tamu hotel Archives - Linger Abroad

On the last leg of our Cambodia visit, we ventured to the beaches to seek some relaxation. We spent three days between Otres Beach, Sihanoukville and Koh Rong Island. We didn’t go to downtown Sihanoukville and stayed near our hotel.

Otres Beach, Sihanoukville

At Otres Beach, we stayed at Tamu Hotel, which you can read our review here. The hotel was a great experience and one of the best attractions here. Our room was comfortable and the staff was very friendly to us. It also sits right on the beach, where there were plenty of day beds, a ready staff to bring anything you need and masseuses who provide one-hour full body massage for $8. The beach was overall very nice, from its pristine turquoise waters and fine white sand. Tamu Hotel’s stretch of beach was very well maintained, as its staff would comb the beaches and pick up trash every morning.

There were some parts of our experience that could be improved. While the hotel’s stretch of beach was very clean, other stretches were littered with trash and pollution. On the most southern part of Otres beach in particular was almost completely covered with trash and even dead animals. There were even some glass shards in the sand so I advise wearing shoes or sandals when walking up and down the beach.

There are locals that offer long-boat rides to nearby islands for snorkeling and fishing for around $10-12 per person. However, based on our experience, I would probably avoid this activity and look for other things to do in the area. Our boat was very late and disorganized, and when we did get picked up, our boat did not look like it was maintained and much of the snorkeling gear was broken. We were hoping that the island’s reefs would be fun to explore, but instead we saw most of the coral reef was bleached white, signaling that they were dying or had died, and there wasn’t much other marine life. It was a very unfortunate sight to see. We did manage to see a beautiful sunset on our way back, but it was still a disappointing experience.

Koh Rong Island

Next, we set off to Koh Rong Island for a short stay at Sok San Beach Resort. It took a boat ride and a truck ride through the island’s jungles to get to the resort. The hotel is right on the beach and we were able to get a room with a nice ocean view. The resort was almost completely empty, as it was the rainy season and very few people stay there. During the peak seasons, this resort can be very busy. Sure enough, it was scattered thunderstorms passed by the island dropping heavy amounts of rain.

The beaches here were very clean and pristine. The waters were nice, warm and very calm. It was also very shallow, so shallow that you could go at least 25 feet into the water without being waist deep. We wanted to go kayaking and snorkeling, but there were somehow not enough kayaks, despite being very few people on the island. So we spent much of our time just swimming and relaxing in the water, walking up and down the beach, and catching crabs. We wanted to lounge in the day beds, but sand flies ruthlessly attacked us despite putting on bug spray. At night, we met some locals who were fishing for squid for a night time treat.

Obviously, three days is not enough time to explore and give a comprehensive description on these location. There are many parts we did not explore and many activities we didn’t do, but it’s a glimpse what these places have to offer. Hopefully, we’ll be back to explore these areas a bit more and give an update in the future.

We were supposed to visit Koh Rong Island for a few days, but we had some unexpected schedule changes and had to book a stay in Sihanoukville. Mat looked for hotels and found us Tamu Hotel on Otres Beach, and we were very impressed with this stylish beach resort in Cambodia.

Located about 10 km from downtown Sihanoukville, Tamu is a small but beautiful minimalist design resort situated on the south end of Otres Beach. Its location is also a quiet area for those looking for a relaxing stay. The property is painted white with rooms designed around a centrally placed pool. Integrated into the design are lush gardens, trees, wood finishes on the ground and doors, and day beds by the pool.

We stayed in a standard room that was stocked with amenities including air conditioning, a comfortable king-bed, WiFi, TV, refrigerator, coffee maker and more. There was a pretty good number of mosquitos in our room but every room has an electronic racket for killing them and mosquito coils to repel them. The bathroom is separate from the bedroom by a sliding door. Unlike the white exterior, the bathroom was predominantly black, had a grey concrete floor, and a partial opening for sunlight to pass in.

The hotel also has its own restaurant with a terrific view of ocean, a perfect place for enjoying a relaxing breakfast, lunch or dinner. Breakfast is complimentary with fruits, bread, honey/jam, juice and milk, and you can order other items off the menu. Lunch and dinner menus include a few different dining options, including Khmer food and western style food.

While we loved the stylish features of the hotel, we were incredibly impressed with the Tamu staff and service. When our sliding door had an issue, they immediately sent a friendly handyman to fix it. Everyone was very nice, very attentive to detail and were always greeting us and trying to remember our names. They helped answer any questions or would bring drinks to the beach if requested, were always smiling, and full of energy that added a pleasant positive vibe to an already beautiful location. The staff also maintains the beach and the resort, as members are routinely seen combing the sand, picking up any trash and sweeping the grounds.

The hotel welcomed us and took care of us like we were family. It is a great place to stay and we highly recommend Tamu Hotel to anyone visiting Otres Beach in Sihanoukville, Cambodia.