The Best Hotels Near Sora, by the Record

The Rosewood sits on the top floors of Phnom Penh's tallest tower, which means entry-level rooms start at 50 square meters and the views over this low-rise city are unlike anything else in town. It holds a Forbes Four Star and two Michelin Keys. The suites run to full dining rooms and kitchens, the 33rd-floor pool stretches 22 meters, and the spa draws on traditional Khmer practices. The rooftop bar, Sora, with its cantilevered open-air terrace, draws half the city up for a drink.

1. Michelin Guide 2 Keys
2. Forbes Travel Guide Forbes Four Star

A vanilla-colored colonial hotel that journalists, diplomats, and Jackie O all called home before the Khmer Rouge shuttered it for two decades. Reopened and restored to full Raffles grandeur, it holds a Forbes Four Star and a Michelin Key. The Art Deco lobby and wood-paneled Elephant Bar carry the weight of that history well, and the original wing's canopy beds and claw-footed tubs remind you why the named suites command a premium.

1. Forbes Travel Guide Forbes Four Star
2. Michelin Guide 1 Key

Tropical gardens thick enough to muffle the city wrap around two shaded pools at this boutique urban resort, a short walk from the Royal Palace and the National Museum. Rooms come with balconies or terraces as standard, looking out over either the greenery or the skyline. The pool bar handles lazy afternoons, while La Pergola steps up for evenings when you want something more considered. The Michelin Guide has it among its Selected Hotels.

1. Michelin Guide Selected Hotels

A compound of four colonial villas, one of which once belonged to King Sihanouk's mother, now holds 36 rooms and suites a short walk from the Royal Palace. The Pavilion is a boutique hotel with protected buildings that shape the floor plans, and light, clean décor that works around them. Two pools, one shaded and one not, anchor a remarkably quiet garden for a spot this central in Phnom Penh.

1. Michelin Guide Selected Hotels

Floor-to-ceiling views of the Mekong and Tonle Sap rivers greet you from rooms that mix Art Deco lines with Khmer leather carvings and gold accents. This Michelin Key-holding luxury hotel anchors the Koh Pich skyline from one of the city's tallest towers, with an infinity pool that floats above Phnom Penh, a rooftop cocktail bar called Altitude, and dining that runs from local Cambodian to refined Chinese without making you leave the building.

1. Michelin Guide 1 Key

The ceiling fans in the 201 rooms are wood, not decorative plastic, and the armchairs are the kind you actually sink into. This is Phnom Penh's long-standing luxury hotel address, French colonial in bones, sitting on Sothearos Boulevard with the Royal Palace a short tuk-tuk ride away. Four restaurants, two pools, and a sports club fill the rest of the day, and river-facing rooms watch the skyline grow a little taller each year.

1. Michelin Guide Selected Hotels

A stone walkway that appears to float above a black-bottomed pool sets the tone before you've even checked in. This minimalist luxury resort sits outside the city center along the Mekong, and each of its suites runs a palatial 100 square meters, with butler service and in-room espresso machines keeping the mood exactly where the architecture put it. The restaurant updates classic Khmer dishes, and cooking classes begin with a market run.

1. Michelin Guide Selected Hotels

Two hours north of Phnom Penh, this resort sits on a 150-hectare working estate run by an NGO, meaning the profits flow into rural Cambodian education rather than a holding company somewhere. Khmer-style bungalows are furnished from the estate's own carpentry workshop, and the kitchen turns out Nouvelle Khmer cooking, with a Chef's Table set inside the founder's private bungalow for anyone who wants the full experience.

1. Michelin Guide Selected Hotels