On a recent work trip, I had a weekend to kill in Phnom Penh. Now, Phnom Penh is not typically a city which many people hit on their visits to Southeast Asia. If they visit Cambodia at all, it is to go to see the temples at Angkor Wat or to the islands.
But on my first day in Phnom Penh I had one of those days that reminds you why you travel in the first place. In the morning, on the way to Wat Phnom Daun Penh, around which the modern city was founded, I came upon a huge tree surrounded by a cloud of swooping black creatures, some of which were hanging in the tree as well. Bats. Now, if this had been 9:00 PM rather than 9:00 AM, I probably would not have thought twice, but this was hundreds of massive (fruit?) bats flocking light they owned the place, and in broad daylight. The next pandemic, just above out heads. Not long after, I arrived at the wat and after being forced to buy a foreigner ticket, I heard a whooshing in the canopy and looked up to see a huge hornbill gliding into the tree above me. Later, I saw three more and quite up close as well. As I started to walk up the steps to the wat itself, a man came down with an entire suckling pig, roasted to perfection, tucked under his arm. Quite the one, two, three punch to start the morning. But I digress. My home base this day was at the TRIBE which was a brand new and not very crowded hotel on Post Office Square.
The room at TRIBE Phnom Penh
The TRIBE Phnom Penh is a fairly new construction and it still feels quite new and spotless. While frequent readers know that my pet peeve is the mildew smell that can afflict hotels in tropical destinations such as Cambodia, there was not even a hint of this odor in the room or the common areas of the hotel. The room is modern and light with tall ceilings. Though the window faces the busy Phnom Penh street, the sound isolation is quite good and I was not awoken or kept up by street noise. The sink was in the middle of the room to cut down on how big the bathroom needed to be and I always find this to be a bit of an odd choice.
I particularly liked the Kevin Murphy toiletries, and as with many hotels being built nowadays, they are provided in large dispensers rather than small single-use plastic bottles. Similarly, instead of plastic bottles, the hotel provides guests with two large glass bottles of filtered water. There is a coffee and tea station with a Nespresso machine as well, although the capsules are some off-brand as opposed to the real thing, which was a bummer. Speaking of BUMmers, while the toilet did not feature a fancy Toto seat, it does come with the old school hose, which is a welcome amenity in any bathroom!
The service at TRIBE Phnom Penh
When I checked into my room, I was very disappointed to find out that it felt like a fiery inferno and the air conditioning was not doing much of anything to cool it down. I called the front desk and they sent up a duo from engineering and the front desk who kicked off their shoes and got quickly to work. To their credit, they had the air conditioning working in no time and were very proud to show me the temperature at which the air was blowing out of the vent with their little handheld thermometer gun.
“We just want you to be happy,” the duo team cheerfully, upon leaving. And to be perfectly frank, if more hotel employees adopted this simple mindset, the travel world would be a better place!
The location of TRIBE Phnom Penh
As mentioned before, the TRIBE is located not far from Phnom Penh’s original and most famous Wat. It is also just off Post Office Square which is host to a number of nice restaurants and bars including a very lovely French restaurant called Le Manolis, where I had steak frites and a glass of red wine one evening.
It is walking distance from a new mall full of upper class shops, a Starbucks, and the Rosewood Hotel which has an incredible sky bar accessible to anyone, as long as you are willing to pay for the drinks which are far more expensive than typical Phnom Penh prices. While Uber is dirt cheap (and oddly enough, every single Uber I took was a Toyota Prius) there are also plentiful tuktuks which can be a fun option for short distances. Be sure though that you agree on a price beforehand and most importantly specify what currency you are talking about, even if it might seem obvious to you!
The bottom line
I only spent one night at the TRIBE Phnom Penh because I had booked a couple nights as a treat for myself at the grand dame of Phnom Penh, the Raffles.
Still, it was a perfectly lovely night once I got the air conditioning sorted and I would return happily especially if I needed something at a lower price point than the Raffles. There was even a pool which I didn’t have time to enjoy as well as a fitness area and a spa. My only concern is whether the TRIBE Phnom Penh will be there next time I roll through town. It was so incredibly quiet at the hotel when I stayed – I didn’t see a single other guest during my trip, and I presume January is as high a season as Phnom Penh gets as well, even though, as previously discussed it is not much of a tourism destination in the first place.
