Villa Romonea
by the TopOfHotel team
Villa Romonea is your chance to sleep inside a 1968 piece of New Khmer architecture designed by a student of Le Corbusier — a curved white villa by the sea that feels like a private holiday home with a manager on call.
Villa Romonea is your chance to sleep inside a 1968 piece of New Khmer architecture designed by a student of Le Corbusier — a curved white villa by the sea that feels like a private holiday home with a manager on call.
In-Depth Review
Rooms and decor
Picture a sculptural white house with curving walls, standing in a lush tropical garden on the Gulf of Thailand in the Kep-sur-Mer district — that is the first impression you get arriving at Villa Romonea. This is no ordinary stay. It is a genuine piece of architecture built back in 1968, designed by an architect who trained under Le Corbusier, and held up as one of the most beautiful and complete examples of New Khmer architecture still standing in Kep. Its charm is in the unusual curving lines, the high open ceilings, and the openings designed to play with sun and shadow and catch the sea breeze through the day. Walk inside and you feel the ambition of an era that liked to experiment. The house has 6 bedrooms that rent whole or by the room, and every corner is decorated with respect for the original design — uncluttered, never showy, letting the building and the garden be the stars. Anyone who loves design, history, and a holiday home with a story will fall for it from the first step.
Food and amenities
What sets Villa Romonea apart from a normal hotel is the private luxury homestay service, with a manager and team who look after you closely. Reviews agree the welcome is warm and attentive — they help with transfers, tips on where to go, even getting meals sorted, so it feels more like being invited to a friend's holiday house than checking into a front desk. The most fun and unusual part is the food: instead of one fixed kitchen, guests order fresh seafood from up to 8 local restaurants brought to the table, so you taste plenty of variety, especially Kep crab stir-fried with Kampot pepper, the local specialities, eaten in a relaxed garden setting. For downtime there is a private pool to cool off in and a quiet tropical garden to wander or read in. Because you can take the whole house, a group of friends or a family gets the common spaces, garden, and pool entirely to themselves — like having a seaside home of your own for a couple of days.
Location and getting there
Villa Romonea sits in the Kep-sur-Mer district of Kep, a small seaside resort town in southern Cambodia that flourished in the French colonial era and the 1960s — the very decade this modernist villa was built. The house is in a quiet, leafy spot inside a private garden, yet it is close to the coast and the seafront promenade, a short walk away, so you get both privacy and easy access to go out. A few minutes by car reaches the town highlights: the legendary Kep crab market selling fresh crab with pepper, the giant crab statue that is the town symbol, and the boat point for Rabbit Island (Koh Tonsay) and its sandy beaches on a day trip. It also makes a good base for the area — about 25 to 30 minutes by car to Kampot for the pepper farms, river trips, and old colonial buildings. Just allow time getting here, because it is around 3 to 3.5 hours by car from Phnom Penh and Kep has no metro, so travel is mostly by road — arranging a transfer in advance is easiest.
Things to know before booking
To help you decide, a few honest points. First, Villa Romonea is an old 1968 house kept close to its original character, not a new build, so some reviews note that certain details and fittings look older and plainer than a modern hotel, and that upkeep wavers at times. If you expect everything brand-new and spotless, adjust your expectations and treat the period charm as the upside. Second, being a homestay-style villa rather than a full resort, there is no gym, spa, or all-day restaurant on site, and some things — meals especially — usually need to be requested or ordered ahead rather than called up on demand like at a big hotel. If you like that flexible style you will enjoy it; if you are used to 24-hour service, keep it in mind. Third, Kep is a very small, quiet town with almost no nightlife after dark, so this suits people who really want a calm break, and renting the whole house is best value when there are several of you. None of this is a deal-breaker — it is about matching the place to your kind of trip.
Our take
After reading through plenty of real reviews, Villa Romonea is a stay that sells the hard-to-match charm of 1968 New Khmer architecture, the privacy of taking a whole house, a luxury homestay run by a hands-on manager, and a seafood experience where you pick the local restaurants — all with real character. If your idea of the trip is sleeping inside a design with a story, waking up to swim in a private pool in a quiet garden, ordering fresh Kep crab to eat by the garden, then driving a few minutes to the coast and the crab market, this will stay with you a long time, especially as a couple, a group of friends, or a family taking the whole house. But if you are after somewhere brand-new and polished with full resort facilities, round-the-clock service, or a lively scene with nightlife, this quiet old villa may not be the best fit. Overall we give it 9.0/10, best for couples, friends, and families who value design, privacy, and the story of the building over the polish and newness of a typical resort.
Score Breakdown
Assessed by our editorial team from data and real guest reviews
The Honest Verdict — pros & what to know
- The house itself is the trump card — a genuine 1968 modernist villa designed by a student of Le Corbusier, and counted among the most complete and beautiful pieces of New Khmer architecture in Kep. Curving walls, high open ceilings, and openings that play with light and shadow all day. Plenty of reviews call staying inside design like this something you cannot get anywhere else.
- It rents either as the whole 6-bedroom villa or room by room, which makes it flexible. That suits couples wanting a special setting, groups of friends, and families who want the place to themselves, sharing the common spaces, garden, and pool like their own holiday home.
- The private luxury homestay service comes with a manager and team who look after you closely. Reviews agree on the warmth and care — they help with transfers, tips on what to see, and sorting out meals, so it feels more like being a guest in a friend's home than checking into a hotel.
- The food side is genuinely fun and unusual. Instead of one fixed kitchen, guests order fresh seafood from up to 8 local restaurants and have it brought to the table — including Kep crab stir-fried with Kampot pepper, the local specialities, eaten in a relaxed garden setting.
- The location in Kep-sur-Mer is quiet and leafy, with a private tropical garden and pool to relax in, and it is close to the coast and the seafront promenade. A few minutes by car gets you to the legendary Kep crab market, the giant crab statue, and the boat point for Rabbit Island, and Kampot is an easy 25 to 30 minute drive.
- The house is old, built in 1968 and kept deliberately close to its original character rather than rebuilt. Some reviews note that certain fittings and details look older and plainer than a modern hotel, and that upkeep wavers at times. If you expect everything to be brand-new and spotless, adjust your expectations and treat the period charm as the draw instead.
- Because this is a homestay-style villa rather than a full resort, there is no gym, spa, or all-day restaurant on site, and some things — meals especially — usually need to be requested or ordered in advance. You cannot just call for everything on demand the way you can at a big hotel.
- Kep is a very small, quiet town, so there is almost no nightlife after dark, and the villa suits people who genuinely want a calm break. Renting the whole house is best value only when there are several of you, and getting here takes time, since Kep has no metro and is a fair drive from Phnom Penh.
Who It’s For
Match Score by travel style
Amenities
Location & Nearby Spots
Insider Tips
- Coming as a group of friends or family? Take the whole 6-bedroom villa so you get the garden, pool, and common areas to yourselves — better value and more fun than booking single rooms.
- The food is the signature draw. Tell the manager ahead what you fancy and they will order fresh seafood from up to 8 local restaurants and bring it to your table. Do not miss the Kep crab stir-fried with Kampot pepper, the town's local specialities.
- Use the villa as a relaxed base for Kep: a few minutes by car to the crab market, the giant crab statue, and the boat to Rabbit Island, or 25 to 30 minutes to Kampot for the pepper farms, then back to the quiet garden.