Where Phnom Penh sleeps: from Le Royal to the river

About Where Phnom Penh sleeps: from Le Royal to the river

By the ULTIMATE Phnom Penh Editorial Team

Editor-in-Chief: Jai Michael

Phnom Penh’s grand hotels sit close to its two great axes, the river and the Royal Palace. Raffles Hotel Le Royal, built in 1929, stands in its gardens near Wat Phnom. A few blocks south-west, the Rosewood occupies the upper floors of Vattanac Capital, the tower that rises to 187.3 metres above Monivong Boulevard. On the Bassac riverfront, the Sofitel Phnom Penh Phokeethra keeps a run of restaurants and a cigar room, and across the Chaktomuk confluence the Sokha looks back at the palace from the Chroy Changvar peninsula. In between, small heritage hotels in 1920s villas and courtyards lie within a short walk of the palace and the National Museum.

Wat Phnom and the French Quarter

Raffles Hotel Le Royal is at 92 Rukhak Vithei Daun Penh, by Wat Phnom. In the hotel’s own words, it was built in 1929 and reopened as Raffles Hotel Le Royal in 1997; its restaurants are Restaurant Le Royal (royal and modern Khmer cooking) and the French brasserie Le Phnom 1929, with the Elephant Bar and Raffles Spa. Rosewood Phnom Penh is in Vattanac Capital at 66 Monivong Boulevard, with Brasserie Louis, Iza, CUTS, Zhan Liang, the Living Room, Butterfly Patisserie, the Whisky Library and the rooftop bar Sora.

The Royal Palace quarter

Hyatt Regency Phnom Penh is on Street 178, a few minutes from the Royal Palace and the National Museum. Pavilion, an oasis heritage hotel at 227 Preah Ang Yukanthor Street (Street 19), keeps a villa it dates to the 1920s. The Plantation Urban Resort & Spa, within walking distance of the palace, is a quiet hotel of gardens and pools with its own spa and art gallery.

You don’t need a room: take tea in the Elephant Bar at Le Royal, or a drink at Sora high above the city at dusk.

The Bassac riverfront

The Sofitel Phnom Penh Phokeethra is at 26 Old August Site, Sothearos Boulevard, in Tonle Bassac: La Coupole, Do Forni, Fu Lu Zu, Hachi, Le Bar, Club Millésime, a Champagne Boutique, a Cigar Chamber and the Sofitel Spa.

Across the river

The Sokha Phnom Penh Hotel & Residence stands on the Chroy Changvar peninsula, facing the Royal Palace across the water: the quieter side of the capital, in the hotel’s words.

Our advice: for a first visit, stay between Wat Phnom and the palace, where the river promenade, the museum and the markets are all a short tuk-tuk ride away.

Opening hours, prices and seasonal openings change, so please check with Where Phnom Penh sleeps: from Le Royal to the river before you go.