Moonlight Resort — Hotel in Koh Rong Sanloem

My wife walked the whole length of Saracen Bay beach and declared that the section on which Moonlight sits is the best section on the large long expanse of sand that makes up this lovely bay. We had one of the domed Seaview rooms (number 4) which is a really extraordinary design, a bit like an igloo and it’s a wonderful space inside, as you will see from the photographs. Outside it has a small terrace, a table and chairs and loungers. The view is as you expect towards the sea and the very beautiful beach, but is shaded being in amongst some trees. Overall the standard of the accommodation is good. The Wi-Fi works well. The bathroom is small but perfectly adequate. The bed is reasonably comfortable. Maybe 7 or 8 out of 10. There is plenty of space, a fridge, a safe, and an area to hang clothes. Cleaning is done every day if you ask for it and they do resupply two bottles of water so if you haven’t had the room cleaned you can ask for your two bottles of water at breakfast. We found all of the staff diligent and friendly. The complementary breakfast provided is good, coffee, juice, a cooked meal plus some fruit. The cooked meal has a wide range from western style breakfast to the more traditional Khmer food options, again very reasonable. We felt the location on the bay was perfect because the hotel environment and the beach is very quiet and peaceful, but it is only 10 minutes walk along the beach to where it’s a bit more “happening”. The Odernez hostel and other places to eat are reasonably priced and because it’s a hostel there are a lot of young people around and it has a nice buzz to it. Cocktail prices are reduced for happy hour which lasts until nine. We ate there four of the six nights we were on the island, typical prices for food range from $3.50 to $5, cocktails during the happy hour were $3.50, and a barbecue option was available with salad and corn and garlic bread et cetera at about $8 a head. They were a couple of things that weren’t perfect with the room, a couple of lights that didn’t work. The doors into the rooms stuck on the floor, but overall these were very minor issues. The restaurant prices when high compared to down the beach maybe double. But tasted good. We met some friends who are staying at the Saracen Bay resort and had stayed there four years previously. They were very disappointed with their second visit. They felt the property was being run down. They particularly were irritated by building work going on next to the property. If you’re looking to do trips anywhere, e.g. a private taxi boat to Koh Rong these can be arranged via Mr Tasty barbecue which is next to the hostel but bear in mind his timings are not entirely reliable and he may take a circuitous route to get you there. We negotiated a price of $60 to get us from Moonlight to Sok San with private boat. if you just want to go to the nearest part of Koh Rong then it was $10. We also went to the “Dive shop” PADI outfit by the pier to do some diving which was professionally run and two dives cost $80 with all the equipment. The corals were in good condition, but the visibility was amongst the lowest I have experienced diving tropical waters all over the world, and I would estimate to see clearly, the range was maybe 4 to 5m. Those are reasonable amount of marine life to see but nothing of any size. Water temperature is a balmy 29 to 30°C. (February)

Just for reference, we are a pair of 60 somethings, a doctor and a chartered accountant who have travelled in the Far East extensively since our 20s, we have stayed in a place costing £500 a night, and places costing £2 a night and have continued to do that sort of thing all these years, because sometimes really cheap places offer a completely different experience. It also gives us the ability I believe to be reasonably good judges of what is good and what is not good what is overrated and what is underrated. Our feeling is that Moonlight resort is slightly underrated at 8.5 on Agoda, I’d give it...

Ripped us off, rundown and overpriced

One star as management couldn't even be bothered to reply to our complaint via email (I gave them that chance before sharing this review).

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I really dislike giving critical reviews but need to be honest about this overpriced run down hotel.

The experience was mediocre soured by a number of events - I don’t believe I could recommend this hostel whatsoever.

Let me start with the positive - the staff were very friendly, especially Danny. Thank you for that. They offered a welcome juice drink and a small plate of pineapple and watermelon on arrival.

Otherwise - the hotel is somewhat rundown the rooms aren’t a good value for over £100 a night.

