Fit for a king

• Published date: 24 May 2023
• Publication title: Kapiti News

Constructed in 1929, it actually pre-dates the rest of the hotel. Throughout this elegant sanctuary of calm, black-and-white marble floors and Khmer furnishings are to the fore. First opened in 1932, the hotel has been on the frontlines of global tourism’s ever-increasing love affair with Angkor. You’ll be royally treated by the ultra-attentive and unfailingly charming hotel staff. This grand dame has continued to play host to a roll call of leading lights, from Charlie Chaplin to Michelle Obama. Nods to history and cultural heritage are ever-present. The effervescent hotel doorman wears bell bottom-type trousers, in which the upper part of his trousers displays a different colour, depending which day of the week it is — a throwback to how the old Khmer kings would illustrate the days of the week

After the sweaty exhaustion of hop-scotching between temple ruins, soothe your stiff joints In Cambodia’s largest hotel pool. It’s apparently a carbon copy of the king’s ancient royal bathing pool at the Angkor complex. (Although unlike the original, the hotel didn’t have an adjoining ‘ladies pool’ for his 500 concubines.) Bracketed in fragrant frangipani trees, it’s a dreamy setting, underscoring the hotel’s ethos of emotional luxury.

Fresh from its 90th anniversary, nearly all of the hotel’s 119 guest rooms and suites have been fully refurbished in the restoration, with all-new Italian tiling and fixtures in the bathrooms. I stayed in one of the four specially created Heritage Suites that take their inspiration from people who have been closely associated with Angkor. Each is fitted with a claw-foot bathtub, and a relaxing day bed on the oversized balcony which overlooks the majestic pool. I stayed in the Henri Marchal Suite — who was the Conservator of the Monuments of Angkor for many years.

All accommodations feature stylish furniture...