Raffles Grand Hotel d’Angkor reopened its doors to guests on October 1 after a six-month closure for renovations and refurbishments.
Nearly all (112 of 119) of the hotel’s rooms and suites have been fully refurbished while also receiving new modern amenities. Among the contemporary touches: Spotlights have been added to brighten up the rooms and power ports and USB charging stations have been fitted. The French windows, which swing open to views of either street scenes or the plantation-style grounds of the hotel, have been upgraded and each room now has a writing desk and vintage rotary telephone, thanks in part to the added floor space created by removing cabinets and replacing them with built-in wardrobes.
The biggest change, however, is to the bathrooms, which have all-new Italian tiling and fixtures, and separate rain showers.
Another difference that returning guests will notice upon arrival is that the façade and the entire exterior of the hotel is now painted alabaster white, rather than its former cream-beige hue, which is the color of Royal Khmer architecture across the country. Contractors David Grace Designs have brightened up the Café d’Angkor and refurbished the interior design in the conservatory, known for its afternoon teas and baby grand piano. Meanwhile, a new signature restaurant, “1932,” will launch next month.
The biggest structural addition to the property is the complete renovation of the outdoor Apsara Terrace, where Khmer performances are enacted, into a new MICE and banquets venue to be called the Raffles Marquee. With Angkorian boundary stones of laterite, and surrounded by lush gardens, the new canvas-roofed center aims to meet the growing luxury MICE business demand.
The Grand Hotel d’Angkor was designed in 1929 by French architect Ernest Hébrard and opened in 1931-2 with just 63 rooms, all with private bathrooms. Interiors combined Khmer art and furnishings with Art Deco influences, such as black and white marble floors.
The property, along with its sister heritage hotel, Le Royal in Phnom Penh, was taken over by Fairmont Raffles Hotels International in 1997. The Siem Reap resort’s reopening comes two months after Raffles reopened its flagship hotel in Singapore following a two-year closure for renovations.
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