There is a beach front with sun beds scattered (very untidily), it’s not a private beach so don’t be fooled. There are two jacuzzi like pools which are more of a shallow poor man’s garden swimming pool than a jacuzzi. (Other cheaper hotels offer sunbeds on the beach front for a fraction of the price (as little as £12 a night)

There is NO waitering service to customers who are using the sunbeds and in the beach front - I walked inside to get a beer. A small can of beer which is usually sold for $1 is sold for double the price here at $2 - i would say it’s western prices but in the UK it’s even cheaper than this for a can that size. At double the price you might expect they would offer to bring it you?

The shower head in the room (13) was not working properly - the pressure was weak with the shower coming away from the wall.

There were stains outside from old toilet brushes on the floor and the mirror could have been cleaned.

The massage service is for only one person at a time - so no option of a nice experience for couples. (Let me add - the massage parlour was completely available and had no bookings whatsoever)

The hotel also sent us in a mini boat to the pier which we were very unsure of as the weather was windy. We asked a number of times about walking but the hotel did not give us clear directions to the walkable pier. Despite initial objections from us, we were not warned how wet we might get. We were then soaked head to toe by the sea in the miniboat including small bags we were holding. Luckily our larger bags were placed in a bin bag. This could easily have been avoided had they helped us when we asked for directions to walk. How is this hotel charging the rates it does?

To top it all off we were scammed by the hotel for a ‘VIP’ Minibus service they sold us to Phnom Penh. Using a company called RA Transport - Moonlight Hotel charged us $12 per person. Speaking to other passengers who paid $10 from their hostel Mad Monkey (which let me say is a youth hostel - why is a luxury hotel using the same service as a budget youth hostel?). I have attached a picture of a full bus with my partner’s leg room - which we have very little air conditioning. How can you call this VIP? Absolutely shocking.

We were still somewhat wet from the boat ride, very uncomfortable drying with salt water (Including potential water damage to possessions) and very dehydrated as no complimentary water was given by the bus company. If Moonlight are aware of this poor service from the bus company, why wouldn’t they offer a free bottle of water or advice that the journey is a long one and we should purchase a water from them

Don’t think we are posh or over exaggerating because we are use to much cheaper hostels and hotels, but when you are paying $132 dollars a night to be ripped off by the hotel then it’s frustrating..

If you are the manager I would appreciate a discussion via email - as I have been left shocked at this service. I cannot recommend this place whatsoever and if you are considering I would take heed of similar reviews and AVOID until they can make the...

We stayed here for 6 nights over the Khmer new year for my birthday and I have to say that I couldn't of picked a better place to be. I have been traveling to Asia since the mid 80's and Koh Rong Sanleom reminds me of Thailand in the early 90's only better due to fresh water and power.

There are no bikes or cars on the island and the transport is foot or boat. Electricity is all supplied by generator that each resort has, so you have to expect it to go off a few times a day.

While at Moonlight we stayed in a Dome which was perfect. The air conditioning was heaven at night. The room was of a good size, the bed large, bathroom clean and only about 50 metres to the beach.

Saracen bay is a very protected cove and virtually zero wind so expect it to very very warm and humid.

The food they had at the restaurant was amazing. So tasty and yummy. The Cambodian dishes were perfect as was the pasta and my girlfriend loved the chocolate mousse for desert.

It was Khmer new year which means that most people Cambodians pack up and go home for the special event. So the service was quite slow.

The breakfast included we had on the balcony of our dome most mornings and was perfect.

We had access to the WiFi out front on the balcony and in the restaurant which was great but really enjoyed just lying around reading books.

The water out the front was around 28 degrees celsius so you can quite easily stay in there for hours at a time.

The staff were all very friendly and happy but like much of Cambodia limited in English so try and not get frustrated.

We did the walk over to Sunset beach a few times which was great.

Moonlight Resort is by far the best place on the island and one to stay and well worth it.

Koh Rong Sanleom is clean quite and will go down as one of the best islands I have been to #cambodia #KohRongSanleom #Cambodge #SthEastAsia...