Secrets of the Elephants Hotel

A very clean, nice place with tasteful, thoughtful decor and design.  It's quiet, pleasant and run by polite, helpful Cambodian people.  The manager speaks good French, with some of the staff speaking good English, and can arrange guides to Angkor temples and drivers as needed. 

The staff is efficient and helpful.  The place is exceptionally clean.  You have to close all windows and spray the room for mosquitos (insecticide provided) before going out to dinner or you'll be eaten, but otherwise it is bug-free.  They have fans and air-conditioning.  There is hot water in the shower (most rooms have en-suite bathrooms) via a small electric, wall-mounted hot water heater.  There is complimentary bottled water and soap, along with clean towels and sheets. 

The hotel offers a different type of cuisine every weeknight for dinner (they are good cooks) for an additional charge, and a continental breakfast is included in the price of the room (excellent home-made preserves).  Our price was $20 per room per night, and they will take a Visa card (no M/C or Amex) for a 4% surcharge to cover their cost. 

The hotel is a two-storey building, and there is a lovely, quiet reading library (with English and other books) with a sitting area on the second floor.  The hotel has a very pretty garden surrounding it. 

I am picky hotel guest with high cleanliness and service standards (I prefer to stay at the Four Seasons in the US) and I thought this place was great.  While it's certainly no luxury hotel, the standards for essentials are very high. 

I chose not to stay in a luxury hotel because I felt I would save money and learn more about Cambodian people if I stayed somewhere owned by locals.  This hotel was an excellent choice.  As I later found out, most of the luxury hotels are owned by wealthy friends of the prime minister (who was voted out months ago but has not yet left office), and they are quite overpriced.