Golden River Bungalow — Hotel in Khaet Preah Sihanouk

In the handful of offerings I have made so far to trip advisor I have endeavoured as much as I possibly can to concentrate on the positives of places I’ve been to rather than highlight the negatives. However two very recent experiences have change that.|Golden Bungalows:|Surely the faulty towers of Sihanoukville|The young boy who appeared to be in charge of the place, and I’d say he’d be no more than early 20s, was a very pleasant individual but unfortunately so incompetent as to make Basil faulty a candidate for President of the Cambodian Tourist Board|In most respects the hotel was okay. Little niggles like you’d get in a lot of places BUT|Biggest problem was Wi-Fi which was in essence non-existent. He showed me the hub which was a tatty plastic box hanging from a loose wire from the gutter of one of the bungalows. His solution at that point was to unplug it replug it and hope for the best. He promised to fix it every day we stayed there but with a hapless grin on his face nothing was done and as a result of having no Wi-Fi to book our next hotel in Koh Rong we actually couldn’t do it which resulted in my next review. |See: Pura Vita (Long Set Island, Koh Rong)|SO IF WIFI IS IMPORTANT TO YOU DO NOT UNDER ANY CIRCUMSTANCES USE GOLDEN RIVER. IT DOES NOT EXIST HERE. We Spoke to other people who were around and it was evident that without an Internet package from your phone provider you could not get Wi-Fi|Finally I would not advise a visit or at least a stay in Sihanoukville. This is, as I write, nothing more than a huge building site and a particularly squalid one at that. At one point we drove over a bridge crossing a river of bricks! No water, just a winding river of bricks|All in the service, it seems, of burgeoning...

Positives;|We really liked the location. A short walk to the beach and lots of bars/ restaurants. Mini marts within a few minutes. A 1.5km walk to the village for nicer cafes. We did hire a moped from a hotel nearby so we could get around the Sihanoukville province easier as it’s so spread out. After exploring we realised how much nicer Otres 2 and Otres Village were compared to everywhere else. There always seemed to be Tuk Tuks available close by.|The AC in our room worked well.|Complimentary bottles of water in room daily.|Hot water consistently worked.||Negatives;|The cleaners didn’t do a good job. Our bathroom was never properly clean and our towels were given to us dirty.|If a swimming pool is a requirement for you then this hotel isn’t for you, a tiny uninviting pool that didn’t look clean.|Not the hotels fault but worth mentioning is this region as a whole is undergoing a lot of construction and because of this the roads around this area are very dusty and full of litter which is a shame but it seemed to be like this throughout. The beach closest to the hotel however is well kept! ||Overall we don’t think this was the best value for money however we had a pleasant...

I booked off the photos, however I don’t think there’s been much maintenance since those photos were taken||This is a good budget hotel. It could be a great budget hotel if they bothered to dust the obvious cobwebs which hang above head level and clean the brown dirty stains off the walls. It really wouldn’t take much so I don’t understand why they don’t do it.|Cockroach the size of my palm fell from roof in the bathroom while I was in there.||We checked in and couldn’t find the remote to the air con unit. I went to reception to ask for it and was told I only booked a fan room. The fans were old dusty and loud. Why have an aircon unit in there in the first place ! It’s torture seeing it and not being able to use it. I stayed in $3 hostels that had aircon - it’s a must for any hotel.||Overall you pay for what you get. Great location and the little area by the river is really pleasant but to the hotel - if you don’t invest in upkeep you’ll...