Me looking out from our balcony on the third floor.

Since we rented a taxi to Siem Reap, the rental price also happened to include transportation to our hostel. Jill and I had already reserved a room at the Siem Reap Hostel I (apparently there’s two), so the tuk-tuk we switched into in town took us right to the front door.

The hostel is great. The staff were very friendly upon arrival, they spoke English well, and the hostel itself is located right in the middle of town. It’s a 5 minute walk from the Night Market, Pub Street (tons of restaurants/bars, almost similar to Khao San Road in Bangkok), and several streets of local vendors. There are always tuk-tuk drivers drooling on the front step, but almost everything you’ll need is within walking distance.

The hostel has a bar/restaurant downstairs located right next to the pool. Happy hour is from 6-9, and you can order breakfast from the kitchen all day. I tried some spring rolls and a banana/black sesame smoothie a little after we checked in – yum. The restaurant also offers an option to order take-out boxes for the next day if you’re going on a tour or a long day trip and want to bring something with you.

Our room was a private double, and was $24/night ($12 each). The hostel also offers dorm-style accomodations, but Jill and I knew we’d be super tired from traveling and want to get a quiet, decent night’s sleep. The “Double” contains a twin bed, a gigantic king bed, and separate toilet and shower/sink areas. It also had a balcony looking out over the street, with a lovely view of the Siem Reap sunset. I believe a picture of this room is on their website right now, actually.

The complimentary breakfast runs from 7:00-10:00am, and includes various fresh fruit (mango, dragonfruit, pineapple, watermelon), pancakes, cereal (muesli, corn flakes, and chocolately cereal), toast (white bread), coffee (instant), and juice (apple or orange). If you’d like something more protein-packed, you can always order something from the kitchen as well.

The hostel offers all sorts of amenities that I wish we had enough time to experience all of:

• Yoga classes: instructed on certain days, or you can rent a video and do it solo.
• Massages (check), facials, body scrubs, and other spa services on the cheap (1 hr Swedish massage = $9).
• Food Walk: a tour around Siem Reap letting you try all sorts of weird local food.
• Swimming pool: it’s a bit salty, and is equipped with random pool toys to fulfill any lost childhood moments.
• Pool table (2nd floor)
• Guitar for borrowing: you can play it anywhere EXCEPT  at the bar, unless your last name is Hendrix and your first name rhymes with “gimme.”
• Sunday BBQ: $5 gets you a skewer, a baguette, a potato, and a beer. Maybe some other stuff too – we ended up going out for din din.
• Local trade gift shop (basically anything you buy in Cambodia goes to a good cause, but this one is official).
• Probably other stuff  that I can’t recall – it’s all on neat laminated sheets located at the front desk, bar, and restaurant.

The other travelers – some long-term and some short – were all very friendly and up for conversation, so it was a great place to exchange stories and learn more about the local scene. I’d recommend this place, and am sad I couldn’t stay longer.