Thursday, January 31, 2008

Comfort and style

The pool at Borei Angkor was a pleasant haven after a morning at Angkor Wat
My spacious & comfortable accommodation at Borei Angkor Hotel
My understanding is that there are over 100 hotels already in operation in Siem Reap with another 10 at least, scheduled for completion sometime this year. There seems to be no end to the accommodation boom in the town that acts as the gateway to the Angkor complex of temples. My own 2-night stay in Siem Reap at the weekend was at the Borei Angkor Hotel, located on Route 6 and a very enjoyable and comfortable stay it was too. My room was spacious with a private balcony and decked out in a mix of art-deco and Cambodian themes. I used the Borei Cafe restaurant for my buffet breakfasts and the gorgeous pool/jacuzzi pool for my cooling down session after a visit to Angkor Wat. The hotel staff were helpful and very pleasant, from the front-desk to the room cleaners. It's so important for any hotel's image that the front-desk staff are warm and welcoming, which I've found is not always the case when paying visits to hotels for inspections as part of my role at Hanuman. I won't name names but it's something that some hotels need to work on. Competition for customers is red-hot in Siem Reap now so competitive pricing and attentive top class service are no-brainers for the hotels looking to succeed.
The photo below is of a building that has caught my eye on a few trips to Siem Reap. It's a Youth Center that is located along the main road to the temple complex. It's opposite the entrance to the Le Meridien Angkor Hotel. The style I believe is in the modernist 1960s art-deco category but I'm sure someone will put me straight on that. Its in an area that is seeing a lot of development, so don't be surprised if it disappears over the course of the next 12 months. Siem Reap is changing so rapidly, that's its impossible to keep pace with it all.

A stylish art-deco Youth Center building on the road to Angkor

1 comment:

Anonymous said...

Andy, I hope the gov't will preserve this building. All it really needs is a fresh paint and some upgrading inside. I like the style of it a lot. Thanks for posting this picture.

On the same note, there are so many beautiful, old buildings in cambodia. I heard some people say they want to see newer buildings where some of these old, beautiful artitecture once stood because they would say the building plumbing or electricity outlet are outdated. I say, why not preserve them by giving them a new paint job and renovate them all. I mean, it is ok to build new ones, but please help to preserve old ones as well. God Bless.