She’s taller than you or I, and more poised. Her hip has a gentle curve and her elegant fingers suspend three beautiful fuscia lotus stems across her belly. She’s the Apsara, a timeless welcoming figure, carved in stone and beautifully framed by the entryway of the Hotel de la Paix, Siem Reap’s newest and most temple-like luxury property.
Inspired by the Angkor Wat citidel, the hotel masterfully fuses both ancient and modern elements. You can’t help feeling that you’re a Grand Hotel of the future. Columns of geometrically carved stone, the colours of café au lait, support walls which double as canvases for local artists. Ancient Hindu patterns are softened and made contemporary. In the courtyard, a gnarled old banyan tree grows, an icon repeated in the smallest details around the property.
Across from it swing the "dining beds"; these capture the hotel's air of laid-back luxury. From the excellent service, to the outstanding martini glasses encased in their own bubble of ice, the De La Paix is intent on creating a new standard of independent hotel to service the booming Siem Reap tourism market.
The rooms:
The three room types are variations on the same theme. The wooden floors are bordered with terrazzo and topped with knitted rugs in browns, greys and creams. Beaten silver statuettes of Apsara and of banyan trees gleam in lapis lazuli back lighting. Even the standing lamps reference the banyan tree theme, throwing leafy shadows around the rooms.
Rooms are modern but warm; edges are softened by lavish curtains and cosy pillows. In smaller rooms, textured glass sliding panels either open up the bathrooms for open plan living, or slide closed for more demure couples. Lovers should definitely make use of the tub with room enough for two (and the luscious pots of potions that come with it.)
Mini-bars are stocked with delicious homemade treats, perfect for a day trek through the temples. If you fancy a more substantial lunch to take with you, order before 2pm and it will be delivered to your room.
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Hotel de la Paix
"Romantic and luxurious, this eclectic boutique hotel is an inspired fusion of Art Deco elegance and traditional Khmer architecture."
Hotel De La Paix by Caroline Major
Address: Sivutha Boulevard, Siem Reap, Cambodia
Reservations: +44 (0)20 7580 2663
Rates from:
Come for
- Spa Indochine with its Khmer-style swimming pool and water garden
- The incredible food
- iPods loaded with walking guides to the temples
Not suitable for
- Guests leery of having every need met
- Those trying to avoid children - the hotel is pretty family friendly
Eating in
Meric is headed by executive chef Joannes Riviere who has created an incredible Khmer and French fusion menu. It is essential to try the excellent Khmer Degustation menu here. For a coffee, sandwich, or to pick up a gourmet picnic basket, head to Cafe de la Paix. And whether you were a guest here or not, you'd have to check out the Arts Lounge. It features a variety of modern and traditional Cambodian art forms and often features celebrity bartenders who bring their unique cocktails and drinks with them.
Press quotes
"Hôtel de la Paix is a coolly elegant oasis set in the middle of this busy town, comfortably sealed off from the chaos outside its walls.
...
Even the standard rooms are huge: a soaring loft space with a large seating area, a comfortable, spacious bed on a wooden frame, and a terrazzo bathtub big enough for two (or three, for that matter), as well as a walk-in shower. The floor-to-ceiling windows are perfect if you are overlooking the lushly landscaped, lagoonlike pool — but a little unnerving if you are facing the street, and throw open the curtains in the morning to find yourself face to face with workmen on the construction site across the road. The high-tech rooms come with a TV, a DVD player and even a fully loaded Ipod with selections from Ella Fitzgerald to Bach to Cambodian pop singers." New York Times 07
"With off-season prices so ridiculously low, we tried several; our favorites were La Residence d'Angkor, an atmospheric place set on a quiet, leafy street near the river, and the amazing Hotel de la Paix, a cheerfully over-the-top art deco palace in the heart of town. With flaming sconces on the roof, hanging beds in the courtyard restaurant and Stolichnaya at the breakfast buffet, it's not for every taste. But we found it decadently luxurious, and my wife cried when we left. We both cried, a little." Washington Post 07
"Opened last June, the five-star Hotel de la Paix is unashamedly high design - its creator, Bill Bensley, has also worked on stylish properties such as the new Four Seasons in Langkawi, Malaysia, and Oberoi's Rajvilas in Jaipur, India.
