Featured swimming pool – Palace Gate Hotel Pool
The Palace Gate Hotel Pool is probably the best swimming pool in Phnom Penh! There we got it out of the way. Swimming in Phnom Penh of a weekend is something many of us Phnompengers take as an almost weekly obsession, even as we approach the rainy season sitting by a pool of Sunday with a cocktail takes some beating.
Sadly not all pools are created equally and quite how good your pool experience is will depend on how much you are prepared to pay for it. Places such as Poolside Vila will let you swim if you merely buy a beer, the dearly departed Villa Lankha merely insisted on you spending $10 in consumables, and the Palace Gate Hotel Pool? Not exactly the cheapest in the capital, but we will get to the price later.
To read about the closure of Villa Lanka click here.
The Palace Gate Hotel
The Palace Gate Hotel is snugly situated at the gate of the Royal Palace would you believe and is probably the best value high-end hotel in the city. Rooms here are not cheap, but when you factor in the surroundings, the rooftop bar, amazing restaurant and of course the swimming pool it takes some beating.
The restaurant is particularly good and serves a mixture of high-end French and Khmer dishes, with the steak and oysters being particularly good – or at lest the last time we tried them.
We will probably cover the Palace Gate Hotel Restaurant in another article, but if you do want to eat here make a reservation and dress accordingly.
The Palace Gate Hotel Pool
A perfectly sized pool surrounded by all manor of trees that has the capacity to keep all guests happy, even if it is a busy day. The crowd here is quite eclectic, with occupancy being around 40 percent during these Covid-19 times and of course the lack of travel.
To read about which countries are open to travel click here .
Generally speaking the clientele therefore tends to be of the higher end, those visiting from other cities, or the local elite that flitter from this pool and bar to the one at Raffles (more on that later). If you’re in the mood though it is not hard to find someone to drink with on most days.
Food and drinks at The Palace Gate Hotel Pool
We are not talking about the restaurant here, but the poolside bar menu and restaurant. As you would expect the food and drinks are not that cheap! Well not cheap for Cambodia, but by global standards an absolute steal.
A soda will set you back $3.50 with beers being $5+ and the snack based pool menu generally being around the $10 mark. All the classics are covered, with our party opting for a Beef Loc Lak for $9.50 and some fries for $4. The French influence of the manager was immediately apparent when I was asked how I wanted my beef, we opted for medium rare.
To read about street food Kampot click here
The food was extremely good and within a global context great value with everything considered.
How much does The Palace Gate Hotel Pool cost?
As they say you get what you pay for and while places like Poolside Villa indeed serve a purpose, they also attract a different crowd.
A one day swimming pass ticket will cost you $15 – but this of consumables at the poolside restaurant and bar, very easy to achieve. A monthly package, whereby you can swim everyday will set you back $150, it might sound expensive, but if you use it everyday its $5 a pop. Context is everything.
Is The Palace Gate Hotel Pool the best in Phnom Penh?
Apparently it is between two pools, Raffles Poolside Terrace and The Palace Gate Hotel Pool who both claim the title of the best swimming pool in Phnom Penh. This writer at least has not been to Raffles Poolside Terrace, at least not yet. A job for next Sunday perhaps……
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Author: Reece Ferguson
Reece is a South-East Asia based writer and journalist that originally hails from Northern Ireland. He has previously written for Philippines Lifestyle News, as well as for our previous publication Khmer Nights.
