Isochronous

I stayed at the Rosewood in January and loved it. One of the best luxury hotel experiences I've had in Asia. Make sure you book with Rosewood Elite to maximise your benefits. Can also claim 500 Asia Miles per stay if you ask.

milgom

Quick trip report for Raffles

We stayed in the personality suite at Raffles PNH. There's a lot to like. It's a beautiful hotel, the photos online do not do it justice. The lobby is very nice, service is good. Instead of checking in at a counter, we were offered to sit in the lobby, given a welcome drink (iced tea with fresh sugarcane and lemongrass) while they processed check-in. We were offered a free airport transfer which wasn't advertised when we booked which was nice.

The hotel's grounds are very nice and peaceful.

The room was a bit on the small side (as expected from the website), more of a room than a suite. That said, it's was very nicely decorated.

In the room there was a frame signed by their staff, a luggage sticker, some khmer sweets (tasty), a very nice fruit basket with a very tasty mango and some really bad chocolates.

The only negative from the room which unfortunately means we wouldn't stay more than one night is that the mattress is very uncomfortable (worst mattress I've had in a hotel in a long time). The blind out curtains couldn't close completely leaving a gap. On the other hands, unlike a lot of reviews I've seen we were not disturbed at all by noise. I wonder if people complaining about paper-thin walls stayed in a different wing.

The elephant bar was very nice and we're planning on coming back. Their Kaf Kaf gin and tonic is really good and one of the better gin and tonic we've had. The khmer tapas were delicious in particular the crickets and the sausages.

Le royal restaurant is ok, environment is nice with someone playing the piano. Some of the dishes were good like the salad with scallop (the scallop was cooked to perfection, not overcooked like often happens. The soup with the smoked fish was very nice and the elephant fish with tamarind sauce was once again perfectly cooked but the tamarind sauce was a bit too strong for the fish.

The main dishes beef skewer and river lobster were a bit disappointing though. The beef was too chewy and a bit overcooked. The river lobster's curry and young coconut was very good but the lobster itself was too mushy.

The dessert though was lovely, especially the taro.

We also tried the spa which was ok, nowhere near the level of a great spa like Mandarin Oriental in Bangkok. Wouldn't do a massage there again.

So all in all, we enjoyed our stay. But unfortunately because the primary purpose of a hotel is having a nice place to sleep, we would not ever stay more than one night here because of the terrible terrible mattress.

SanDiego1K

We had an excellent stay at Rosewood when we started a cruise on the Mekong in Phnom Penh. This past week, we stayed at the Hyatt. It is across from the National Museum. Caveat: I am a Globalist, top tier with Hyatt. We paid for a suite and were upgraded to their top level suite. My husband loves that suite as it has an office with glass walls that can be pulled back, making it part of the living / full kitchen. We own a small business and he always needs to get work done. Breakfast is extensive and excellent. We've not had dinner there; it has an executive lounge with a sufficient food offerings to be a meal. Service is attentive.

Kilian Zoll

Stay at the Sofitel in November and would advise to look elsewhere for now -- it's quite a tired property. Rooms are fine but some of the facilities are very dated, especially the pool area. Breakfast subpar -- downright poor quality. Lobby bar was excellent though.

milgom

After our stay at Raffles we also stayed at Hyatt Regency. We used 9,000 hyatt points to upgrade to the executive suite.

I agree with SanDiego, the room itself is perfect if you want to work in it. The office is great and the glass walls that can be pulled back is a really great design. The bed is comfortable, the blind out curtains really cut the light, tv is great (couldn't chromecast to it though so used an HDMI cable instead). Overall, the executive suite is very comfortable and an excellent when staying in Phnom Penh especially if you have to work during some of your stay. The view of the palace is really lovely too.

However when it comes to food, I have diametrically opposed views.

Breakfast was only okay, we only did it once because it just wasn't good enough to bother waking up early enough (breakfast closes at 10 during weekdays)... No real fresh juice, only overly sweetened nectars, croissants etc were not very good. They had some Khmer noodles (Kuy Teav) was ok, broth was well balanced, meat quality wasn't great. Didn't try the egg station so won't comment.

Overall, Raffles Le Royal's breakfast was much better, the juices available were better, the croissants, pain au chocolats and danish were worlds apart. Even the fruits were more tasty.

Executive lounge is one of the poorest offering I've had in a luxury hotel in Asia. Food is not very good and there's very little choice. We didn't try the afternoon tea (we were outside on both days we could have tried it but only the cocktail hour. It's possible that afternoon tea is better.

One thing to note though, they offered chocolate as welcome amenity and we liked them so much that we bought them from their cafe. The kampot pepper chocolates are really good.

The hotel staff is very friendly and made helpful recommendations for restaurants. (Sombok which is nearby is wonderful albeit pricey)

Aventine

Hyatt Regency Phnom Penh isn't really a luxury hotel. It's a Regency that does very well for its locale and country but not a true luxury property compared to Raffles or Rosewood. Caters more to business travelers and probably MICE events.