There are 107 rooms that feature hardwood floors, sumptuous beds, enormous baths and a mini-iPod pre-loaded with lounge sounds and an audio commentary on Angkor.
After a hot, hard day at the temples, a dip in the hotel's leafy pool is most welcome, perhaps followed by a massage at the Spa Indochine. There's also a funky neon-striped bar and a slick restaurant, Meric, where Khmer delicacies such as grilled prawns in a red ant sauce are served on decadent swing beds." Telegraph 06
"I checked into the Hôtel de La Paix, no less luxurious but stylistically worlds apart. Built last year by an American designer, Bill Bensley, this is an art-deco gem finished with touches of contemporary Khmer-inspired art. It's an an odd combination, sort of Miami meets the Flintstones, but one that works brilliantly. My room was gorgeous, and came with its own iPod, complete with both speakers and headphones. Not only could I listen to music in my room, but I could take it with me to Angkor Wat and tune in to an audio-history tour as I wandered.
Like La Résidence, the hotel has a striking swimming pool, this time inspired by the ancient Khmer water gardens. It has an infinity pool at one end, individual Jacuzzis hidden in alcoves at the other, and lots of little islanded plant pots in between. The design manages to make you feel you have the pool to yourself, even when you haven't.
But it's far from being all style and no substance. The Hôtel de la Paix has close links with a local charity, the Shinta Mani Institute of Hospitality, a vocational training facility that supports and trains the poorest of the poor, giving them skills and ultimately a job in the hotel trade. It also offers guests the chance to visit the Institute, as well as arranging trips to other charities with whom it has connections, such as the local orphanage and children's hospital.
But the worthiness never impinges on the glamour. The ground floor Arts Lounge is the trendiest night spot in town, with its sunken floor, huge sofas and colour-changing light display bar. It also hosts shows of modern art - when I was there the pillars had been painted with murals depicting the traditional symbolism of the temples; as you moved from pillar to pillar these subtly morphed into fantastically contemporary designs." Telegraph 06
"The Hotel de la Paix is a swanky 105-room art deco treasure trove. Part-Theban palace, part-ocean liner, it is the most luxurious of all the new top-end hotels. It "soft-opened" in July, and while it is not yet up to speed (only one in every five of the rooms was booked during my stay), it offers a standard of accommodation and a level of service many Western hotels would do well to emulate.
Designed by Bill Bensley, known for his work for the Four Seasons hotel group in Asia, the rooms are coolly modern, and come with handcrafted lamps, intricate wall-mountings and fine linen. Every room has a DVD player, wi-fi internet connection and an iPod that guests may take with them on excursions.
The communal Art Lounge has a vast bar, lit by fibre optics that bathes the room in alternating soft, soothing pink and green light. On one wall, films are projected without sound. The exhibition of artworks changes monthly, and always in some way reflects Khmer culture.
Pursuing the theme, the hotel's Meric Restaurant features Khmer cuisine, cooked by the highly rated New Zealand chef Paul Hutt. Roots and tubers, flowers, small fish, wild honeys and herbs are all traditional Khmer foods, as well as more than 1,000 varieties of rice. At a Khmer gourmet evening I ate steamed maan (fermented fish) with Khmer crudités, krill (the tiny shrimp that is the staple of any discerning whale's diet) and * * ambarella (something between a quince or crabapple) salad, and stir-fried frog with basil. Every dish was delicious, subtly flavoured and aromatic, and presented with real attention to detail.
Like new hotels the world over, the Hotel de la Paix sets great store by its spa, and boasts a swimming pool, gym and a wide selection of treatments and yoga classes." Independent 05
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