We were shown to our room and were immediately stunned by floor to ceiling windows and the view beyond.
After a very welcome shower and a change out of travel-stained clothes, we headed up to the Skybar to meet the head of PR for the hotel as we are travelling journalists.
From a design perspective, the Rosewood Hotel is quite bizarre with an odd lump stuck on the side and a roof line which is hard to explain.
The skybar protruded out from the hotel in a most alarming manner especially when viewed from below. It was originally intended to be a helipad and so, we were reassured, it was structurally very safe.
We sat at the edge of the bar as the sun set over Phnom Penh, a view of the meandering Mekong River and the city lights spreading far beyond.
The breeze was warm and the atmosphere was fun as we enjoyed an early tapas and aperitif. The bar itself was spectacular and the food, service and company, could not be faulted.
The French influence and expat community are very apparent in Phnom Penh as we discovered our contact is getting married in Antibes next year.
We didn’t last long as exhaustion set in and an early night was essential and inevitable.
We soon headed back to our room where the electric blackout blinds slowly dropped down over the windows like our heavy eyelids and sleep eventually found us.
And we’d arrived.
all about gem 