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As a destination, Kirirom is a bit off the tourist track and can be difficult to navigate without a motorbike or chartered taxi, both of which are easy to arrange from Phnom Penh or Sihanoukville. There is an uncommercial and small 'resort' with some rooms and a restaurant near the top of the mountain, but it is often booked on weekends. The staff are not the most warm-hearted, but you can tolerate them for the view and easy access to surrounding forest.
At the bottom of the mountain, you can find somewhat upscale accommodations and a restaurant at the Kirirom Hillside Resort. It is a beautiful place, with well-tended gardens, tennis courts, very nice cottages with air con and cable TV, horseback riding, and a playground for children. It's very nice, but clashes terribly with the living standards of the people living outside the compound (but not as bad as the luxury hotels in Siem Reap!). That said, it's often the only place with available rooms anywhere near the park. There is a waterfall and community-based ecotourism project about 10-15km down the road. A visit here might assuage the guilt of spending $100 per night at a resort, but it shouldn't!
I should also add that a visit could easily be arranged as a day trip diversion while in transit between the capital and the coast. As someone who has lived and worked in this province for about a year and a half, I hope that smart, sustainable tourism to Kirirom will help convince the government that forests are more valuable when they are left standing. The potential for unbridled development of this area is a distant prospect, but a prospect nonetheless. I hope that an increase in visits to this very accessible park will help promote awareness on the part of the government, convincing them to protect other forested areas in more remote parts of the country. Enjoy your travels!
Bokor is an abandoned hilltop town built by the French as a retreat from the heat of Kampot. It has all the buildings you might find in a French town; school, houses, doctors, hotel, casino that are all open to explore and often surrounded by a heavy mist/fog - its very "The Shining". It is also possible to stay overnight in the research centre (bring your own food and drink). There is no electricity after 9pm and you will have plenty of Cambodian ghost stories to send you to sleep.
A two hour drive from Kampot along bumpy roads. You can take a bike (if you have off-road experience) or hire a driver with car/4WD.
I stayed here for 6 weeks and it is fab. I think this is the only private women-only guesthouse in Delhi and it is safe accommodation for women traveling solo or in groups in Delhi. Home-cooked Indian meals, own bathroom, laundry and airport transfers mean a hassle free and safe way to begin your trip.
The airport pick up service is great as entering Delhi airport arrivals on your own is an experience!
naari_india@hotmail.com
A recommended place to stay is the Little Garden Bar, a villa-style guesthouse off the river, with clean rooms with fans and a nice restaurant serving Khmer and western food. Ten percent of profits go to a local orphanage called the Aspeca Orphanage.
North of the bridge on the waterfront.
www.littlegardenbar.com
A recommended place to stay is the Little Garden Bar, a villa-style guesthouse off the river, with clean rooms with fans and a nice restaurant serving Khmer and western food. Ten percent of profits go to a local orphanage called the Aspeca Orphanage.
North of the bridge on the waterfront
Just completed a nine day trek to the top of Kilimanjaro. Cannot speak too highly of the Marangu Hotel through whom we booked. They have been organising treks up Kilimanjaro for a long time, have their own guides, porters etc and know how to look after you. They look after their staff well. We saw how some other trekkers were being treated and could see what a good deal we got. Many climb Kilimanjaro nowadays - ours was a bit unusual in that we camped in the crater overnight.
www.maranguhotel.com
Tel: +255 27 275 6594/6361
We were looking for a nice and affordable place in Barcelona to stay there for one week. We wanted something special, relaxing to enjoy our stay. We finally found our place via the website of Nicestay. As we were really pleased with everthing we promised those excellent guys to leave some recommendations here and there. And that's what it's all about.
If your budget allows, a great hotel to stay at in Siem Reap is the Foreign Correspondents Club (F.C.C.). Renovated from the old French Governor’s mansion, French art deco embraces modern chic. Contemporary, beautiful rooms, double rooms from $90, swimming pool, spa, room service, lovely staff, great good value restaurant/ bar serving classic Khmer food, contemporary European dishes and the best cocktails in Cambodia. Breakfast, which is included and is a vast amount, can be delivered to your room at your preferred time - from half four in the morning (to cater for the traveller who wants to see Angkor at Sunrise) until two in the afternoon.
Pokambor St
www.fcccambodia.com/angkor
063/760280
It is a very reasonably priced hotel in the centre of Kazimierz on ul Jozefa.
