Condition One

Just finished a 3 day stay at this property. I booked a C&P rate, and it’s an incredible value! My booking rate included a one-way complimentary airport transfer (not sure if it’s free for all guests now), which was a very nice touch. My return transfer cost $7. A few days prior to arrival, I called the hotel with my flight information, and was subsequently sent a confirmation email. Upon exiting the airport, a driver was waiting for me. It was about a 15 minute drive to the hotel, which seemed to be the closest hotel to Angkor Wat, but a 7 minute ($2) tuk-tuk ride to the city center.

I was upgraded to a corner suite about 3 days prior to arrival, so I knew what I was getting. The room is very spacious, with sliding doors between the living and bedroom. There was a toilet near the entrance, and the main bathroom was a bit smaller than I was expecting, but fine for one person. Water temperature varied a little but it was of no major concern. Shower pressure was very high. Water smelled of iron/rust for the first few minutes so I just let it run awhile before I got in the shower. Toilet water was always yellow.

4 bottles of water are provided per day. No major deal, but there were maybe 2 power outages a day that I was aware of, each lasting 1-3 seconds. Upon check-in, I was given 2 WiFi logins. Internet speed is fast, but annoyingly, you have to re-login with their userid and password every time after you disconnect. Breakfast is free for Plats, and is below average for Asia (nothing special), aside from their pastries and baked goods, which are excellent. Room service was fast and good.

The gym opens at 6am, and is really small. Two treadmills, one elliptical, one bike, and one weight machine. A one hour basic massage at the spa is $45. It’s significantly less in town (starting at $5/hour). However, they had a special “Temple Out” coupon which consists of a Foot, Head, and Hand massage for $25.

If you choose to arrange a driver for a day through the hotel, it’s $35 for a full day (add $15 for Banteay Srei), and $20 for a half day (4 door sedan). An English speaking guide is $18/day. It seemed really reasonable compared to other rates I was finding online.

iahphx

I agree with you, but ONLY if you're an SPG plat and will get the extra benefits like free breakfast.

If, like me, you're not Platinum ,I think it makes more sense to stay at another 4 or 5 star hotel in Siem Reap where these incidental expenses (well, not incidental at Le Meridien prices!) are included, which is the common local practice. If you look at tripadvisor, you'll see that there are many nice hotels in Siem Reap that also get 4 1/2 stars. They often run promotions that put the room rates in the $50 to $75 range, and that's before other discounts you can get, like using Expedia vouchers or online discount codes.

We stayed at the Angkor Miracle Resort, and it was quite pleasant. I'm not sure if it's better than the dozen or so other hotels in its class in town, but it's certainly one to consider if they're offering a good promo deal for your days of travel.

amolkold

I noticed that starting 3/5, Suites can be redeemed with 4K SPG points + $95/night. As an SPG Gold, would that rate be worth it for a 4 night stay? Which suite would it correspond to here?

"Upgraded rooms" are 2500 points + $55/night.

I currently have a reservation held at 1600 points+$30/night under the departing chart. The stay isn't until November.

Braindrain

If it's the corner suite that I had as a Plat, then, yes, I'd say it's a good value. It's really 2 rooms combined into a suite.

However, you should probably "check around" and see if you can get something comparable at another hotel for around the same price. Personally, I doubt it.

Keep in mind that it's Cambodia so it's pretty luxurious for Cambodia but it's not the SLS.

osutraveler

We're in Siem Reap now, and even as a Platinum, I decided the C/P deal of $55/3,500 points wasn't worth it. I'm glad we didn't stay there because we found a great place on Agoda for $30/nt with breakfast!

I feel like the LM Angkor Wat has priced itself out of "good redemption" status. It does have the advantage of being the closest hotel to Angkor Wat, but that also means it's pretty far from Old Town - where all of the great restaurants are located. However, I also cringed when I saw the large tour buses pulling in and out of the hotel when we drove by.

I don't want to be overly critical of the hotel as I didn't stay there, but I'm happy with our decision. Also, we're here in low season now so maybe it is worth it in high season.

banzani

We had a wonderful stay here. Had booked two rooms on old C&P terms, a steal ! Got upgraded to Deluxe only, but suites seemed to be sold out so that was fine. Very very friendly staff, slightly ageing rooms (redoing the wooden floors currently) and the pool is OK but not great.

Spa is excellent, so is Plat recognition (free soft drinks in lobby all day, great 2h cocktails in the bar with snacks that can replace dinner if needed).

We had booked a tour through the hotel which worked flawless. Our guide was excellent, taking us off the beaten paths to avoid crowds, and providing real opinion about Cambodia today. PM me for contact details.

We had an excellent meal at Haven in downtown.

punkmonkey

Agree with the above. thought the breakfast was very good as well. The layout causes a lot of congestion but a minor quibble. Service was good.
No suite upgrade as place was packed. Overall good stay. Took the local amenity instead of points, a little metal elephant. Nice trinket.

