Tara Angkor Hotel

Mark Stracey5 months ago

4/5

First off - I want to acknowledge how hard it must be to run a hotel in a city that is so closely aligned to a significant “bucket list” landmark site - having to accommodate people that are rightly fixated on their tour to Angkor Wat and in turns the demands of their tour companies- this often results in loads of people coming and going at the same time. The net effect is significant peak times and concentrated demand on services such as breakfast, the foyer, the use of the pool and even the lifts! This means that at those times your experience can feel a bit like a production line and standards do inevitably slip. The hotel itself is clean, the rooms big and the outside dining and pool area are inviting. Service is discrete - we have had very little to do with the hotel staff during our stay but things get done regardless. They were very responsive to a maintenance issue in our room and fixed it before we even had time to get back to our room after reporting it at the reception desk! We had two rooms - one for our teenage children (single beds) and one for my partner and I, where the single beds were pushed together and “joined” by a large bed sheet and quilt. This gave the impression of a double bed but in reality resulted in a bed with a dip in the middle and two inch wooden frame protruding on both sides, almost guaranteeing you would wack your legs on the way in and out of the bed!(s). Two single beds does not make a double bed - while appreciating the need for versatility in their bedroom furnishings, it made for a slightly annoying 5 day stay. But going back to the overwhelming peak time demands on a hotel in Siem Reap that are built to accommodate people going to Angkor Wat - it means that breakfast is often chaotic and very crowded and the quality of food like prepared eggs etc slips, lots of the food empties out and finding a table is hard; tour groups arrive back at the same time and so the beautiful but small pool area is crowded. Of note, this hotel (maybe all hotels in Siem Reap) attracts an older demographic and there were notably limited numbers of families or younger couples or singles. There is a lot in this post and I have mixed emotions about this hotel but I think on reflection this is more about the very real challenge of serving a audience and a site that is so clearly dominated by one very significant tourist destination and the rigour that relates to that.