Siem Reap’s Grand Hotels: Raffles, Park Hyatt and Shinta Mani Compared

Siem Reap has hotels at every price, but three of them show the main choices at the upper end: a 1930s landmark, a renovated hotel with a palace-like dome, and a handful of private villas.

The landmark: Raffles Grand Hotel d’Angkor

Raffles Grand Hotel d’Angkor was designed by Ernest Hébrard in 1929 and opened in 1931-32. It has 119 rooms and suites, a white façade, black-and-white marble floors and a conservatory known for afternoon tea. The six-month refit that ended in October 2019, reported in our news piece, renewed most of the rooms. It is the choice for atmosphere and history.

The renovation: Park Hyatt Siem Reap

Park Hyatt Siem Reap occupies the former Hotel de la Paix, reopened in 2013 after a 14-month renovation by Bill Bensley. It has 108 rooms, 13 of them suites, a dome that echoes the towers of Angkor Wat, a restaurant open to a banyan tree and a garden spa. We covered the opening in Park Hyatt Siem Reap Opens. It is the choice for contemporary design and a wellness programme.

The villas: Shinta Mani Siem Reap

Shinta Mani Siem Reap, also by Bensley, is much smaller: ten identical one-bedroom villas with plunge pools, butler service and references to Angkor Wat in the gateways. See the news piece. It is the choice for privacy.

How to choose

For a first visit, with the temples as the purpose, the Raffles or the Park Hyatt give the most complete experience. For a short stay and a retreat from the town, the villas. Bensley’s wider body of work, including two of these hotels, is covered in our guide to his hotels in Asia.