the 252

Few days ago I wrote about being out of my comfort zone when traveling to a foreign country. This feeling continued on to the second day of our visit in Phnom Penh, Cambodia, as we were totally dependent on logistical arrangements made online with a travel agency located in a city few hours away. My fear of logistical problem did materialize, but in the process we experienced the hospitality of the locals and we tried out tasty local foods. So here is the story…

We got up very early on our full day in Phnom Penh. The tour company that organized our trip in Cambodia had arranged to have a driver coming to pick us up for the day at the hotel at 7 am in the morning. Other than the time, I did not have any other details about the pick up, so I decided to be ready and wait in the lobby few minutes before the scheduled pick up time to make sure that the driver would not miss us.

I was ready to go and went down to the front area of the hotel by 6:40 am. It was still pretty early for the hotel operation. The restaurant was not open yet, and the front desk staff had not arrived either. There were a couple of the hotel staff members at the restaurant setting up the area to start the day, and another hotel staff cleaning the swimming pool area.

7 a.m. — and there was no one coming. I continued waiting for 15 more minutes, and still no one showed up. I started to get concerned, and walked to the street outside to check out, and walked back in. The hotel staff member who was cleaning the swimming pool area noticed that, and asked me if I was waiting or looking for anyone. I told him that we’re supposed to be picked up at 7, but our ride had not arrived yet. I asked him to help watching the front entrance, and to let me know if he saw anyone coming to look for me.

7:30 a.m. — and still there was no driver. By this time I was getting very concerned, so I looked for contact information for the tour company to call. The tour company was based in Siem Reap, and it was still quite early in the morning, so I was not sure whether I would be able to get hold of anyone. I tried calling using my Blackberry which should work in Cambodia (using Indonesian SIM card), but I had difficulty with making the call. So I went to the hotel front desk to get assistance. The front desk staff had just arrived and was in the middle of preparing for the day. When she saw me coming, she stopped her work and helped me dial the tour company’s number. She was very helpful especially in making the initial connection in Khmer before handing the phone to me when she was able to connect me with the tour company contact person.

Fortunately the tour company contact was there to answer our call, and after a few minutes he found out that there was a miscommunication with the driver they arranged for us in Phnom Penh about the start time. Typically day trips in Phnom Penh start at 8 am because the typical first destination, the Royal Palace, was not open until 8 am anyway. Our tour agent changed the start time for our day to 7 am when I told him that we also wanted to visit the Choeung Ek Killing Fields, which was located outside Phnom Penh. Apparently that wasn’t communicated clearly with the driver. Our tour company contact apologized profusely for this mishap, and said that the driver was on the way to pick us up. I told him not to worry; the important thing was that we knew that the driver was coming.

While waiting for our ride to arrive, I saw the hotel staff that I talked with earlier going to the front gate and stopping a food cart that was passing by. He ordered something – breakfast I guess. We had not had breakfast, and the hotel’s restaurant was still closed, so I went outside and asked the hotel staff what it was that he ordered. He said it’s a typical Cambodian sandwich. It looked pretty good, so I asked him to help me order two of those sandwiches for me and Kristi. He helped me translating between Khmer and English as I attempted to communicate with the food cart vendor.

We had the breakfast sandwich (later on I learned it is called num pang sandwich, very similar to Vietnamese banh mi sandwich), and not long after that a gentleman showed up at the gate, looked around, and when he saw me, he mentioned my name. He also apologized for picking us up late, and I told him it was okay. We started later than planned, but in the midst of the mishap, we experienced local hospitality and had delicious local sandwich for breakfast.

The photo below was taken right outside our hotel as I waited for the sandwich man prepared our num pang sandwich.

The 252 is a boutique hotel in downtown Phnom Penh, Cambodia. The hotel is owned and run by French/Swiss managers, but purposefully they tried to put some touch of Khmer tradition in the decor, so the hotel and its rooms were quite nicely decorated with a mix of modern and traditional interior design. The hotel is located on the 252nd street in Phnom Penh (thus the name of the hotel). It’s located a bit further out from many of the tourist hotels that are located closer to the Sisowath Quay (the area near the river that’s popular with tourists — similar to Khao San Road in Bangkok, Thailand), but it’s close enough that you can just take tuk-tuk for about USD $2 to get there or pretty much all major tourist attractions in the city.

We found out about The 252 when we looked for hotel to stay at in Phnom Penh on TripAdvisor. The 252 was ranked pretty high for hotels in Phnom Penh, and many reviewers gave it nice comments about their stay there. In some cases where there were complaints or negative experience, the hotel management actually provided response — I thought that was nice that they actually cared about the feedback/reviews that people gave. The price for the room was a bit higher than some others that we also looked at, but it was still quite reasonable.

When we arrived at The 252, the first thing we noticed was that the hotel was somewhat low key and hidden behind tall walls from outside. When we opened the front gate and came in, we saw immediately the pool with chairs around and the shaded outdoor seating for the hotel’s restaurant. It’s a nice, somewhat secluded oasis in there, quite a contrast from the hustle and bustle of the city you just right outside its wall.

Our room was one of the 19 rooms the hotel had, and we were situated on the third floor of the hotel. It was a nicely-decorated room; somewhat minimalist in style. We had good night sleep for both of the nights we stayed there, though at times we could hear some noise of construction or simply daily life going on in the neighborhood. They tried to block those with their walls, but we’re right in the middle of an urban city, so I don’t think it’s avoidable. In the morning, we also could smell Khmer cooking from a nearby kitchen — I wasn’t sure if it was the hotel’s kitchen or their neighbors. It gave a unique feel of staying in urban Phnom Penh — though some visitors looking for total isolation / seclusion may not be happy with it.

The hotel manager and staff were also very hospitable and helpful during our stay. When we arrived, we had a little problem using the TV and the safety box in our room. I went to the front desk to ask, and the manager actually went with us to our room to help us out. On the second day of our stay, we had a little mishap in our logistics to start the day. The hotel staff helped me contact our tour company to get things straighten out (we booked the two separately, so they didn’t have any relation to our tour itinerary). And on our last day, when we had to leave very early in the morning before the restaurant was open, they prepared carry-out breakfast for us the night before, so we could just come to the front desk and ask for our carry-out breakfast before we left. Overall, it was another excellent stay at a boutique hotel during this trip to Southeast Asia.

The photo below was taken from the seating area near the pool. You can see the nice pool with some seating areas around, and in the background you could see the high walls that completely block the view from the outside in and vice versa.