I stayed for 4 nights in this newly built Accor property end January/beg February. This hotel is brand new. They opened on December 18, 2010 and they are still in a “soft opening” phase. This is the 2nd Sofitel in Cambodia, after the great Sofitel Royal Angkor in Siem Reap, which is, in my heart, the best hotel in the world (see the thread by my very good
friendCupart:http://www.flyertalk.com/forum/accor...esort-spa.html). The director of the new Sofitel Phnom Penh is Mr Lamoot who is the former director of the Sofitel Angkor. As he did a great job there, one could expect the best from the Phnom Penh one. So here is a brief review.

Location

The hotel is located about 2 km south of the Royal Palace, very close to the Russian embassy, in an area that is changing a lot. I mean that the surroundings of the hotel are not really great right now (there is even a kind of “favella” well visible from the pool area) but this is a promising area as there are some luxury villas being built, so the area will improve very quickly.

Check In

I have to say that this hotel is very nice. The main hall of the hotel is huge with the bar on the left side and the check-in & concierge desks at the back. When I arrived, I was greeted by a very courteous staff member with a welcome drink. He asked for my passport and credit card and asked if I was an A-Club member. I said yes and gave my platinum card. He looked at it and said “Oh, Mr Goldorak, we were expecting you”. He came back a few minutes later with the usual paperwork to fill & sign and told me that they upgraded me to the upper category room. Then I had the nice surprise to see an ex-Sofitel Angkor staff member (a Cambodian speaking very well French) who came to tell me how nice it was to see me again there, and enquiring about my family he already met in Siem Reap. What a nice welcome ! In fact 30 staff members moved from the Sofitel Angkor to the new Phnom Pehn Sofitel. So I was knowing a lot of people there (as I stayed several times in Siem Reap) so it was a great stay that was coming.

Room

Very nice B&W pictures of Angkor temples and Cambodian countryside are depicted in the lobbies. My room was quite big and very nice and extremely comfortable. There were the bedding area and a living room area (with a sofa and an armchair). A full plate of chocolate and typical French pastries (clairs au caf& au chocolat) were waiting on a table. TV was a nice Samsung flat screen with a DVD player. The only “negative” point of my stay is that the insonorisation of the rooms could be better. Not from the outside noise but from the neighbouring room through the communication doors.

Service

The staff is as great as in the Sofitel Angkor. I think the staff members who knew me from Siem reap told the others, as I was always greeted with “Hello Mr Goldorak !” even by some people that I never knew before.

Dining

Four restaurants are available : I tried all except the Chinese one that was about to open but not opened yet during my stay. Great food. The chief is a Franco-Khmer very nice guy who came to discuss with me several times.

Pool

There is a nice pool with a pool-side bar which is greatly appreciated after a day of walking in the warm Phnom Penh.

Overall

So, in summary, a very nice hotel with great staff. A nice addition for the Sofitel brand. I would definitely go there again for my next visit in PNH !

Hello guys. Here is a review of my 3rd stay in this hotel (4 nights). It was the 1st step of a 2 weeks stay in SE Asia during which I stayed in 3 excellent Sofitel (Phnom Penh, Siem Reap/Angkor and Saigon). I will write the Angkor and Saigon reports right after this one. Outside the quality of stay in general, I was particularly interested to see what would be the Platinum treatment since the new rules implementation. And I can already tell you that the 3 hotels were excellent in all aspects.

This hotel has a club millesime on the top floor, but I knew that I would not check-in there as I was arriving at midnight at the hotel. Indeed the Club millesime is closed at that time and you can imagine that the lobby and front desk were empty. When I arrived, they already knew who I was and I was given my key immediately and luggages were delivered to my room promptly. I had booked a superior room and had been upgraded instantly to a Luxury room with Club access. My relatives (platinum also) were arriving the following morning and received exactly the same treatment and upgrade.

I had already stayed in those rooms before and they are extremely pleasant : large with a separate seating area (sofa + armchair) and a balcony. I was told during the stay that we were given intentionally rooms on the pool side because on the "city side" the construction of the big mall is very active and they said there's sometimes some noise from the construction quite late in the evening. Very nice attention

In the room :
- a welcome letter signed by the GM :
"Dear Mr Goldorak, it's a pleasure to welcome you one again in Sofitel Phnom Penh (…) In our hotel, as a member of our loyalty program and thanks to your platinum status, we have the pleasure to grant you exclusive privileges. This way, we want to thank you for your loyalty :
- welcome drink : we are delighted to invite you for a welcome drink : non-alcoholic drink, beer, prosecco sparkling wine, etc at the bar
- upgrade : we have upgraded you in one of our luxury rooms. We wish you an excellent stay
- VIP treatment : a special attention for you is awaiting you in your room(see about the other note below). Enjoy it
- free internet : stay connected at all times anywhere in the hotel and for free
- free newspaper (Phnom Penh post or Cambodia daily) : your selected newspaper will be delivered to you every morning in order for you to be aware about the last news
- Club lounge access : we will be delighted to welcome you at our Club Millesime on the 12th floor
- late check-out : we will do our best to grant you a late check-out, pending availability. Check with our staff the day before your departure.
(…)
All my team is at your disposal to make your stay a memorable experience.
(…)

- a huge box of tropical fruits was present with a note from the GM saying :
"Dear Mr Goldorak, it's a pleasure to welcome you one again in Sofitel Phnom Penh. As a member of our loyalty program and thanks to your platinum status, we invite you to enjoy as of now your benefits by savoring this delicious selection of Khmer fruits. Bon apptit"

Time now to have a good night of sleep in excellent Sofitel beds

Club Millesime is nice and has a "very chic" atmosphere. I already tried it last year and enjoyed it. As usual in this kind of club, you can check-in/check-out, have free breakfast, tea/coffee/cakes in the afternoon and cocktails/wines/snacks during the happy hour (from 6 to 8 pm). The selection of food available at the Club was nice and fresh. Hot breakfast items can be ordered as well. The Club was not busy, which was good.

The staff was very nice as always and the GM ensured during the stay that everything was OK.
The only problem during the stay was an extremely slow internet. So slow that it was impossible to use it. Even sending a simple e-mail with 5 lines of text was taking forever. It was not the case during my 2 previous stays in this hotel and so I guessed they likely had a technical problem. I want to precise that this was not due to 2 different access proposed : one free but very slow and one regular but for which you have to pay. This hotel has only one type of internet access and it was free for platinums. Otherwise no problem at all during the stay

So, another excellent stay in this hotel with perfect and transparent implementation of Le Club rules. You'll see in my 2 other reviews that it was the same in the 2 other Sofitel. I like the letter detailing you all the benefits given to you. A big thank you to the GM, Mr Chevet, and all his team.

Points posted very rapidly and with the correct amount.