Travelling Chef
May 28, 2025
We live in Cambodia permanently and have travelled to all the great hotels in the world. We have a pretty realistic and reasonable expectation as I am also a Hotel Chef of 35 years. I don’t leave negative reviews usually. I get along great with staff in every country. As a rule.
It’s my wife’s 50th bday so I took her away.
We stayed 5 nights at The Sanctuary Villa.
The front desk guy is great. Pray that you get to interact with him. Otherwise the answer is “no”. To everything. When we checked in he served us welcoming cocktails (pic below), but we never saw another drink or water or food at the hotel again.
No water, ever. In a country that’s 37C everyday and you can’t drink from the tap.
The property itself obviously used to be amazing. It has an exotic and fun feel, but it’s filthy. it has been a long time since anyone cleaned anything or did maintenance or even minor landscaping. The lack of care is everywhere.
I made the mistake of trying to order cocktails on our third night and I was told to drink beer with a sneer. Really fantastic hospitality is everywhere in this country. I was stunned by the lack of friendliness here. Battambang is a very cool city with tons to see and do.
The cleaning lady is just mean. Like snarls at you and you get the vibe she hates you. She brings her kids Or maybe she’s babysitting while she does the rooms? She shed everywhere in our room.
Black hair everywhere AFTER she cleaned. I mean everywhere. Ew.
One morning we had errands to run so we couldn’t eat our breakfast and we returned to find out she had thrown it all away. What a waste.
It was a burnt omelette (pic below) so no big deal I guess but I paid for breakfast and was pretty surprised that they immediately threw it away when we left. They ask you to pick your breakfast at 7pm. Which is pretty inconvenient if you’re a tourist trying to see the Bat Cave (the bats come out at 6-7 and the hotel is an hour away, don’t get dinner out or you’ll be begging your way through the gate). They stopped offering breakfast after that. So we just woke up with no water or food or Hello. Or anything. Ghosttown. Also, Grab drivers aren’t allowed on the property so if you do order food, put on your hiking boots and leave early to meet the driver.
The murky pool waterfall is coated with years of algae that a few spritzes of Clorox could clean.
I’m not sure anybody working at this property has any hospitality training or genuine personal interest in being welcoming or doing their job well. This is the only hotel I’ve ever stayed in that turns off all the lights outside at night and locks the gate at 10. If you come back after 10pm they’ll probably let you in, but you’re going to get reprimanded. Honestly I wonder if ANY staff is there at night. If they are they’re hiding from the guests. Pitch black. Closed.
I’d give the front desk guy from Siem Reap 5 stars for his lovely welcome cocktails and demeanor. The rest of this entire experience should be avoided at all costs
This hotel needs an experienced manager that cares, and fast because Now it’s just an overnighter for bus tourists passing through BTB on their way from Thailand to Angkor Wat.
Biggest spiders I’ve seen in Cambodia so far. So if you’re into Huntsman Spiders: can recommend!
Otherwise, do the Caves, eat the bamboo rice (it’s sooooo good), visit the banana lady, go down to the Bamboo Train, eat at Flavors of India (it’s amazing!!), heck have a shot of King Cobra wine; and then take the night bus to Siem reap and save yourself the disappointment and mistreatment. My wife asked me to mention the total lack of hot water and the horrible leaking ceiling over our bed. But To me hospitality is about people. Cheap owners aren’t a surprise, but staff sitting around playing on their phones, inconvenienced by guest requests WILL close this hotel.
And honestly I wish I could get my money back from this insult
Run away
