Four-star One MICHELIN Key Daun Penh, near the Royal Palace, Phnom Penh
Raffles Hotel Le Royal
Phnom Penh's grand hotel since 1929, a cream building with an Art Deco lobby a few streets from Wat Phnom. Jacqueline Kennedy stayed in 1967, and the Elephant Bar still pours the cocktail made for her.
Opens the hotel's own website. We have no arrangement with the hotel.
- MICHELIN
- One Key in 2026
- Opened
- 1929; a Raffles hotel since 1997
- Pools
- Two outdoor pools in the gardens
- From the airport
- About an hour from Techo International
The hotel
Ninety-seven years on Rukhak Vithei.
Le Royal opened in 1929 with a ball for King Sisowath Monivong, part of Ernest Hébrard's plan for a French colonial capital. It had 54 rooms and was the tallest building in Phnom Penh. Chaplin, Somerset Maugham, Malraux and de Gaulle stayed, and in 1967 Jacqueline Kennedy came on her way to Angkor. The bar made her a cocktail, the Femme Fatale.
In 1975 the Khmer Rouge took the city and the hotel closed to guests; it reopened in 1980 as the Samakki, home to aid agencies. Raffles began restoring it in 1996, copying the old floor tiles and keeping the staircase and light well, and reopened it in 1997. A year-long restoration in 2019 brought the facade back to its first lotus white. Before the fall of the city, the journalists Sydney Schanberg and Jon Swain had stayed here while covering the Khmer Rouge.
- The Elephant Bar Where the Femme Fatale, made for Jacqueline Kennedy in 1967, is still on the menu.
- Two garden pools Outdoor pools set in tropical gardens modelled on those of the Royal Palace.
- Raffles Spa Five treatment rooms, with saunas and steam rooms and a fitness centre alongside.
Rooms & suites
The old wing and the new courtyards.
Rooms and suites are spread between the 1929 building and three courtyard wings added by Raffles, with butlers on call around the clock.
- In her name Jackie O Suite Named for Jacqueline Kennedy, and with the Landmark suites the rooms the MICHELIN Guide singles out.
- Historic Landmark suites In the original building, which the guide prefers to the newer wings for character.
Dining
Dinner, then the bars.
Venues as listed in Frommer's and by the hotel. Shown for information.
- Restaurant Le Royal French and Khmer The main dining room, with live music in the evening
- Café Monivong All day Buffet and menu
- Elephant Bar Cocktails Home of the Femme Fatale
- Writers Bar Drinks In the hotel
Recognition
Awards and listings.
- One MICHELIN Key 2026; two Keys in 2025
- Travel + Leisure Luxury Awards Asia Pacific No. 1 city hotel in Cambodia, 2026
- Condé Nast Traveler Readers' Choice No. 2 in Southeast Asia, 2025
- Historic Hotels Worldwide Member since 2018
Good to know
Before you go.
- Arrival Check-in from 2 pm, check-out by noon.
- Children Cots are free for children up to six, subject to availability.
- Pets Not accepted.
Getting there
Flying to Phnom Penh.
Techo International, the new airport for Phnom Penh since September 2025, is about a 60-minute drive from the hotel. Private jets use its VIP terminal, and the hotel can send a chauffeured car.
- Bangkok 1 h 05
- Kuala Lumpur 1 h 40
- Singapore 1 h 50
- Hong Kong 2 h 20
- Seoul 5 h 05
Questions
What guests ask first.
- How many MICHELIN Keys does Raffles Hotel Le Royal have?
- One, in the 2026 selection. It held two Keys in 2025, the guide's first year in Cambodia.
- When did Raffles Hotel Le Royal open?
- In 1929. Raffles restored it from 1996 and reopened it in 1997.
- Which airport is closest to Raffles Hotel Le Royal?
- Techo International (KTI), south of the city, about an hour by car.
- Can SkyCourtage arrange the flight to Phnom Penh?
- Yes. We arrange Business and First Class seats on scheduled airlines and private jet charter to Phnom Penh, with one final price, our margin included. The hotel is booked with the hotel or through our booking partner.
Also in Phnom Penh
Other hotels worth the trip.
- Rosewood Phnom Penh One hundred and seventy-five rooms high above a low-rise city, a 22-metre lap pool on the 33rd floor and the Sora bar on a cantilevered terrace.
- Shangri-La Phnom Penh Three hundred and three rooms in a three-tower complex on Koh Pich, many looking over the Mekong and the Tonle Sap, with an infinity pool above the city.
Staying at Raffles Hotel Le Royal?
Book the room, then the flight.
Rates and availability come from the hotel itself. For the journey to Phnom Penh, a Business or First Class seat or an aircraft of your own: tell us the date and we come back with one final price, our margin included.
Opens the hotel's own website. We have no arrangement with the hotel.