After a whirlwind few days in Siem Reap, our adventure with Raffles’s The Butler Did It “A Tale of Two Cities” was continuing on in another city in Cambodia. Siem Reap is in northern Cambodia and home to ancient Angkor temples and rich in Khmer history due to it being the capital city of the Khmer Empire, but our journey was going to conclude in southern Cambodia in the current capital city of Phnom Penh. I am no stranger to Phnom Penh. In Asia, it is the city I have visited the most since 2019 (4 times). While Raffles gives you the option of taking a helicopter or a car to travel between Siem Reap and Phnom Penh, we all chose to ride in their luxury Mercedes Benz van for the six hour journey. I fully settled into my role as passenger princess, curled up in the front passenger seat in my cozy loungewear with my headphones, TV show on my iPad, and delicious snacks provided by Raffles Grand Hotel d’Angkor.
In between naps and watching my show, I couldn’t stop admiring the view all around us. The road between Siem Reap and Phnom Penh is long, but for someone who is used to the insanity and absurdity of multi-lane California freeways, the mostly two-lane smooth road through rice paddies, picturesque villages, and the occasional water buffalo was incredibly peaceful even with the occasional passing of some Vespas zipping through. After six hours, a few bathroom breaks, and some coffee stops, I could see the fast-growing skyline of downtown Phnom Penh emerge on the horizon. A few years ago, there were not as many skyscrapers as there are now. I can’t help but smile seeing the growth of Phnom Penh each time I return. Just a few minutes after crossing the Mekong River, we pulled into our next home for the upcoming few days – Raffles Hotel Le Royal.
Raffles Hotel Le Royal in Phnom Penh is a very familiar sight for me, having had the honour of getting to visit the year before with little bean and the beau. Everything felt as wonderful as my previous visit as I stepped onto the same red carpet, walked up the same historic steps that have seen royalty, dignitaries, presidents, and First Ladies since 1929, and entered the bright and cheerful lobby as a musician played on a traditional roneat (Cambodian xylophone). After being reunited with the Raffles Hotel Le Royal team, who now felt like dear friends, I was escorted to my room that was adorned with the early afternoon sunshine from the tall, shuttered windows. At the table awaited one of my favourite Khmer dishes – a mouth-watering beef lok lak (marinated beef with Kampot pepper and lime sauce accompanied by rice and a fried egg) – and a refreshing passionfruit soda.
After such a lengthy drive, it felt good to have a few hours to myself to put my legs up, stretch, unpack, and shower. With my room facing south towards the main road, it meant that I was lucky enough to have bright, natural sunlight the entire time. I couldn’t help but open the door to my private balcony and let the white sheer curtains blow in the gentle breezes. And while in Siem Reap I was treated to birdsong, in Phnom Penh I was treated to the sounds of Vespas buzzing through the streets. Surprisingly, it’s a calming sort of white noise. As I sipped my passionfruit soda while resting on my dreamy king-sized bed, I wondered just how I was going to be able to return to everyday life after such an experience as this, especially when our next excursion on our itinerary was something that was on my bucket list for the last 3 years.
I don’t often get starstruck, but when I do, my whole body reacts. I was so nervously excited to be able to meet Chef Nak, one of Cambodia’s most famous celebrity chefs (and their first female celebrity chef), as she has worked very hard to put Khmer cuisine on the map with her dining experience, cooking classes, and two award winning cookbooks. For the last few years, I have desperately wanted to participate in her home cooking dining experience, which takes places at her home just outside of Phnom Penh along the Mekong River. When I found out our butlers at Raffles had made it happen, I may have let out an uncontrollable squeal. As I stepped through the doorway into the beautiful garden of her home, personally greeted by Nak herself and her husband, I felt like I was meeting royalty. Always smiling, upbeat, full of life, and eager to share her stories with us, Chef Nak immediately felt like a good friend. She kindly showed us around her home, including where guests can stay if they choose a homestay experience (ummm where do I sign up?!) before leading us to her dining room. Featuring an open kitchen where we got to say hello to all the women (yes, her culinary team consist of all women!) who would be cooking our meal with her, the open-air dining room looked out onto a serene, lit up pool below as musicians added to the ambiance by playing traditional Khmer music. After washing our hands with kaffir limes (this used to be what people used as soap and shampoo), and being handed a delicious mocktail, it was time to sit and be blown away by Chef Nak’s culinary artistry.
