Palace Gate Hotel & Resort by EHM

Rooms and decor

Picture a white French-colonial building hidden behind the mustard-yellow wall of the Royal Palace — you open the door and find a green tropical courtyard, palms ringing a pool that catches the morning light. That's the first thing Palace Gate Hotel & Resort by EHM shows you. The building was once a Khmer noble's home from the 1900s, carefully restored by EHM (Erawan Hospitality Management), keeping the arched doorways, wooden verandas and high ceilings, then adding warm teak furniture, brass lamps and classic Khmer woven textiles on the pillows and bed runners. There are only about 55 suites. The entry-level Garden Suite runs roughly 50 square metres, split clearly into a living zone and a sleeping zone, with a real small kitchen — full-size fridge, microwave and a capsule coffee machine — that feels more like an upmarket serviced apartment than a hotel room. From the Palace Suite tier up you get a private balcony where you can sip coffee over the pool and garden. Bathrooms are wide, with a soaking tub and a separate rain shower, Khmer-tiled floors that match the building. Many reviews say the same two things: wider than expected for the price, and more like staying in a home than a hotel. The nicest surprise is in the small details — Khmer mulberry-paper stationery, tie-dye bed throws from local artisans, and fresh fruit left on the kitchen counter each day.

Food and amenities

The heart of Palace Gate is the courtyard and the rooftop. Start with the pool, ringed by palms and big trees decades old, so it reads like a tropical resort pool rather than something in the middle of a capital. Canvas loungers and broad shade sit around it. Beside it is the Garden Restaurant, serving an a la carte breakfast cooked to order — house-baked croissants, Khmer pan eggs, bobor rice porridge topped with dried fish, and fresh-cut tropical fruit. Reviewers rate breakfast especially well because it isn't a big-hotel buffet sitting under heat lamps. Lunch and dinner bring contemporary Khmer dishes alongside Western options, served half-outdoors under the colonial veranda. Up top is the hotel's headliner — the Topaz Rooftop Bar, glass all around, opening onto the golden spires of the palace and the Silver Pagoda up close in a way that's hard to find in Phnom Penh. Several signature cocktails use Khmer ingredients — lemongrass, kaffir lime, palm sugar — served with contemporary Khmer tapas that keep you there into the evening. Reviewers call this the prettiest spot in Phnom Penh at sunset. The spa, in a small building in the garden, does traditional Khmer massage, oil massage and facials at gentle prices for a 5-star. The gym has the basics — a treadmill, a bike and light weights — better for easy cardio than a hard session.

Location and getting there

Palace Gate sits in Daun Penh, the heart of old Phnom Penh. Walk about 3 minutes from the hotel gate and you're at the entrance to the Royal Palace and the Silver Pagoda, the royal temple with a floor paved in more than 5,000 silver tiles — a must for visitors. Another 7 minutes on foot brings you to the Sisowath Quay riverside walk along the Tonle Sap and Mekong, lined with restaurants, cafes and old hotels, with an evening market for a sunset stroll. The National Museum, with Khmer sculpture going back to the Angkor era, is about 5 minutes away, and Wat Ounalom, the centre of Cambodian Buddhism, is also walkable. The location covers the whole old quarter without a single car ride. For trips further out — the Russian Market for souvenirs and street food, or the yellow art-deco dome of the Central Market — a tuk-tuk is about 10–15 minutes for a few dollars. Phnom Penh International Airport (PNH) is roughly 10 km away, 30–40 minutes by Grab or car depending on traffic, which gets heavy at weekday rush, so leave extra time for a flight.

Things to know before booking

Straight talk to help you decide. The most common gripe in reviews is the gym, which is fairly small with only a few pieces of kit — anyone who lifts will feel short on options, so lean on it for light cardio or run the riverfront path early instead. The other is Wi-Fi: some rooms in the back wing of the old building have an unstable signal, especially when the hotel is full, and several guests describe asking for a router move or taking a laptop down to the lobby — if you're working remotely, check the signal in your own room first. The entrance is a single small lane, and at evening rush when government staff in the palace district head home it jams and tuk-tuks struggle to get in and out, so allow 10–15 minutes for any pickup. Last, noise — rooms on the small entrance lane catch tuk-tuk and motorbike sound in the morning and evening, so if you sleep lightly ask for a wing facing the pool and garden. None of it is a dealbreaker; each one is solved by picking the right room and planning your timing.

Our take

After reading hundreds of real reviews, Palace Gate Hotel & Resort by EHM is one of the best 5-star deals in Southeast Asia — suites from 50 square metres with a small kitchen, a spot behind the Royal Palace within walking distance of every key sight in the old quarter, a tropical garden and pool that feel like a jungle resort, a rooftop bar looking straight at the palace's golden spire, and warm, genuine Khmer service. All of it from around $100 a night. If your trip in your head is waking up to wander the palace in the morning, soaking in the tree-shaded pool in the afternoon, and sipping a cocktail over the golden spire at sunset, this covers the whole loop. Overall we give it 9.0/10, best for honeymooning couples, small families wanting space and a kitchen for the kids, and old-city travelers who value location and room size over a big brand name.