59Impala

Hyatt announces plans for HR in Phnom Penh, Cambodia, slated to open in 2020.

http://www.businesswire.com/news/hom...cy-Hotel-Phnom

antonius66

Interesting. I give it a 50/50 shot of actually opening. Still nice to see though...would appreciate some new Hyatts in completely new places that are lacking, rather than 40 Tokyo Hyatts (and I LOVE Japan), or Hyatt Place Adyar or some such obscure place.

Single_Flyer

Wow. I was in PP in 2010. I cannot imagine a Hyatt being built there; maybe things have changed a lot. There was really only one modern hotel (and it was a casino -- Chinese owned, non-chain) when I visited.

Have other hotels built up in the area?

antonius66

There is an Intercontinental at least...and I believe a Raffles, Sofitel and others.

Kilian Zoll

Was in Phnom Penh in 2004. I don't think there were a single modern building at the time, and barely a single car on the road. We had to go to the single Western Union office in the city to get money out. No ATMs in the entire country. This was a year or two after the country was opened up to tourism if I recall correctly.

59Impala

Some more details announced:
A turn-of-the-century, heritage building will be retained and form part of the hotel

https://www.cambodiadaily.com/news/p...-villa-118412/

77W_12A

PP has definitely changed A LOT. It's certainly not BKK pace, but it's moving a long quite nicely.

I would love to see a Hyatt in Yangon.

dsquared37

I was also there at the time and it was definitely a backwater but had been opened a bit longer than you claim. While not exactly sure when tourists began to trickle in, I do have friends who visited around 1998, UNTAC held sway over the first elections in 1992.

Anyway, the location is across the street to the north of the National Museum on 178 between streets 19 and 13.

The plot is not big and, as Hyatt is claiming to maintain the old royal villa, I'm guessing the art-selling shophouses facing the street will be raised at the minimum.

I give props to antonius66 for the 50/50 prediction (and not because of construction delays). There is an election in 2018 and already the CPP is laying the groundwork to appease nationalism and xenophobia (eg dress code in Siem Reap temple area) in an effort to preempt the opposition's use of the tactic. I'll refrain from delving too deep into the situation, suffice to say 2013 was, ahem, an interesting election season.

59Impala

Seems still to be planned for 2020

http://www.khmertimeskh.com/news/367...in-phnom-penh/

SanDiego1K

Hotel actively posts on IG. https://www.instagram.com/hyattregency_phnompenh/

The hotel is taking bookings. Has anyone stayed? Any report on the border situation? I'm interested in spending a few days here after a trip to Vietnam later this year.

platbrownguy

A few days in Phnom Penh seems like overkill, though I shouldn't presuppose your reasons for visiting! What draws you to Phnom Penh rather than Siem Reap or another more culturally rich destination? I've done three trips to Cambodia and I was hard pressed to fill 10 hours in Phnom Penh. I visited Tuol Sleng (the Khmer Rouge prison/museum), the Killing Fields, and the national museum and frankly none are what I'd consider well done. (It's sad, but lots of Cambodian youth don't believe in the Khmer Rouge history -- and unfortunately the way the Killing Fields site is set up, it's not too surprising why... it reeks of propaganda even though I honestly believe the history. The patch of "look at the bones sticking out of the ground" dirt was utterly ridiculous. Anyhow.) I flew in, hired a dedicated taxi for the day for $40 (cash upon completion), and left my stuff in the cab while touring. Then flew out that evening. It was also adjacent to a trip to Vietnam.

dsquared37

The border situation is vaccine card is the only requirement when flying in. VOA is again possible. Don't know about land crossing however.

js1993

I was in Phnom Penh right before Covid, after several days in Siem Reap, and enjoyed my time there. Tuol Sleng and the Killing Fields took up most of one day, and a half-day architecture tour and an evening river dinner cruise took up another day. The architecture in P.P. is great. The market, in particular, is spectacular. I really enjoyed just wandering around the city.

I don't believe the under-construction Hyatt (which we went past on the architecture tour) had been topped off in fall 2019, so I was surprised it opened as quickly as it did.

chewy3

I'm staying here at the moment, and while I won't post a full review, this property is an amazing value for a globalist booking with points. I paid 6500 for one night and 8000 for 2nd night, club access included and they serve middle shelf liquor; they will make all kinds of cocktails etc. I was upgraded to a suite without asking (rare these days; I find lots of properties playing games with this benefit) and offered 4pm check out as well.

Breakfast is currently at Marketplace Restaurant instead of the club due to low occupancy and is really high quality with incredible variety.

Hard product in the room is not the top top quality but as it's fairly new it is quite good for now (I could see it aging poorly in the future).

I'll be checking out the Rosewood as well on this trip just to compare, though at $400+ a night I'm going to wager it's not worth the price differential for most.

SanDiego1K

We had a delightful two night stay at this property. If it was more accessible, I'd be back over and over. Treatment for globalists is extremely good. I had used a suite upgrade to be assured of a suite for our stay. I was upgraded further to an executive suite. It was very luxurious, perhaps designed for someone to live in it for some months. It had a living room, fully equipped kitchen with table for four, an office that could be walled off from the living room or the glass walls slid back as desired. The bedroom was spacious, the closet walk in with shelves and bars for easy access. The only downside was that the primary bath was right with one sink. There was a second toilet room off the entry. It was decorated in good taste with high end fabrics.

The executive lounge was luxurious with a range of seating. It was open from 1 on til 9. It offered an unremarkable afternoon tea from 3 to 4, then an impressive evening spread from 5:30 to 7:30. It had 3 salads, dumplings, another hot dish, cheese and meats along with breads, and a range of dried fruits, chips and nuts. It had 3 desserts. Staff was eager to be helpful and service was superb.

Breakfast was served in the main restaurant. It had several stations, one for Asian dishes, one for western, and a third for breads, cereals, and fruits.

The centerpiece of the hotel is a restored Colonial villa built in the early 20th century. It gives a sense of history when you walk in. I had two treatments in the spa. I found them well priced and extremely well done. I had considered leaving the hotel. There are plenty of local places t much less money. But reviews were caustic about each, talking about the staff being on their phones while giving massages. I went for the tranquility of the hotel environment.

The hotel is across the street from the National Museum, so in the heart of the city.

We used GRAB to get around. It was just $1.70 to go to the central market which gives an idea of how affordable it is. GRAB does not accept credit cards in Cambodia so we needed to exchange a nominal amount of money