Upon returning to my room, my room had been carefully turned down, with the curtains closed, my dreamy bedsheets pulled back ready for me to slip into, and one lamp on. On the pillow, my butler had left me a little note about some of Cambodia’s history (it’s like they know I am a history girl) and a little gift. After a very deep 9-hour sleep (yes this mom was THRILLED), it was time to get ready for a very long day of food and history. After a group outdoor breakfast at Le Phnom 1929, it was time to step into our notably air conditioned Mercedes Benz SUV for our morning tour of some of Phnom Penh’s most famous sites. Despite visiting Phnom Penh several times, and always with little bean and the beau, this was the first time I was being escorted to some of our favourite spots with a guide who could properly explain their history in great detail. Our first stop was Wat Phnom, which is essentially just a stone’s throw away from Raffles Hotel Le Royal.
Located on the tallest and only hill in Phnom Penh, this temple’s name literally translates as “Mountain Pagoda” and was built in 1372 along the Mekong River. I’ve shared about the history of Wat Phnom before in this post, but I’ll share a brief synopsis again. The legend begins with a woman named Lady Penh, who is credited as being the founder of Phnom Penh. She found a Koki tree in the Mekong River when she went to take a bath. Inside the tree were a Vishnu statue and four Buddhist statues, made of bronze, brass, and marble. She commissioned a hill to be built alongside the Mekong River waterfront and a small temple built on top to house the statues. She invited monks to the temple to bless the statues, where they gave the name of the temple as “Wat Phnom.” In the southwest corner of the temple is a shrine dedicated to Lady Penh, and is a popular spot for people to leave their offerings during their prayers.
After our tour of Wat Phnom, it was time to visit my favourite spot in Phnom Penh – the Royal Palace. I have been to the royal palace several times now, but each and every time is still as fascinating as the very first visit. Usually, when I visit the royal palace it is with the beau and little bean, and we forgo a tour due to little bean being so young and may not be able to understand the full tour just yet. But this time, our butlers had arranged for us to have a private guide to explain more about the royal palace that I may not have already known. In true Raffles fashion, our butler came along with us and gladly gave us ice cold waters and happily took some photos.
I have shared about the history of the royal palace before, but to quickly refresh your memory, the palace began construction in 1866 when King Norodom relocated Cambodia’s capital to Phnom Penh. Previously, the capital cities had been Oudong, Longvek, Basan, and of course the historic city of Angkor where we spent the first part of our trip. The royal palace was completed in 1870, with its location right along the western riverfront of the Mekong River. Since then, all of Cambodia’s monarchs have called this palace home, except during the Khmer Rouge regime, including the current king of Cambodia Norodom Sihamoni.
Closest to the Mekong River is the Chan Chhaya pavilion, also known as the Moonlight Pavilion, and is used for state banquets or dance performances. It is off limits to visitors, but its impressive yellow, gold, and blue colourings make it extremely beautiful to admire both inside and outside the palace grounds. Adjacent to the Moonlight Pavilion is the Khemarin Palace, which are the private villas for the king, his mother, and the palace staff. The flag was flying high above the king’s private residence on the day of our visit, meaning his Majesty was currently at home. The palace grounds are typically closed for a small period in the afternoon so the king can take his daily run.
Next to the private quarters is the magnificently impressive Throne Hall. This throne hall is a much larger replacement for the older throne hall that stood in its place from 1870-1915. In 1919, this new throne hall opened and has since seen coronations, royal weddings, royal ceremonies, and more. Photos of the throne hall are prohibited, as is entering it, so I will do my best to describe the stunning gold interior. Along with golden busts of Cambodian kings and queens since 1848, there are three thrones inside – two traditional Khmer-style thrones, one western-style throne.
After getting a glimpse of royal regalia (the fashion lover in me was squealing with glee at the colours and the history behind each style), and a brief stop at the Silver Pagoda and the statue of King Norodom, we hopped back into our SUV for a stop at the National Museum of Cambodia. This was my second time at the museum but I prioritised the spots I didn’t get to see with little bean on our most recent visit, such as historic Angkor statues with two of them uniquely being half man, half woman. We were allowed to explore on our own, with the quiet indoor environment of the museum contrasting with the loud streets of Phnom Penh just outside. Before long, our stomachs were yearning for lunch, and so our Raffles butlers whisked us off to Koh Pich (“Diamond Island”) along the Mekong River.
