Review: Anik Palace Hotel Phnom Penh Cambodia
Spoiler- This might have been the best value hotel I have ever stayed at!
After finally feeling better, maybe after my terrific flight onboard a Thai Airways 787-8 in economy which you can read about here (https://www.jettoajet.com/post/review-thai-airway-787-8-economy-bangkok-phnom-penh) it was time to head downtown to Phnom Penh. Once arriving at the airport I presented my visa, they stamped me in and I headed outside to be harassed by Grab drivers. Welcome to Asia! I finally found my Grab driver which I called through the app, surprisingly it was a Prius!
Ordinarily, the drive was about 25 minutes but the prime minister was arriving which meant we had to drive the other direction and go around since the road was blocked... um excuse me can that be done for me, please? haha. After about an hour I arrived at the Anik Palace, wow!
Price Paid
I originally booked a standard room through hotels.com but due to my status, I was upgraded to a more superior room which was amazing!!! I paid 72$ for a one-night stay at what would turn out to be a breathtaking property!
The Lobby
The lobby is on the ground floor and when I walked in I was shocked. It was gorgeous! I was not expecting this for 72$ a night at all, I felt like I was in a cathedral or such.
It had plenty of Christmas decorations made up along with a beautiful handmade gingerbread house. If there wasn't the restaurant upstairs I might have been tempted to eat it! Okay, even with the restaurant I was tempted.
The Rooms
I headed to the elevators (which were very small) and made my way up to floor number 10 which is where my room would be for the night.
My room was super easy to locate as it was the first one on the right once I stepped out of the elevator. I headed inside to find my new hidden gem!
Now for a room tour. First, there was a fake fireplace on the right which set the mood!
A chair in the corner which was surprisingly comfortable!
And a desk that was towards the entrance to the room.
Can we take a minute to acknowledge the phone by the bed? Before you ask, yes it really did work!!
Lastly, this was the sunrise view from the bedroom.
The Bathroom consisted of a shower, bathtub, toilet and sink as standard procedure.
The shower had good pressure, constant hot water (don't you hate it when it cuts out), Anik branded soaps, and was perfect. While I did have a chance to have a bubble bath, I had no complaints here either.
I really appreciated every small detail that Anik Palace put into their rooms like this packaged toilet paper! Four Seasons better start taking notes, this is Aman level!
I mean, even the tissue boxes were branded!
The Rooftop Restaurant/Pool
A couple of floors up from mine I found a magical place that I would compare to my Alice in Wonderland. It consists of 3 pools, one fine dining restaurant, a pool restaurant, and a fantastic place to relax. After a long long day, I decided to go upstairs and have some dinner.
Views from upstairs
Might give some other countries Christmas lights a run for their money!
I sat down in the back corner while a wonderful waiter came over and warmly greeted me. I noticed in my time in Cambodia the people are extremely friendly and try to always do their best! This was the menu for the night although I forgot to take a photo until I was almost finished.
I chose to have an Amaretto on the rocks (5$), a Perrier, and a burger with chips (we speak English not American give me a break). The burger was cooked perfectly while being juicy while the chips hit the spot to replenish everything that had been expelled from my body earlier that day.
While I did not have an opportunity to go in the pool it seemed as if it would have been extremely relaxing. I checked the temperature, it wasn't too cold. I guess I am Canadian so you don't have to take my word for it 😉
Breakfast
Breakfast is inclusive I believe of any rate you book and I took full advantage of it since I had a long day ahead. Breakfast was located on the floor below the rooftop and was divine.
Am I seeing this correctly?? A fine dining breakfast establishment in the hotel which is inclusive? Suffice it to say I was a little bit shocked but I sat down and a waiter offered me a coffee. I obliged with a cappuccino, then another, then another. 3 lovely cappuccinos later I felt like myself again!
There is a choice between A La Carte or buffet or both, while the buffet was Americanized the menu seemed to be more local. I stuck with comfort food. This was a lovely way to start the morning!
The pancakes were scrum-diddilyumptious, I went back for seconds oops. While the bacon and prosciutto were also very good.
Freshly squeezed Orange Juice was perfect as well!
Overall a fantastic breakfast! When I asked how much it was they replied "it's included".
Lunch
Since I had an upcoming 6-hour drive I decided to have an early lunch at the rooftop. Also, I wanted to try it for review purposes. The nice restaurant is located over the little bridge pictured on the rooftop section. It did have the same menu which was fine since there was lots more I needed to try! However, they had a FROZE! It's 5 pm somewhere, right? It was delectable. Did I mention this restaurant is also a wine bar?
I opted for the tagliatelle with beef which was also sublime! 5 Star on Food all around!
Wait!! Here it comes again! Fantastic!! All around 5 stars!
They also have a spa which I didn't have time to check out.
Service
Service was flawless from the second I laid eyes on the hotel. The bellman opened the door, to a free room upgrade, always asking how I was doing, great service by the pool, great service at breakfast and lunch. It shocked me to see this because this is the standard that the Aman sets. The Anik Palace was above and beyond any sort of expectation.
Checkout
When it came time to check out the staff had arranged for a Toyota Alphard (upgraded me on the car for free) to drive me from Phnom Penh to Siem Reap. The drive was 6 hours and came to a total of 150$ USD. If I got a suburban (similar comfort) in the US to drive me that far it would come to 1000++.
A gorgeous Christmas tree in the lobby! The gingerbread is still there 😉.
Final Thoughts
Anik Palace is a phenomenal hotel to stay at if you are in Phnom Penh. To go even further, I would come back just to stay with them for longer, get a few massages and sit by the pool. The rooms are cozy, service is stellar, food divine and an overall fantastic value for money!
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