History
The Grand Hotel d’Angkor is the only hotel to witness and survive Siem Reap's wild shifts of fortune since the 1930s.
At its opening in 1933, the Grand was host to a vanguard of well healed adventure travellers as word spread about the wonders of Angkor. In the 1960s Angkor’s appeal was undiminished and the world held an additional fascination for the newly independent kingdom of Cambodia and its idealistic, eccentric Head of State, Norodom Sihanouk. The Grand prospered again.
Photo: Mark BowyerRaffles Grand Hotel d'Angkor
By the end of the 1960s Sihanouk’s vision was shattered by a war encroaching from across the border in Vietnam. The tourists disappeared and the Grand fell into disrepair. By 1975, the Khmer Rouge controlled Cambodia and occupied the hotel. In the late 70s, invading Vietnamese forces also took up temporary residence here.
As peace returned to Cambodia in the early 1990s, the Raffles group took an interest in the renovation of the hotel and in 1997, the newly renovated hotel including additional wings opened as the Raffles Grand d’Angkor. It was Siem Reap’s first luxury hotel and remains one of a handful to this day.
Location
Excellent serene location on the main road to the Angkor temples overlooking gardens to the Royal Residence. 15 minutes walk or 5 minute by tuk tuk from Siem Reap town.
Photo: Mark BowyerRaffles Grand Hotel d'Angkor
Review - architecture, ambience, people
The original hotel was designed by French architect Ernest Hebrard in the 1920s. Hebrard was the architect behind many of Indochina’s most striking buildings - including the Hotel Le Royale in Phnom Penh and the Vietnamese History Museum and the Vietnamese Ministry of Foreign Affairs, both in Hanoi.
The Raffles’ refurbishment in the 1990s included new wings of rooms - sympathetically built with the original structure - and added Siem Reap’s largest and most enticing swimming pool set in lush gardens.
Photo: Mark BowyerRaffles Grand Hotel d'Angkor
The building interior is attractive if a little tired and the same goes for the original rooms. Recently redecorated suites indicate that as with the Raffles Le Royal in Phnom Penh, decor changes are coming.
Raffles has not yet achieved the effortless warmth that is present in some of the other hotels around town both in its category and below. This is no reflection of the staff - more the spaces they work in.
Still, no property in Siem Reap offers the combination of history, extensive facilities, stunning grounds and spot on service that does the Raffles.
Brief -
The Raffles Grand has pretty much everything - 35m pool, landscaped gardens, spa, health club, library, complimentary wifi and more.
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