The Independence Hotel, Sihanoukville

I have rated this hotel as I would if the management had not decided to open its doors for Khmer New Year without any indication of the change in service when booking. The 'private' beach is beautiful and large enough to cope with the general policy to allow non residents to use it for a small fee. However at Khmer New Year management set up food stalls and had overnight camping in the car park so the hotel residents (who had paid excess as it was a national holiday) were out numbered by 20 to 1. It was impossible to get beach beds or food service as staff were too busy taking food to car park food stalls. I did make a complaint at the time but the Manager made a sarcastic comment that I would be happy if the local population had the enjoyment of the beach but not at any inconvenience to me. The suggestion that the owners were doing some sort of charitable service to the poor locals was not accurate. I had been doing voluntary work in Cambodia for 10 months and the stay at the Independence was a treat to myself before returning home. I know from experience of working with the poor in Cambodia that the people driving to Independence beach were not poor locals. The Management need to be honest- they were increasing their revenue by opening up the hotel facilities to other tourists both Khmer and foreign.

overall, we liked the hotel because the beach is really quiet although it is not the nicest in SilhanoukVille and the hotel was clean and newly renovated. The stuff is very friendly but still has to learn a lot. The service weakens especially when paying $140 in Cambodia ( we did not get the room we booked !! they first did not want to book a bus ticket for us with the bus service we liked and told us they only work together with bus service .. + .. )

We were not so satisfied with this hotel. The view is fantastic; almost all the rooms have a view on the sea. We only had one key per room, which is difficult if you want to do differnt things. They told us that they ordered new keys, but I am not so sure about this. The quality of the renovation is poor. The hotel opened just two years ago, but different things in the room were not working, f.e. the showerhead. The foor was poor quality. The New Years Eve dinner was absolutely bad. The breakfast wasn't great either. On the outside the hotel looks fantastic, but when you go inside...