3 Places to Stay in Siem Reap

"Small properties live or die on whether the person at the front desk remembers your name and all three of these do."

Siem Reap's best stays aren't the biggest ones

Siem Reap has more hotel rooms than any city in Cambodia outside the capital, and after a hard couple of years a lot of them are quiet. What has held up are the small properties a dozen rooms, a garden, a pool, and a team that recognises you by the second morning. Our team walks a lot of these places, and these three keep coming back up. Small properties live or die on whether the person at the front desk remembers your name and all three of these do.

Solitaire Damnak Villa "downtown, behind the temple wall"

This one sits about 150 metres from Pub Street and the Old Market, tucked in behind the Wat Damnak library close enough that you walk everywhere, far enough that the street noise doesn't follow you home. It's a genuinely small property, under a dozen rooms, built around an indoor saltwater pool and terrace with an in-house restaurant off it. Rooms are suites rather than standard doubles: balcony, city view, local handicrafts on the walls, minibar and kettle. There's a tour desk and concierge at reception, which matters more than it sounds when you're arranging a temple morning. Guests currently rate it 8.7 on Booking.com, and couples in particular rate the location almost perfectly. Good for: travellers who want to walk to dinner and still sleep in quiet.

Angkor Tempora Boutique "the garden one, south of the river"

Angkor Tempora is Cambodian-owned and sits south of the Siem Reap River, about five minutes' drive from the centre. That distance is the whole point of the place. Twenty-three rooms wrap around a lush garden and a saltwater pool laid out in a Moroccan courtyard pattern, which is designed to cool the air around it — it works, and it's why the pool is where most guests end up all afternoon. There's a poolside and garden restaurant, a gym, and a spa where the therapists use Cambodian-made products rather than imported spa-brand kits. It's the largest of the three and still feels quiet. Good for: families and groups who want pool time and space, and don't mind a short tuk-tuk into town.

The Privilege Boutique "twelve cabanas in Wat Bo"

The Privilege Boutique is in Wat Bo village on Street 22, a five-minute walk from downtown but on a street where nothing much happens after dark. Twelve refurbished cabana rooms and suites sit around a tropical garden and a saltwater pool, and the scale is the appeal at twelve rooms, the pool is rarely crowded. Rooms come with private balconies or terraces overlooking the garden. The on-site Hashi restaurant serves Japanese, which is unusual for a boutique property this size in Siem Reap, and there's a spa and a poolside bar. Good for: couples and small groups who want a boutique stay without a resort-sized crowd.

Find them on KhmerRooms All three are listed on KhmerRooms, booked direct with the property and paid by KHQR no foreign card, no English-only checkout. Browse the listings, save the one that fits your trip, and keep an eye on this page: the team is adding new Siem Reap stays every week.