Oh. My. Gawd. I'm a 30-something world traveler/young professional and have been a loyal Tripadvisor reader and contributor for years now (go ahead and read my detailed reviews to check legitimacy). Each time I'm about to book a hotel, I always make sure that I get a Top 10 Tripadvisor-rated hotel, and preferably someplace where I can use or get SPG/Marriott/Hilton points. This time around, I was forced to take the Hotel Cambodiana because I was traveling with my aging, favorite relative and he wanted to stay here for sentimental reasons.

Wow. This hotel is abysmal. Where do I begin?

First off, the reception desk is corrupt. They ask you to sign the dossier and they ask you to sign your credit card bill at check-in. I suppose the signature may indeed be for authorization purposes only, but signing the hotel 'services rendered' dossier before any services have been rendered is ridiculous. I screamed at the reception attendant, and all he did was grin throughout my rant (His name is Mr. S. Somko or something similar to that). If you don't expect to be swindled and think this is merely an artifact of the 'Cambodian culture,' then maybe you don't have a problem with this transactional process. But if this raises red flags for you, then yeah, stay away from this hotel.

Secondly, the hotel restaurant was mediocre. My red cloth napkin was washed but looked dirty from almost a dozen unremovable set-in stains (edit: these were replaced by white cloth napkins my final night here). The dinner buffet was tasteless, and half of the entrees were tepidly warm. The dinner buffet on Saturday night was some (tasteless) sushi, a couple entrees, and noodle soup cooked to order -- that was it! Cold dishes looked like they had been left out for hours. I'm just hoping that I don't get food poisoning.

The room itself is mediocre. It is impossible to escape the strongly dirty musty smell of the room, even after staying in room for a few hours. The white towels are grey with dinginess (sense a pattern?), and I'd seriously consider drying myself with my sweaty t-shirts before using those towels. The clothes hangers are dirty (they actually have a label covering up the fact that they used to come from the "Hotel Sofitel Cambodiana", see my Tripadvisor pics), and my mom (who was staying in my room) didn't want to ruin her white pants by putting them on a hanger (2 twin beds, Room #308). The electrical fixtures are old and the caulking/paint job is worse than any other hotel I've stayed in (see pics). The carpet, furniture, and electronics (e.g. the phone) were almost all certainly purchased in the late 1980's (see pic). Rooms are separated by a door in the middle of the shared wall, and sound travels through there really easily. There is no iron nor ironing board! I've stayed at a few typical "Red Roof Inn's" in my lifetime, and those surpass the Hotel Cambodiana by a long mile.

I had an experience similar to 'beats21' re: hot water. One night, our room didn't have hot water. The next night, the next room over (#309, also under our reservation) didn't have hot water.

Please take a look at my pics. Many if not most of us know that 'whole-room' pics don't tell even a 1/4 of the story of a room's pleasantness. That's why I've uploaded close-up pics to show you what's going on in these rooms.

Probably the only reason I'm giving this hotel 2 stars instead of 1 star is that it is right on the coastline of the Mekong River. If you want to be steps away from the Mekong River, and can bear 2-star accommodations, this is definitely the hotel for you. In fact this is really the only hotel along the Mekong before it splits into the Basak River on the Phnom Penh side (click on the map provided by Tripadvisor). There's a nice set of pier-side gazebos (esp. great at night; nice & breezey) for guests. (But the Mekong is really NOTHING to look at. It's like people put a muddy man-made river with a couple barges in the middle of an abandoned industrial field.)

Another note: Wireless internet access requires scratch-off cards that can be purchased at the Front Desk. USD3 for 1hr time (expires 48 hours after first use), USD7 for 3hr time (expires 72 hrs after first use), and USD15 for 24hr time (expires 7 days after first use). The internet access wasn't very good. I got kicked off the network access pretty randomly.

Again, I was stuck with this reservation to suit the taste of my aging, favorite relative. Don't book at this hotel. You will likely regret it. (Any of you Tripadvisor readers are welcomed to send a message via Tripadvisor. I'm happy to chat over the phone or over a cam to talk you out of staying here. It is truly that bad!)

Finding a good hotel in Phnom Penh is not always easy and can be quite expensive as well. I stayed at this rather large, and a bit off the center strip hotel for one night. It took some time before the reception could find our reservation. It seemed that we were booked on the VIP floor, which had its separate reception.

The rooms were ok, but a bit old. The breakfast ok, but the breakfast staff wasnt too forthcoming and there were ants on the buffet.

I just returned from my second stay at the Cambodiana. In advance, I had requested a river-view room and the staff accommodated my request. I had a very nice room with an outstanding view. The room was clean and well-attended with adequate bottled water and bathroom items. I did not find the towels to be shredded nor gray!
The included buffet breakfast has just about everything—both western and asian cuisine. The staff is very cordial and eager to please. The location is outstanding with a view of the confluence of the Tonle Sap and Mekong Rivers right from your room window. The price is a bit more that what I would like to pay but for what I got, I will stay there again!

This is a good, basic hotel with a great buffet breakfast. The hotel is well located and within a short tuk tuk ride to the Russian Market and other attractions. Be careful crossing the street. Phnom Penh has precious few traffic lights and the constant speeding parade of motorcycles requires courage and prayer.