SeamasterLux

Couldn't disagree more. On such wonderful places, I prefer to listen to a knowledgeable person rather to stick my nose in a book. Guides at a hotel cost roughly 40 USD per day. I went at the other end of the spectrum and booked a tour with Trails of Indochina and it was worth every penny. Very knowledgeable and nice guide, truly flexible in terms of timing and perfect English (very rare amongst guides in Cambodia). I may have paid 10 times more than with a tuk tuk as a guide but I am not going to visit these temples every year and if I spend hundreds or thousands on hotels I can also splurge on the real reason for my visit : temples. But that may only be me.
The two companies that are really good are AboutAsia and Trails of Indochina. Any good virtuoso agent can also book them for you. I used bite travel which was recommended by DavidO.

price123

Fair enough, we're all different We read a couple of books and the history before we went and found the guide indifferent. However, we did book through a hotel (not the Hyatt), so maybe just got a bad one.

price123

A note on here to say that the Do in Bangkok and Hua Hin has relocated to Siem Reap, so if anyone is staying around the 10th-16th, let me know. We have a couple of sponsored evenings in the hotel and a few tours organised. The more the merrier.

jason8612

10-16 of what month?

price123

February (sorry for not including first time round). Complimentary cocktail reception and dinner sponsored by the hotel. No group code but the holiday promo is pretty good.

dsquared37

Oh, we had planned on being at the REP PH this coming weekend but shifted for a trip to the in-laws instead.

Too bad......

Jared Ito

-in siem reap
-stayed at the hyatt siem reap in january
-sending pm pm
thanks

if pm not received please call 070241435, but prefer response by email pm as i rarely answer my phone

thanks

price123

As discussed by email, you are welcome to attend any parts of the event that are not sponsored by the hotel. However, you said in the email that you would pass on all options as this was more of a social do than an educational event.

silver springer

Hi. I attended the DO mentioned by Price123 and just spent 5 nights at the Park Hyatt Siem Reap.
Some thoughts:
The hotel is centrally located in downtown Siem Reap but is an oasis of beauty in this busy town. The hotel was recently renovated when converted to a Hyatt and has beautiful Khmer art and touches throughout the hotel, even an art gallery. We registered in the Living Room while sipping cold non-alcoholic drinks.There are two swimming pools, one on the ground floor that is a salt water lap pool and the first floor is a larger more traditional pool. Staff make sure you have ice cold water, fruit and fresh towels at the pool.
We ate breakfast every day at the Dining Room which was very nice and had lunch several days at the glass house and drinks at the living room.
Staff are very helpful but some don't have a good command of English leading to some confusing communication. The manager, Sholton Smith, holds regular English classes so I expect this situation to improve.

Other tips:
Bring U.S. Dollars which are used extensively in place of the Cambodian currency. One dollar bills are particularly handy, make sure the bills are fairly crisp, not old or worn.
Tuk-Tuks are parked outside the hotel and are handy for trips in town and to nearby temples (Angkor Wat, Angkor Thom). Cars or vans are better choices for airport transportation or to outlying temples as the roads are very dusty. One recommendation is Mr. Synon Korng, email [email protected]
Some current prices:
-car transfer to airport $7
- van transfer to airport $10
- day use of van within Angkor complex $30 (extra charges for outlying temples e.g. +$10 for Roluos Group)
- book a few services and receive a free airport pick-up

Be sure to visit Angkor Artisans in town--you tour the workshops where Cambodian young people learn traditional crafts, then you can buy their authentic work and help them at the same time.

In addition to visiting temples, a highlight was the Day in Cambodian Life activity where you are transported to a local village and do activities such as harvesting rice and planting trees to see what village life is like. This is done by Beyond Unique Escapes and some of the money you pay goes to help the people in the village.

FredEX17

Stayed 04FEB-06FEB courtesy of a two night prize via the Hyatt London Do 2013 by price123.
AMAZING AMAZING stay. I wished I had scheduled in an extra night at the very least.
I stayed at many Hyatts and have always been impressed by the service of the staff, however the staff here at Siem Reap were absolutely incredible. An amazing combination of professionalism and intimacy that completely won me over. Whatever language barriers there might have been, you felt a sincere wish to help and aid you.
As others have mentioned, bringing in US dollars is very helpful, however the staff at the desk were able to breakdown a $100 bill into small denominations for us to use.
Sholton Smith made it a point to introduce himself to us, and was an absolute pleasure to meet him.
So taken by this trip was I, that I'm already making plans to return.
Again, tip of the hat to price123 for the incredible prize and opportunity to make this trip possible.

dsquared37

They also serve a Chenin Blanc which is decent and crisp (and available at local stores for $9).

Large bills should be new, other bills don't need to be and tuk tuks will readily take anything short of ratty bills.

Smaller bills and change are easily had through stores, typically tuk tuk and taxis will plead, 'sorry, no small money.'



Tuk tuks parked anywhere should be avoided if possible. Catch one on the fly.

On the picky side: Angkor Thom is a city, not a temple.

Both Bruno and Sholto made it a point to introduce themselves to me during check in. They seem to strive to to make the hotel into a top destination in REP which they're well on their way to doing.

In my only stay thus far I received a call mid-day on the third and final night asking if I'd help them out of a booking pinch and accept the Presidential Suite for a night. Done.

I'm not a fan of the breakfast but the rest of the experience was wonderful.

antonius66

I assume the standard Diamond upgrade should be the Park Deluxe View King? Looking to book two rooms under my name here in July and wondering what to expect...fight for upgrade or get it (or more) easily. Seems like reports have varied about service and smoothness of everything.

dsquared37

July is a (relatively) mellow time in Siem Reap save for the north Asia tour groups which don't tend to stay at the Hyatt here.

Dave Johnson

The PH Siem Reap is a fabulous hotel in a very busy little city. I had upgraded to a suite and the room for very nice - dark wood, spacious, excellent bathroom. Our children with with us and they very much enjoyed the pool. There is no Hyatt club, but the bar was very nice.

The star of the show in Siem Reap is Angkor Wat. It was spectacular. We had a prearranged guide for Cambodia and Vietnam and he was really a great guy. Knowledgeable and flexible in how we went about our tour. We spent two days in Siem Reap which seemed about right

dsquared37

Just spent (yet) another handful of nights in Siem Reap and the the second visit to the PH. Breakfast is now fully buffet (no a la carte) but ordered from the menu. It's an odd setup IMO.

The first two days we didn't see more than 2 or 3 other tables at breakfast and few people in the hotel. The final morning breakfast was deafeningly loud and 5 or 6 tables of Chinese along with the 2 or 3 others tables who were there for the weekend.

As an aside, the temples were thankfully fairly empty but temps were mid-high 30s. It was the first time I'd ventured into Ta Prohm in several years... we passed by the west entrance and there were 2 vans and no buses... seemed like a good time to check out the recent renovations.

Getting back to the PH, the bathroom amenities have been changed and are now Bergamote 22.