Amansara

Despite not being the most luxurious nor the grandest Aman, this one has a special place in our heart. Previously a guesthouse for the king, Aman has kept the original infrastructure of the place and transformed it into a tranquil heaven in the midst on Siem Reap. Service 5/5 The excellent GM MJ Birch and his team has done very well here, everyone was attentive and made us feel completely at home. Given the structure of the place, it felt more like a private home rather than a hotel to us. The GM is ever present and would check in with guests multiple times a day to make sure everything is taken care of. The usual Aman room ninjas were on point, they did a great job refreshing our room every time we were out. Massages were great as well. We also did the xmas eve dinner and the food with music and dance performance was memorable. Experiences 5/5 If you do stay here, the private sunset cruise at Tonle Sap lake is a must. Amansara has a beautiful boat with a bar that serves good canapes and drinks. Cruising through the village to the lake and to watch the gorgeous sunset was an unforgettable experience. The 1962 vintage Mercedes was well worth the reasonable price as it takes you right back in time. Khmer village dinner was great as well, it was more "authentic" than we thought as it was in an actual village and the house resembles a typical traditional khmer house. The guides provided to us were excellent, with great knowledge of the temples and colourful careers, one as the Deputy City Chief of Siem Reap, and the other having worked for the UN and various NGOs. One of the guide, Yoko, even showed us to his khmer village house and introduced his family to us! There is no better way to tour Angkor Wat than the Aman appointed local guides. F&B - 4/5 Normally I'd say this is an area which I do not find Aman is good at, but food at Amansara was pretty good - everything was delicious and healthy. The drinks however were very pricey - I think a bottle of Moet was around US350-400! They do have more reasonably priced ones but wines are nothing to write home about. Overall a great stay and would most definitely return at some point in the future to tour some of the temples we missed out on this time. This is one of the top Amans thanks to the hardwork of MJ Birch and his team.

Most guests at this hotel stay for 3-4 nights as part of a SE Asia tour. What a treat they are missing! We opted to see all the sights around Siem Reap at leisure and also luxuriate in the boutique facilities. Our stay was almost two weeks so we had plenty of time to consider all aspects of this amazing retreat, from the stunning spa to the housekeeping, tours, food and drinks. It was quite faultless. We were allocated the same English speaking guide for all our excursions who was not only well informed but had a great sense of humour. The world famous sites are on the doorstep. The staff immediately knew our names and remembered so many details about our preferences, so we didn’t need to mention anything twice. My husband’s cappuccino was always 3 shots no matter who served us! Our room was serviced the moment we left for breakfast like magic. Since so many guests were on what seemed to us a rush of tours we were sometimes the only ones on the premises. If you want the highest quality of service, individual attention and an oasis from the bustle of the city, then Amansara is the place to be.

From the moment we arrived at Amansara we were greeted by the wonderful staff and management . The grounds are stunning, the room was amazing, the restaurant - perfect. No detail was overlooked. Complimentary laundry service was available whenever we needed it! THE EXCURSIONS ARE FANTASTIC. UNIQUE. We did temples , sunrise at Angkor Wat (stunning), water blessing by a monk! And a forest meditation walk with a monk the next day. We also took a cooking class. Outstanding. It was off the property in a local house. Amazing cooks to teach us. I think I can actually make spring rolls now!!!!! We even did a sunset cruise - just the two of us on an amazing boat. Toasting the sunset in style. I think what made this even more special was that we had the same guide all 3 days. Mr.Huo Chuop. He was very knowledgeable and he catered the tours to our wants and needs. Truly special. We felt like he was an old friend showing us around his town. Truly everyone at the hotel was lovely. Location is perfect. I can’t imagine staying anywhere else. This was the highlight of our trip to Southeast Asia. If you are thinking of visiting Siem Rep - look no further than this special hotel. We can’t wait to come back!

The overall ambience, room quality and level of service was exceptional. The location of the hotel is ideal and the staff is very friendly and superbly trained. The gym is small but ideally equipped and appropriately sized of this small number of rooms.

This property, and this destination, are so very special, it felt magical. From the moment we arrived at the airport and were expedited through immigration, to the moment we left and the entire staff gathered to wave goodbye, Amansara was perfection. The service here is next level and the property is beautiful. There are only 24 (I think) rooms and the service is highly personalized. When we arrived very tired from our journey, we were immediately brought to our room and check in occurred there. The woman who assisted us with check-in, presented us with a proposed itinerary that thoughtfully took into consideration our late arrival and likelihood of being tired the following day. Even though it was already 9 pm, she assured us the itinerary was only a proposal and we could change anything we wanted, including the excursion suggested for the following day. We decided to go with what was suggested. Excursions to Angkor Wat are included in the price and we were assigned a tour guide who would be with us at Angkor Wat and whatever else we opted to see. I wish I could remember his name, he was phenomenal both in terms of being informative and very personable. In addition to AW, we took a boat tour on the Tonle Sap lake, which I cannot recommend highly enough. We were driven to the boat in the hotel's special car (a vintage mercedes that formerly belonged to the king), along with our guide, and saw such an interesting and beautiful part of Cambodia. The room was a cool and relaxing refuge from the heat and was very well designed and laid out. Every time I laid on the bed, I said "Oh man, this bed!" It was so comfortable. We did have a private plunge pool, which was nice to look at but oddly enough we didn't use it much. Laundry was an included service, which was really nice. We had been traveling a bit by the time we arrived so it was great to get some of our clothes washed. The heat also made it impossible to re-wear anything without a wash so this service was meaningful for us and we used it everyday. Every night when we got back to our room, there was a nice little gift for us! I don't want to ruin the surprise but these gifts were lovely, not junky. The food at the hotel was excellent and two meals a day are included in the price. We are not foodies by any means but everything we had was delicious and the menu is wide-ranging. The entire food and beverage staff was made aware of my dietary restrictions and once when I ordered something, the waitress advised me that it had ingredients I do not eat. I was surprised since I had not said anything to her but apparently my dietary preferences had been documented and committed to memory by all the F&B servers. That's the kind of personal service you will get here. The gym was very nice and completely empty when we used it. The grounds are beautiful. There are tuk-tuk type vehicles to take you around town (included) whenever you want and the hotel is very well-located to nightlife and shops of Siem Reap. The general manager of the hotel spends a lot of time making sure guests are happy and he even sat with us (at our request) for a late breakfast one day and chatted with us for almost an hour. This was our first stay at an Aman but it won't be our last. If you are thinking about where to stay and this is in your budget, don't hesitate. it's worth every penny.