Raffles Hotel Le Royal

Phnom Penh is a tourist destination once again. It’s challenging and strange, to be sure, but with an air of slightly nostalgic romance, for which the Hotel Le Royal is perfectly suited. This vanilla-colored confection was, in another life, the hotel of choice for jet setters like Jackie O, Andre Malraux, and W. Somerset Maugham. Later, journalists Sydney Schanberg and Jon Swain (of Killing Fields fame) would stay here while they were covering the Khmer Rouge. And today the elegance of Le Royal stands out in vivid contrast to the dust of the streets around it.

Needless to say, it’s no longer quite the same place where Jackie O once swam, after a decade of Communist-era neglect followed by a hyper-luxe renovation. The spa is impressive, as is the slick Art Deco lobby. The original building, as is so often the case, is superior to the two new wings, but only in terms of character. And the best rooms, naturally, are the Jackie O and the Landmark suites, with their real Persian rugs and Deco-period furnishings, including Cambodian curios, canopy beds and claw-footed bathtubs.

Phnom Penh is a necessary stop for anyone going to Cambodia, not just as a stopover on the way to the temple of Angkor, but for the glimpses it offers into this country’s more recent history. And Le Royal is still Phnom Penh’s top hotel by far. It’s the best located, just steps away from the Royal Palace and the museum, which constitute the most picturesque parts of the town. It’s also the one whose bars remain open after the rest of the town shuts at sundown.