LIVE LIKE ROYALTY
Raffles hotels in Cambodia offer guests an experience of timeless luxury, Liu Zhihua reports.
As more and more Chinese tourists choose Cambodia as a holiday destination, Raffles’ two hotels in the Southeast Asian country have been looking forward to attracting more Chinese guests.
The Raffles Grand Hotel d’Angkor in Siem Reap, which first opened in 1932, is only a few minutes’ drive from Cambodia’s world-famous ancient temples. Built around the country’s largest swimming pool, the more than 60,700-squaremeter hotel has French-style gardens alive with leafy tropical plants.
The Raffles Hotel Le Royal in the heart of Phnom Penh has been among the most popular hotels in the country since it opened in 1929. Despite changes in ownership, the hotel has always set the standard for luxury accommodation, with every element carefully arranged and designed.
The hotels’ original architecture has been well preserved throughout the past century. They have witnessed Cambodia’s past and become part of its history.
The cage lift in the Raffles Grand Hotel d’Angkor is the original, first built in 1929. The staircase located in the heritage building of Raffles Hotel Le Royal has been leading guests up and down to their rooms since the 1920s.
The furnishing and décor in the two hotels are classy, with lavish use of elephant elements and Chinese-style wooden furniture housed under high ceilings in the French-style colonial buildings. The painted ceiling at Raffles Hotel Le Royal is the work of the Royal Palace artists.
A diverse clientele of entrepreneurs, writers, journalists, royalty, government officials and intrepid travelers from around the world have stayed in the hotels. Some of the rooms have been kept the way they were in the past and named for their famous guests, including late French general and statesman Charles de Gaulle and Jacqueline Kennedy, the wife of late US President John F. Kennedy.
The Jacqueline Kennedy Menu, which was served at the Royal Palace when she visited the country in 1967, is now served at Restaurant Le Royal, Raffles Hotel Le Royal.
Both Raffles Grand Hotel d’Angkor and Raffles Hotel Le Royal are looking forward to an increasing number of Chinese travelers enjoying the two properties as part of their immersion in Cambodian culture, according to Carl V. Sladen, director of sales and marketing of the two hotels.
The hotels will provide literature in Mandarin for guests to better enjoy services and entertainment, and there will be more Chinese-speaking staff to assist guests through personal interactions during their stay.
“It is hoped that through increased interaction, our guests from China will gain a greater understanding of Cambodia, including its history and potential for the future,” Sladen said. “We hope to help to promote the nation.” Cambodia has many local and foreign-supported entities assisting in the development and support of the underprivileged throughout the country.
The two Raffles hotels welcome backing from Chinese nationals who live in Cambodia for charity programs, Sladen added.
They have partnered with a local circus troupe called Phare, the Cambodian Circus to promote the country’s culture.
Performers from the troupe use theater, music, dance and modern circus arts to tell uniquely Cambodian stories, as their shows are inspired by Cambodian people’s real-life experiences and deal with themes such as war, discrimination, relationships, poverty and the supernatural.
The Phare artists are graduates of Phare Ponleu Selpak, an NGO-run school in Battambang, Cambodia, that offers free art training and, in turn, operates on income from the circus.
The Romdeng Restaurant offers free training in catering services to local orphans so that they will be able to make a living with professional skills.
The hotels actively promote and encourage patronage from guests and clients for the two organizations. They also have innovative projects to promote Cambodian culture within their properties.
Inside the Raffles Grand Hotel d’Angkor, there is a branch of the McDermott Gallery that exhibits and sells copies of Angkor pictures by photographer John McDermott. There are also exhibitions and souvenir shops with strong Cambodian cultural elements in the hotels.
The Apsara Terrace, a must-have experience that combines Cambodian dance, Khmer martial art performances, Cambodian food and PanAsian barbecue cuisine, is situated in tranquil gardens and surrounded by traditional Cambodian boundary stones.
The dance performances are inspired by the Apsara carvings and sculptures of Angkor.
The hotels feature round-the-clock personalized butler services, and the food and beverages are highly enjoyable, according to visitors.
The Royal Khmer menus are must-haves for diners who want to enjoy authentic Cambodian royal cuisine. The recipes are from the Royal Palace of Cambodia and were given to Raffles by the king.
The famous Elephant Bar at the Raffles Hotel Le Royal is the most luxurious bar in the country and serves a wide range of cocktails, with a vast selection of wines, beers and spirits, including one of Asia’s largest selections of gin with more than 30 different varieties.
Its signature cocktail is the Femme Fatale, first concocted for Jacqueline Kennedy in 1967.
About 653,144 Chinese travelers visited Cambodia in the first 10 months of 2016, up 14 percent over the same period in 2015. This accounted for 16.7 percent of total foreigners visiting the country and makes China the second-largest source of tourists to Cambodia, following Vietnam, according to the China National Tourism Administration.