Golden Temple Hotel

The Golden Temple is a unique property. The hotel greets visitors with a stone walkway across a fish pond to enter the hotel, and the lobby, like the rest of the hotel, is gaily painted in orange and purple colors, making it warm and inviting. There are art pieces throughout the lobby -- mostly Buddhas and other Southeast Asian images, plus brass gongs -- and traditional Khmer cushion covers and pillows are set up to relax on. All guests get the largest welcome drink set you'll find in Asia: A tray topped with silver containers with nuts, cold towels, iced lemonade, sweets wrapped in pandan leaves, and fresh tropical fruit. The lobby opens up to the swimming pool and its temple replica stone wall waterfall with an Apsara mermaid; shaded individual hammocks and sala beds surround around the pool. Above this, the restaurant is an orange-tiled roof building, also decorated with plenty of bright colors. This warm and inviting property is popular with families, and any mid-range travelers looking for a well-kept, reasonably priced hotel.

The Golden Temple Hotel is located on the east side of the Siem Reap River, just minutes from downtown. The resort is on a torn-up dirt road that is dusty and bumpy, but it is quick to escape this as the hotel is only a 10-minute walk to Pub Street and the old market, which make up the center of Siem Reap, and there are hundreds of restaurants, bars, and shops there. The hotel is also just around the corner from Cuisinee Wat Damnak, which is the first Cambodian restaurant to make the prestigious San Pellegrino Asia's Top 50 Restaurants list. It's a 15- to 20-minute drive to the airport from here, and about the same to the temples at Angkor Wat. The neighborhood is quiet, yet everything one needs is close by, making it a convenient and peaceful location.

The rooms at the Golden Temple hotel are bright and colorful, all done up in orange and purple. There are lovely cushions and bed covers with traditional Khmer design, cloth lamps, and paintings on the walls, along with hardwood floors, making the rooms cheerful and warm. Modern amenities include flat-screen TVs with 80 satellite channels, safe boxes, mini-fridges with extra bottles of free water, DVD/CD players along with copies of The Killing Fields film and History of Angkor Wat for guests to view, and electric hot water kettles along with free tea and coffee. Plus, all room rates include free Wi-Fi and breakfast. All rooms have unique stone writing desks, brick mirror frames, and bathrooms with standalone showers. The Deluxe Pool View Rooms are the best, with large terraces and recliner chairs overlooking the pool, while the Superior and Standard category rooms don't have views, although they still have terraces to sit on. 

The Golden Temple Hotel's main feature is its swimming pool, which is large enough to swim some laps in, and takes up all of the hotel's courtyard. There is a waterfall at one end, with temple carvings with a large mermaid, and the other end of the pool has a whirlpool set on one side. Around the pool are sun loungers as well as hammocks and sala beds set in the shade. However, the area can get crowded during the high season. Upstairs overlooking this is the hotel's lone restaurant/bar, where free breakfasts are served. The restaurant also does lunch and dinner, with both Khmer and western dishes available. The restaurant offers a Khmer cooking class for guests who wish to learn how to make local food. There is a small spa and, for those who have VIP packages, a free massage is included with a stay.