BenSenise

We too booked a guide and driver through the hotel and it was excellent. Really enjoyed the two days we spent with them.

Also recommend the haven. Very interesting story behind it as well. Very clean too. Make sure you reserve though as it can get very busy. When we ate there we saw dozens of people being turned away because the place was full.

vg247

Hello fellow SPG friends- I'm a Platinum and visiting for the first time here, arriving Nov 3rd 10a and would like some feedback on what airport to hotel arrangements can be made. We will be in Siem Reap until Nov 6th morning when we fly out and would also like to book tours, drivers, etc via hotel while there- would really appreciate information on what to do and where to go to maximize our time there.

Hello forum friends:

-unfortunately the last night - November 5th, they are sold out. Therefore we will have to move hotels for our last night...

Are there some good priced, clean, and safe hotels close by that you can recommend so we can change hotel to and spend our last night, then taxi to the airport November 6th easily?

It was so cheap, we were just going to pay the $120night btw, as to use C&P or just points for the stay..

Many thanks everyone..

CIT85

I recommend taking the train from AMS Airport to The Hague. It is then walkable from train station to hotel, although a bit of a walk especially with luggage. Taxi from the train station has a minimum charge (I don't know what it is now, it was around 10-12 euros a few years ago).

The Hilton Hague is a good option for your last night. It's a very good hotel with a nice lounge (if you have status with Hilton). The Hilton can be very reasonably priced with Corporate Benefits prepaid rate (rate code PR13CB).

Dr. HFH

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vg247

Thank you for dropping and offering the advice, however, I think you meant to reply in another forum. This is for Cambodia ;-)

iahphx

As a Westerner, you may be surprised -- as I was -- by how many luxury hotels there are in Siem Reap. Dozens, I would say. You will have no trouble whatsoever finding alternative accommodations (although I'm a bit surprised as a platinum that they wouldn't help you out). Just go to a site like kayak, do a search of 4 and 5 star hotels, and read reviews on tripadvisor. You will find many, many decent choices.

BTW, $120/night in Siem Reap is NOT cheap. There is absolutely no need to spend that amount of money in Siem Reap for high-quality lodging. If you read earlier posts in this thread, you'll see that many people (including me) believe the Le Meridien is overpriced, especially since they charge a lot of money for things (like breakfast) that other luxury hotels in Siem Reap include in their rates. As a platinum, you'll get some of these extras comped so the value equation is better, but still not exceptional. That said, I doubt many platinums would voluntarily ditch the Le Meridien for the alternatives (after all, you didn't become a Platinum by being disloyal -- but note above that one platinum did decide to stay elsewhere). You should also be aware that the Le Meridien is currently only ranked as the 63rd best hotel in Siem Reap. In reality, it's better than that, but by no means the best place to stay in town.

vg247

iahphx- many thanks, this is very insightful and I really appreciate the information.

Between spg loyalty and better options with much better value out there, I will cancel our stay at LM and find a hotel for all the nights we will be in Siem Reap.

Going to research hotels for location, safety, and cleaniless in addition to prime locations- any feedback here would be much appreciate (you can PM me as well)

Gratefully,
VG

iahphx

Safety is not a consideration. I'd be very surprised if there was a 4-star hotel in Siem Reap that wasn't safe. If I was surprised by anything in that part of Cambodia was how peaceful everything seemed -- and how much money there seemed to be. I was expecting to see some poverty. I'm sure it's there, somewhere, but when we'd drive in the countryside, we were mostly amazed by how nice so many of the houses appeared to be. In other words, this part of Cambodia is probably not going to be what you think it will be.

Same for cleanliness. I'm sure when you read the tripadvisor reviews for all the fancy hotels, somebody will complain that there was a hair in their shower or something. But these hotels -- and there are dozens of them -- are going to look as sharp as nice hotels anywhere. Perhaps even better, because most of them are pretty new.

Location is in the eye of the beholder. Like you can be closer to town, or closer to the ruins. Honestly, I don't think it matters because transport -- like most things in Siem Reap -- is very cheap. One evening, I hired a tuk-tuk for my family to take us around for some sightseeing and then to a restaurant on the outskirts of town (this place -- it's excellent, email them for a reservation in advance http://www.tripadvisor.com/Restauran..._Province.html).
I think hiring my vehicle for the evening was about $10. So it didn't matter that my hotel was a kilometer or two from town. If you want to stay in the town center, though, read the reviews carefully, because I understand that party noise can sometimes be a consideration (although I doubt this affects many of the high-end properties).

When you look for accommodations, you'll see that room rates are all over the place, and there are a lot of promotions. For value seekers, I suspect the "best place to stay" will vary from month-to-month, depending on who has the better promo. I think there are over 75 hotels/inns in Siem Reap getting at least 4 1/2 stars on tripadvisor. I think that tells you that the hospitality industry is doing a pretty good job there, and there are many excellent places to stay. I'd personally use price to whittle down the possibilities.