The rooms are clean, towels and sheets are changed daily and although we did not ask for a triple room (and we only paid for the double that we requested) the very friendly staff (who were pleasantly surprised and helpful at my attempts to speak Polish) and hearty breakfast made it a good choice. We also happened to discover one of our favourite bars in Krakow just 20 yards away!
ul Jozefa 30, Krakow
www.cracow-life.com/krakow/where_to_sleep/hotels_details/477-Abel
Okay, so you are not really going to live like a king at this place. The rumour goes that it used to be filled to bursting with NGO staff, but now times are hard and the rooms are vacant. So for under $10 for a double room with fan, bathroom and cable TV, who's complaining?
Prek Mohatep Village, Khum Svay Por, 50m from Psah Nath Market
Phone: +855 16 944 955 / 16 912 034 / 12 894 862
E-mail: royal_asiahotelbb@hotmail.com / royalasiahotelbb@yahoo.com
Or just let the touts bundle you into the minibus at your point of arrival.
A lovely hotel with super-friendly, English-speaking staff and a great design. Staff will pick you up from the bus and help you arrange tours and cooking courses.
Free wifi, and a beautiful, chilled-out garden, too. Easily the best hotel in our three weeks of travelling around Vietnam.
The Inner Amsterdam Student House is a great budget place to stay. It has dorm rooms, but I stayed in a twin-room with ensuite bathroom for 40 euros for the night (November). Unfortunately I left too early for the free buffet breakfast. It is situated behind the Concert Hall, with the Van Gogh museum nearby. From Centraal Station take tram #5 to Museumplein (the tram starts from Centraal so that's the only direction it's headed). Trams takes about 15 minutes, it's then about 2 minutes walk away.
Wanningstraat 1, 1071 LA Amsterdam, Tel: +31 (0)20 662 5792, www.innerhotel.nl
Nice Pebbles rents out apartments to holidaymakers. Friendly, fantastic service and superb apartments. As it was our honeymoon there were flowers, champagne and chocolates for our arrival. We also had waffle robes. We stayed in Alexandre Mari, so incredibly special with views of all of Nice. The restaurants they recommended to us were also very very good, especially Oliviera on Rue de Collet in the Old Town.
We are staying in bungalow that is on a small cliff top overlooking the beach. As the locals say -this place is in the middle of no-where (it is not in the Lonely Planet and it is far away from the tourist traps).
The beaches are empty and the sea is so clear that your reflection can be seen (cost - $15 per night for a double but discounts can be negotiated!).
This is the friendliest place I stayed when out in Asia. The staff are lovely & the place has got a great atmosphere. Some of the rooms are a touch gloomy (without windows) & it's not the cheapest (about 900bht for a double room), but it's right by the national stadium sky train stop. I go there everytime I'm in Bangkok, but if you don't call to book you probably won't get a room, which tells you everything you need to know I think.
www.wendyguesthouse.com
Soi Kasemsan1, Rama1 Road,
Tel: (+662) 214 1149
It's not the cheapest in what is a very cheap town, but it's more of a 3* hotel. The staff are absurdly friendly (the desk clerk drove me to hospital on the back of his moped despite being warned not to by his boss), the rooms large, clean & comfortable with free breakfast.
114 Pangkham Rd
Tel: 021 215 093
A great budget place, right on the Kwai. Rooms are based around a large, green garden area, looking over the river with plenty of hammocks for chilling out. They do good food & drinks as well, although it's best to avoid the terrible selection of movies they show in the evening.
28 Soi China
We definitely do not recommend this hotel. Despite its pretty rooms and good location, the manager decided three days into our stay our room rate was higher than what we were quoted when we arrived. When we disputed this he made up the difference by adding taxes and beefing up the phone and laundry charges. The guys who work there appeared drunk.
You'll also get asked a hundred times about your plans and they'll try to sell their tours - though this is much the same across the entire city.
9 Ngo Huyen Street
Hey, surfing the net I have found this useful travel guide that gives tons of tips to the independent travellers! Furthermore, I think it is a good source of information because you can deal with hotel's official sites, avoiding paying commission to intermediaries.
www.nozio.com/es/europe/italy/lombardy/milan/destination_guides/Milan.htm
This is a fantastic hotel right in the centre of the city's swanky Golden Triangle district. A top class hotel at a pretty reasonable price, friendly staff and nice pool too.
Jalan Conway, KL
www.princehotels.co.jp/kuala_lumpur-e/
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