The Shining Angkor is a small, charming, French colonial style hotel located in a quiet neighborhood. The room was lovely, the bed was comfortable, the small balcony a nice place to sit with a drink in the evening. The staff are very helpful and organized a three-day tuk tuk tour of the temple area at a very reasonable price. I would have given a "5" but the breakfast was a bit of a disappointment. Still, I would happily return. The ambience is wonderful.
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Good value for money boutique hotel. Around 2 kms from city center. Breakfast is complimentary and it's good. Less eateries around. Have to go to city center for good food, if not having lunch/dinner in hotel restaurant.
Pros
Large rooms fully equipped some with balcony.
Very comfortable bed. Mosquito nets on beds.
Located between city center and the temples in a quiet area.
Very welcoming staff. Very helpful in organizing sightseeing’s visit.
Standard breakfast. Average restaurant with a variety of local dishes. Reasonably priced.
Cons
We ordered a room for four nights in “Angkor shining apartments”. on arrival it was deserted. After a long search ended up in “Angkor shining boutique hotel”. Took a while to find which is which.
Tiny swimming pool.
No elevator! Needed if your room is on third flour.
Hot water in showers not always working.
Bikes offered to us were in very poor condition and practically impossible to ride.
Not all water bottles in the room are for free. Read the little letters before use.
Confusion about free airport transfer offered: it is only on arrival and not on departure (check out) - again, read the small letters and inquire.
It left a very bad taste to argue about water and airport transfer on check out so we just paid and left.
It felt to us like the receptionist was aware of the misunderstanding due to happen and was just “waiting to collect”.
The whole place is crowded with very heavy and very dark furniture, statues, books and out of date papers that makes a very thick and heavy atmosphere.
Tube TV in very bad quality and cable that works part time.
Cannot recommend.
In general: this place needs to upgrade its design, policy and attitude!!!
Clean and decent sized room, power points weren't close to the beds which was a little annoying. Great spot in between Angkor and the city - meant we got to sleep in a little longer before sunrise than if we stayed right in Siem Reap. Pool looked nice but we didn't use it. Staff were great, when we got back after our day out at the temples we could have used the shower near the pool to tidy up (as we had checked out that morning), but we also wanted a nap so they let us use a room for a few hours for $15 US which was heaven (also considering we got soaked with rain in the afternoon was nice to have an actual room to use for showers / nap and finding dry clothes!
I stayed here with my family and would in the future not pick this hotel again, due to its location and limited breakfast options.
As it is 2 km to the city centre you are obliged to take a tuk tuk. The hotel offers tuk tuk services but will charge you 2 usd. I suggest you install the passapp which lets you ride a tuktuk with fixed charges and gets you from point a to b without any hastle.
The breakfast is a la carte. You get a small fruit platter with a drink and your chosen item of the menu, but there are nicer places in Siem Reap to have breakfast.
Rooms are nice, spacious and clean. Swimming pool is small but enjoyable. Staff is friendly and can speak english.
All in all, it was an okay stay, but in the future I would chose another place in Siem Reap.
Hotel staff speaks English. Buying amenities is not as accessible in this area and you may have to head to town (about 10mins tuk tuk ride) to get your necessities. Hotel room is decent and very clean.
Free breakfast is not buffet but a la carte. I recommend this hotel if you are not looking for anything lavish and on the less extravagant lodging budget.
