Boreirom Teuk Chhou Resort — Hotel in Kampot

This hotel has a lot of potential, but isn’t quite there yet. It’s a mixed bag, but there’s some points that potential visitors should note.||The caveat with this feedback is that the venue is in transition and should (hopefully) change in three or four months. I’ve added extra detail here because not a lot of information was available before our arrival ||POSITIVE POINTS||• POSSIBLE NEW MANAGEMENT - This was recently taken-over by somebody who used to run the “Rusty Keyhole” in Kampot. It now appears to be closed, but the menu photos are still on Google. He said that they were known for their ribs (and the photos on Google confirm this) and he added that he’s looking to bring that menu to this hotel. Soon this hotel will also be renamed the “Rusty Keyhole Mountain Lodge”. Unfortunately for us, none of these changes had been implemented during our visit (despite constant talk of a new menu) and the old menu still stood. This would be a great retreat from the busier parts of Cambodia if that’s what you were looking for.||• POOL - The pool and outdoor area here is fantastic and would have been welcome if we hadn’t arrived during the wet season when it was constantly raining. There’s a jet spa at one end.||• DECENT BAR & RESTAURANT FOR DINNER - The upstairs restaurant and bar area of this venue is the stand out winner here. All prices during our visit were in Riel but it will probably have dual listings when the new owner starts making changes. Beers are USD$1.50 and some cocktails are USD$2.00. The food on the dinner menu we chose on the old menu was quite decent. This alone would have improved this review to 3⭐️ or 4⭐️ had the breakfast not been so abysmal and staffing issues earlier in the day hadn’t persisted throughout our stay (see below). ||• CHEAP PRICES - Food and drink was reasonably priced and wasn’t inflated because you’re at a “resort”. Rooms come with a mini bar and some chips in a can (like Pringles).||• CLEAN COMMON AREAS AND ROOMS - The common areas and rooms are clean and tidy. There are vast open spaces in the reception area with floor to ceiling feature murals on the walls. The central timber stairway was an interesting feature. It really is a great space and would be a sight to see in the drier months.||• SPACIOUS ROOMS - Our room was quite large although the layout was interesting. Beds appeared to be concreted into the floor and the wash basin is separate from the room with the shower and toilet. We couldn’t work out the pebble boxes set into the floors around the wash basin, but it was an interesting feature.||• THEY WILL HELP YOU GET TO KAMPOT - The hotel staff seem to be aware that their location is 10km from Kampot and are fantastic when it comes to helping you get a tuk-tuk. It costs about USD$5.00 or USD$6.00.||• NEARBY VILLAGE - You won’t find drinks or breakfast in the nearby village (see below re: breakfast - you need to go to Kampot) but they do have a great little market and the Teuk Chhou Rapids are worth a look. We went in the wet season it was amazing. From our research it seems that people may swim there when the water is lower and less dangerous.||NEGATIVE||• DON’T RELY ON THE WEBSITE - Most of the website has some nice photos but the information is scant. Placeholder text is all you’ll find at the time of writing (“Loren ipsum dolor” etc.) when it comes to explaining services, and it’s hard to navigate.||• DON’T RELY ON GOOGLE TO FIND THIS PLACE!!! - There’s not much on the hotel’s website to help you locate it, and Google isn’t much more hep either. For some reason Google Maps has two listings: one 4km from Kampot (near a slower station, abandoned buildings, and a sewerage treatment plant), and the actual location (that is near impossible to find unless you know the location to be searching near) is 10km from from Kampot. Trip Advisor won’t let me post the indicative screenshot map I’ve made to assist others, but if you search for “Teuk Chhou Rapids” you’ll find it in a back street off the main road from Kampot past the zoo.||• BREAKFAST - The coffee on offer was horrendous (even accounting for it being drip coffee) and food items weren’t much better. Aside from Chinese congee and baked beans the only food we found on offer was bacon and an attempt at French toast. More food may have been available but we arrived midway through breakfast service at 8:00am. Breakfast was included with our room but we didn’t get much of it (see photos below).||• NO WINDOWS IN SOME ROOMS - We thought our room had windows, but they were all concreted over in a previous life of the building. The rooms that had balconies would have been fine but this is a feature we didn’t realise. There also wasn’t a safe available in the room.||• STAINED LINEN AND BATH ROBES - This was a surprise but perhaps not uncommon for Cambodia. ||• BAR NOT OPEN UNTIL EVENING - Yes, this place has “resort” in its name, but no, you can’t order from the bar before 5:00pm. We tried and were disappointed.||• DISAPPEARING STAFF - When certain staff were on the premises (presumably owners or management) this stopped, but until then it was a lucky dip to find help.||BOTTOM LINE||This review will soon be obsolete because the new management are set to make a lot of changes - but it’s just a shame that we didn’t get to experience them. ||If what they want to do comes off, then it will be a great venue. Unfortunately, right now they have a long way to go and aren’t there yet...

We are here now and it is dire. The rooms are a monument to concrete: bed, sinkstand, desk all grey cement and not forgetting the two paving slabs trimmed with fake grass. There is a rail for clothes but no hangers. Signs of damp/water ingression along lower walls. There is a bar allegedly but no staff. There is also a pool bar but again no staff available. The hotel appears to be run by a very nice young man who is training to be a receptionist so can’t really help and three other young people. The souvenir shop and market are all shut. The ‘excellent WiFi in all areas is a fairy tale and very frustrating. The whole place has been lovely at some point but very neglected now. No one is in charge. The approach to the hotel is awful through a village with lots of dogs, rubbish strewn every where and a strong smell of stagnant water. There is no housekeeping, beds are not made, towels/water/toilet paper not replaced, bathrooms not cleaned. Breakfast is hot and well cooked but certainly no frills. The pool area could be really nice and doesn’t look too bad at first glance, but the beautiful pool has some broken tiles at the steps, the surrounding area is of course concrete but never gets swept or hosed down so is alive with ants. Mattresses on the loungers are water logged so placing a towel on one then lying on it simply acts as a blotter. It is a shame, but this place is on its last legs, avoid, so many better...

We've stayed here for 5 nights. Very new hotel with a lot of potential. The only thing is, that it was just opened and that we where the only guests most of the time. It's a typical Khmer hotel, so it was the real cambodian experience, which you should be aware of. Exept for the manager, no one speaks other languages than Khmer (but is still very willing to help). Breakfast is Asian, except for scambled eggs or omelet and the contructionworkers at the hotel were definitely not used to women wearing bikini's at the pool, based on the way they were looking (from a distance). (Cambodian women wear clothes when swimming) ||||Rooms are nicely decorated and everything you might need, is there. Please be aware that there are a lot of rooms without balcony or even window. We paid a bit extra for a room with balcony. ||||During our stay, there were still some building activities. They started very early in the morning, which was not very comfortable. ||||Our special thanks go to the manager (Sanin). She did her very best to help us with everything. ||||We enjoyed our stay, the price was fair, but there is still some work to do to complete the hotel. Some suggestions: Improvement of some basic understanding of the English language of the staff; small ajustments in breakfast (toast, jam; sandwiches; yoghurt; fruits);...