is a historical hotel with opulent surroundings and extensive facilities. It's also one of the region's best hotels and for that rooms and suites start at £150 all the way to £700 per night.

- Apsara Centrepole Hotel - Rooms here can range from £70 to £800 but perfectly located as its only a few minutes walk from Pub Street which is where you will spend the majority of your time while visiting Siem Reap.

Which Areas To Stay 

Where you stay will highly depend on your budget, how long you are staying in Siem Reap and your purpose and whether relaxing or exploring is the main priority. What I would recommend though, is if you can try and find a place that is easily accessible to Pub Street. This is the place where you will spend the majority of your time after exploring the temples. This is also the location where all the bars, restaurants, markets and many entertainment options are located. Getting to your hotels is also made easy with the many Tuk Tuks that are around the area. You won't have to pay more than $2/3 for a ride back to your hotel but watch out for the ones that will try and pull a fast one and ask for $5 "because there is too much traffic" on the road leading to your hotel. Half the time this is BS so your can negotiate and pay an addition $1 if it was really late though and not too fussed but paying $5 for a ride. It was still way cheaper than a taxi in London for a similar journey.

Paying For Your Hotel

Cambodian currency is Riel but USD is widely used and more than likely what your hotel will accept as payment unless paying by card. Same goes for shops. Best to bring USD than trying to go to Cambodia with the local currency as most actually prefer dollar.

Transport To Hotels From The Airport

Your hotel will either have a tuk-tuk waiting for you or you can take the local taxi. There is a taxi office at the exit of the Airport. Most will charge about $10-15  in and around the city. Most hotels are only about 10-30 minutes from the Airport. Be prepared for some taxi drivers being picking on who they take based on the location of your hotel. If it's deemed to closed for them to bother they may refuse to take you but the taxi office may negotiate with another driver to take you. I found it rather silly but it's something I have found in other countries too(yes, even London sometimes although based on too much traffic in a location rather than how much the cabbie can earn from the trip.)

Having missed our flight to Paris, we also managed to sample another place in Siem Reap so I may be posting that as well soon(if I can locate a few of the pictures I took from our stay).  Below are some pictures from our stay at Kiri Boutique Hotel(and no this post is not sponsored! :)

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