When I say "Getaway" I'm not kidding! We arrived in the Pailin area using our own motos and we had a devil of a time finding the hotel. Even Google Maps got it wrong. The hotel is a few kilometers out of town and is situated on a quiet dirt road. The grounds are well kept and the rooms are located down several paths that pass by a pond, gardens and a large swimming pool. You pass several small sitting areas, for the guests, that are near points of interest. The restaurant is centrally located and semi-outdoors so you can enjoy the local breezes. Our room was a deluxe model with two double beds, a wonderful large bathroom with great shower and a nice sitting area by the front windows. The mini bar was not stocked and they provided a water heater with complimentary coffee and teas. The beds were comfortable and the room, in general, was quite comfortable. There was a decent sized flat screen TV and a DVD player opposite the beds. We were told that there was NO television, per se, but WiFi was available. We couldn't get on the Internet the first night and gave up trying, but the next day the staff helped us to get the bugs out and we were fine after although my partner said the WiFi was very slow. Our room was very quiet with no noise from neighbors or traffic of any kind. The large pool was crystal clear and very refreshing plus they had several thatched-roofed canopies if you wanted some shade. The staff were helpful and friendly, but not too friendly which was nice. Two points: First, the high point for us was the restaurant. We ate two breakfasts and two dinners. The breakfasts were off a Menu which I prefer (being a retired chef) over breakfast buffets. We selected Asian breakfast items and they were well prepared though on the small side (given my experiences at other Cambodian hotels over 5 years). The evening meals were wonderful. The first night I ordered a small Chicken Sour Soup which was the best I've had in Cambodia, but it was not "small." I had also ordered the River Fish w/ 3 Flavors which was absolutely wonderful (I highly recommend!) though huge and I couldn't finish it. My partner, who is Khmer ordered the Khmer Beef Salad which he said was perfect. The next night I got a Chicken Stir-fried with Lemongrass, Galangal and Garlic which was very flavorful, but had too much Lemongrass for my tastes (my partner said, "It's just the way it should be"). He got the Stir-fried Noodles with Beef and he said it was, "O.K." I have say that for each meal we had, the kitchen took WAY too long to get the dishes out to us. When you have 1, that's ONE, table you are cooking for, taking 40+ minutes to get out a couple of stir-fries is ridiculous! Every meal, including breakfast, was like that.......And it wasn't us because when they did have other tables to serve, they were taking way too much time. The second point is that to have no TV AND no Internet was problematic for me. I'm fine with only having one of those amenities, but I DO want one of them. If you want a very quiet getaway in a natural setting and I mean get away from the news, get away from entertainment, get away from crowds, the Memoria Palace is a great place to come too. A final word about Pailin. I was surprised at how beautiful Pailin is and I would recommend a visit to anyone. If I return there, it would be in December or January when the outlying roads would likely be passable, not the monsoon when the rivers were already raging which severely limited our access to the surrounding mountains.
