From spruced-up boutique hotel digs to est. artisan retailers and to-die-for diners, here’s our weekly spotlight on what we love right now.
What:
Phum Baitang, Siem Reap
Where:
On the outskirts of temple town Siem Reap
Why we love it:
Over recent years, the Kingdom of Angkor has become more like the Kingdom of Coachloads, but there is one new high-design hotel that’ll have you stepping back to tranquil, tourist-free times and living like Jayavarman II himself.
Phum Baitang (translation: Green Village) channels rusticity, simplicity and privacy while seamlessly weaving in slick modern conveniences and incredible attention to detail.
Designed by multi-gonged Parisian archi firm AW2, the expansive jungle-enveloped retreat is set amid 8 acres of verdant gardens and rice paddies. 45 wired-up, raw wood and stone-appointed villas channel the trad Cambodian abodes of yore with naturally hued furny and textiles, plus a choice of terrace en privé or skinny-dipper pool.
When you eventually tumble out of your stilted sleeper, a slew of of drink n’ dine treats await. There’s classic, tongue-tingling Khmer at Bay Phsar, int’l culinary hits at Hang Bay, tipples by the palm-fringed pool, and our fave late night hang – colonial-chic Cigar & Cocktail Lounge set in a centenarian farmhouse replete with lashings of rattan and oriental carpet.
And, of course, no tropical escape would be complete without a sigh-worthy spa. Phum Baitang’s sauna, steam, fitness and yoga-suite’d relaxer will have you scrubbed, kneaded, polished and spiritually centred care of age-old healing techniques and indigenous ingreds. Temples, what temples?
Phum Baitang, Krong Siem Reap, Cambodia. +855 63 961 111. phumbaitang.com
For more serendipitous Siem Reap suggestions buy the LUXE Cambodia guide…
