Being a casino town it should be easy to get a hotel in Poipet, but alas for barang the pickings are slim (three) meaning that Pheng Chenda Hotel is probably the best value.
Located pretty much in the centre of town and near enough to the Street Food a room can be gotten here for $30+. And while this might not seem like great value for Cambodia, it is for Poipet.
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What the Poipet?
Poipet is the most important border town with Thailand and as such is a casino town. This means that there are literally hundreds of hotels here. Alas this is not much use if you are using apps like trip.com or booking.com! As these casinos do not advertise here. I am sure you could just go and ask, but that seems like a lot of hard work.
And as I have discovered at other border town with casinos, such as Anlong Veng these hotels are never that cheap, much like Macao. I am sure there must be a special website for hungry gamblers, but I don’t know it.
Therefore the few hotels that are here are for people crossing the border, including foreigners such as myself. Upon crossing said border you can then tale the train to Bangkok, something I have done many time.
And aside from gambling what is there to do? Markets, clothes and street food. I have a friend from England who actually lives here, he has confirmed that it is hell on earth.
What the Pheng Chenda?
The second cheapest of the 3-5 options here the place is obviously aimed at Chinese guests. Rooms actually start at less than $30, but for $35+ you can get a suite, although judging by room size “suite” might be pushing the verbal envelope a bit.
The rooms though are more than decent and are instead of going to place with a pool for double the price. I did though see a Royal Suite for $97 at another hotel that I was tempted to indulge in, as today is my 23rd anniversary as an expat – long story.
Perhaps the best facility here though is that Pheng Chenda has a mini-mart on the ground floor that sells all motor of booze, even Soju and the infamous Khmer Whisky. – one of the must try drinks in the country.
In conclusion
Not the best hotel in Cambodia, but with how expensive this small city is still the best value. Should you come to Poipet? I personally opine that it has great street food, as well as making a prefect stop on the way to Bangkok.
There is no avoiding though that this is very much a transit city and little else.
You can check out my Cambodia tours here.