Bou Phanith Villa — Hotel in Siem Reap

We stayed here for basically two weeks, since we did take a side trip away for a few days. It's in a really fantastic location. It's minutes to walk just about anywhere in the tourist area - the Old Market, Night Market, and Pub Alley are minutes away, as are lots of other shopping meccas and sites. There are little restaurants and bars scattered all over (the Blue Bar across the street was a great place to stop after a hot day out and the bakery at the end of the street is great), and a couple of little stores to buy snacks, wine, and little essentials within steps. There are lots of tuks-tuks just waiting nearby to take you off to more distant stops as well. The entrance alone had us - so pretty and peaceful. We had the deluxe double room with a balcony and partial pool view. Mostly a view of the building wall next door, but at night all the little lizards come out, and we sat outside and watched them. We loved it! The room itself was spacious and the bed and pillows were to die for. We slept so well! The air-con worked great, and it's quiet! We had one glitch with it that they fixed right away, and there is a fan for back up. It's not a five-star, but it's lovely, simple, and comfortable. Note that there is no elevator, so if you don't want to walk stairs a lot make sure to book the first floor. Also, some rooms don't have shower stalls or tubs (ours didn't), just a shower head on the wall, but it was no big deal for us. Downsides, the water pressure is not great, and we did have a couple of days with almost no hot water for showers, and the breakfast, while lots of choices and quite good, could use a little work (note to Kefi - toast could be a little browner on both sides and scrambled eggs drained a little better), but we did try a few options and all were a good fuel to start the day. The staff are really nice and very accommodating, and will help arrange trips out to the temples or other places around town. We had a bad dental issue come up, and they were more than helpful (thank you Kefi!). We did run into a misunderstanding in that we thought they could help arrange trips out of country (to Vietnam or Thailand), which they can't yet (we arranged our own trip to Bangkok), but I hope they get there because it would really take this place next level. If we were to go back, we would definitely stay here again. Thank you Kefi and all your staff for a really...

It is always a disappointment when you go back to a much-loved hotel and find that it has changed hands, is under new management, and standards throughout the hotel have fallen dramatically.||My son and his wife were visiting me in Thailand and wanted to go to Angkor Wat, so I went on-line to book at Tareach Angor Villa in Siem Reap. When I made payment, a message came up that my booking at Bou Phanith Villa was confirmed. I did not know this hotel and assumed that there had been a computer error, so I cancelled the booking. I then found out that it was the same hotel, but that the hotel had not updated its on-line booking details. I rebooked at Bou Phanith, which led to much trouble claiming a refund for a cancelled booking.||As we entered the hotel, we crossed a small bridge over a fish pond that used to be crystal clear with koi swimming around. Now the pond stinks and is covered with green algae., with the fish gulping for air on the surface.||On all previous visits to this hotel we were always greeted like family, and we were given cold face towels and cool drinks on arrival. This time there was none of that, and we were greeted with a curt demand for our passports.||Next, we found out that the hotel no longer has a kitchen and there are no breakfast arrangements.||Our hotel rooms showed further declines in standards, with a shower head falling off the wall, and a toilet seat not properly fixed to the toilet, causing it to swivel dangerously when you sat on it. There was a pitifully small bottle of shower gel, which was not replaced when the room was cleaned the next day. We had to ask for more.||Where there used to be a nice selection of teas and coffee in the room, now there was no tea: just two small packets of Nescafe instant coffee.||The next problem was the safe in the room, which was locked in the open position. It took a hotel employee an hour to work out how to unlock it so that I could deposit money and passports in it. The, the next day, when I tried to open the safe, it malfunctioned, and again it took the hotel employee another hour to work out how to open it.||I could go on and on, and many of my complaints above may seem trivial. But put them together and it shows a serious decline in the standards of management and administration of a formerly great boutique hotel.||I will not be staying...

Pros: Nice young staff, everyone was very friendly, large rooms with nice balcony views of the city, breakfast is served every morning (from a pre-fixed menu). There is a pool bar, but we never saw a bartender present.

Cons: while the hotel looks nice at a glance, the actual inner-workings are weird and feel old. First off, there is no elevator and the street out front is very rough, so there is especially no handicap access. You are given an actual metal key for your room attached to a massive block of wood (which can be removed), but the actual lock requires multiple turns and loud clicks before it's really locked (we accidentally left our door unlocked and open all day because of the deceptive noises). The bathroom was nice and big, but they have what seems to be a raised standard shaped plastic tub body where something more substantial like tile should be; we are 130 and 175 pounds and showered alone but could feel the bottom of the tub flexing under our feet the whole time like we would just eventually bust through to the room below. The hotel is nice for the area and the price, but it feels like they are cutting corners on necessary repairs or just had someone's uncle come in and do the work for cheap. Also, totally not their fault, but on both Saturday and Sunday there is EXTREMELY loud flute music and prayer services ALL DAY until 10pm from down the street and it echoes through the entire building. Don't expect to sleep in or get...