Lunch was at LaBaab Restaurant‘s new branch in Koh Pich, and I was lucky enough to get to dine sitting next to the founder Malen Chea, who is an absolute breath of fresh air and one of the kindest people I’ve ever had the pleasure of meeting. For our family-style multi-course meal, we dined on traditional Khmer dishes that speak to Malen and her pride and love for her country of Cambodia. We also had the pleasure of getting to spend the afternoon talking about Cambodia with the country’s tourism ministers, and I can’t express enough just how excited everyone is for people to come and explore this nation rich in culture, history, food, fashion, and architecture.
After such a busy morning and wonderfully delicious lunch that continued to immerse us more and more into the Khmer culture surrounding us, we slowed down in the afternoon for a delightful afternoon tea with some of Cambodia’s most famous artists to discuss their collaboration with Sunrise Cambodia school, where they have been mentoring students in art. Along the sunlit halls of Raffles Hotel Le Royal’s ground floor, you’d find magnificent artwork by the artists as well as by the students themselves, with some being as young as 12 with impressive art skills as they capture moments that define living in Cambodia. You can’t help but feel inspired and moved when you see these works of art by such talented and gifted children. As we sipped numerous cups of English breakfast tea and devoured finger sandwiches and scones, we got to learn more about the project as well as the exciting lives of the artists themselves.
As the afternoon came to an end and the evening began, I made a quick change upstairs into a royal-inspired dress before we started our evening’s culinary journey in the Elephant Bar. The last time I visited Raffles Hotel Le Royal, I was on antibiotics for a chronic respiratory infection and so I could only drink mocktails during our stay in Phnom Penh. However, I had a clean bill of health this time around so I was practically leaping towards the bar to order a drink I had been eager to try for over a year – the Phnom Penh Sling. The cocktail features gin crafted specifically for the Elephant Bar in Phnom Penh and Siem Reap, lychee liqueur, Cointreau, D.O.M., and pink guava juice. I don’t usually like cocktails since I’m more of a wine girl, so when I say this you know I really mean it – the Phnom Penh Sling might be my favourite cocktail in the world. If you like sweet cocktails, this is the drink for you!
For our final day in Cambodia, we had some time to take it slow and have a day of leisure. My day of leisure included a nice, relaxing breakfast outside of fresh fruit, tea, and bobor (Khmer congee) followed by some shopping. When I had told my Raffles butler I was interested in shopping in Phnom Penh, he arranged for me to have my own personal driver for the morning to go shopping at St 240 by the royal palace. This street has a lot of amazing little shops. My first stop was Paradise Home to get my hands on some Saarti candles, but there were also numerous clothing boutiques, home decor shops, wellness centres with amazing beauty products, aesthetically pleasing coffee shops, and even some wine stores. I remembered I was only allowed a certain weight for my luggage with my flight later that day, so unfortunately I didn’t get to bring home as much as I would have liked. I’ll just have to come back.
After my excursion of retail therapy, I donned my swimsuit and grabbed a book that I knew I wouldn’t read much of and headed down to Raffles’ pool for a good afternoon swim. My flight back to Hong Kong wasn’t until the evening, so I had time to enjoy a refreshing dip and another homemade passionfruit soda to escape the sunshine, heat, and humidity. As one last treat, I was booked to enjoy a 60-minute aromatherapy massage at the Raffles Spa where I was once again blissfully whisked off to sleep as jasmine oil was rubbed on my tired muscles. As I packed my bags upstairs, filling my suitcases with the numerous gifts we received on our visit, I was delivered one last beef lok lak and passionfruit soda before it was time to go.
I’ve had the pleasure of visiting many countries, many cities, and stayed at many hotels, but once again Raffles defined not only what makes luxury travel exceptional, but how to really immerse yourself in a new culture and feel one with your destination. That’s the point of why I chose the job I chose. I chose to travel because I wanted to see the world. However I did not want to just see the world, I wanted to “see” the world, and Raffles’ “The Butler Did It” makes that more than possible. Pretty much every wish and desire is not just your dream come true but theirs, too. From breakfast at sunrise beside Angkor Wat to dinner at home with Cambodia’s first female celebrity chef, it’s a remarkable way to connect guests with their destination. With it being time to depart for the airport after such an unforgettable week, I couldn’t help but feel eternally grateful for every experience. And as the sun set behind me while my plane took off for home, with my carry-on now heavy and full of books about Cambodia from the gift shop, I couldn’t help but wonder about what else Raffles in Cambodia has to offer. With that thought, I couldn’t help but smile. This wasn’t “goodbye.” This was “see you again soon.”
Thank you to everyone at Raffles Hotel Le Royal for making my trip so memorable, and thank you for partnering on this post. Although I was a media guest of Raffles Hotels, all opinions here are my own.
