VKirirom Pine Resort

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hanno
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VKirirom Pine Resort

Post by hanno »

VKirirom Pine Resort
Kirirom National Park
Tel: 78 777 384
Link: https://www.vkirirom.com/

Accommodation (Luxury Tent): 3.0/5
Cleanliness: 3.2/5
Service: 2.5/5
Breakfast: 2.0/5
Dining: 3.5/5

I have stayed here a few times as it is a good jump-off point to go bird watching in the surrounding forests. It is not as huge and noisy as Romdoul Kirirom but has a few more services than Le Kirirom Hill Station.

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Not sure what Godzilla has to do with the resort.

This time round, I bundled the whole family into the car for the 2.5-hour drive to the resort. There was, of course, a pit stop, that turned into a shopping spree, along the way. The drive is easy enough once out of town.

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A short stop turned into a shopping bonanza.

The resort has plenty of options from basic tents to so-called villas. I had booked two “Luxury Tents” for us at $61.20 for the double tent and $72 for the twin tent. Why they are priced differently I never did find out. Check-in was quick, they just wanted to see one passport and that was it.

We went to our tents only to find out that the kids’ tent had two massive holes in it. No way the kids were going to sleep there as they were worried they would end up as Tiger food. Back to the reception where I had the feeling that they knew darn well about the holes. Anyway, they gave me another tent without holes this time.

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Spacious enough, but in dire need of some TLC.

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Never mind mozzies, an elephant could pass through the holes in the tent.

The tents are basic but large enough with an outside bathroom. They would not be bad at all if, and that is a big IF, any sort of upkeep was done. My understanding is that the resort is about 10 years old, and one just gets the feeling that minimum money is spent on maintenance. The sort of “we-built-the-place-now-it-is-time-to cash-in” attitude too common in this part of the world. The resort could be wonderful if it was maintained, and all the rubbish was picked up.

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The "luxury tent" area.

It was very, very windy and quite cool, which did not stop the girls from going for a dip in the pool. They obviously ended up freezing but what the tents do have is plenty of very hot water. Our bathroom was missing a couple of slats, I do hope the birds got over seeing my stark-naked bum.

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Covid protocol still very much in place.

There is one restaurant on site which offers Khmer, Indian, and Japanese cuisine. I had eaten the Indian food a couple of times there and it was always decent. Thus, we ordered Indian food again. The waiter did not repeat our order and we promptly got the wrong food, a Paneer curry instead of the chicken curry. Food was OK, but when the butter chicken did show up, it tasted like the Ghee had gone rancid and we gave it a miss. We still got charged for it.

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The paneer curry was nice, but not what we ordered.

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Inside the restaurant. Shows the absence of management to me.

This being a Saturday and all, it was noisy but the regular tents were luckily a long way from us and I think we all fell asleep pretty quick. This is something to keep in mind if going up on a weekend: whilst Westerners might go for the peace and quiet, Khmer go to party. From comments I gather that the 22:00 curfew is not enforced and the noise might go on until very late. Even without the noise, I slept badly as there was just too much light coming into the tent. Lights that were only switched off at 05:00.

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Taken at 02:00. I could have read a newspaper.

I started early the next morning, but the wind was blowing as strong as ever, making it a useless endeavour. The rest of the gang rented bicycles, but the bikes were as badly maintained as the rest of the resort, and they quickly gave up. There are a few activities such as zip-lining and climbing, all at a charge, but seeing the upkeep of the resort, we thought it prudent not to try. There is a nice, if unsafe, playground that kept my Princess entertained for a little while.

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The bicycles were useless.

We headed for breakfast, which I remember being pretty dire. That hadn’t changed and it was a selection of old breads, inedible fried rice, and awful noodle soup. The safest bet is the egg station. Coffee was also crap, but I had brought some 3-in-1 coffee so the adults were good.

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Breakfast is dire.

We did have lunch at the resort again as there are not too many options. We did order mostly Asian food, and that was surprisingly good. My Thai green curry was actually excellent. The Princess did order a club sandwich which was huge, but also quite good.

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Pretty good Thai green curry.

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And Club sandwich.

This resort has so much potential but if they do not get the management sorted out, it will continue its steady decline. They do have plenty of managers, I met a few, but I do wonder what they actually do all day. Obviously not walk around the resort.

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Rubbish everywhere.

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But a nice playground.

As the birding is good around there, I will go back but it is not a resort I would recommend wholeheartedly to friends.
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Re: VKirirom Pine Resort

Post by Doc67 »

I had booked two “Luxury Tents” for us at $61.20 for the double tent and $72 for the twin tent.


Is this per night?
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hanno
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Re: VKirirom Pine Resort

Post by hanno »

Doc67 wrote: Sat Jan 18, 2025 8:23 am
I had booked two “Luxury Tents” for us at $61.20 for the double tent and $72 for the twin tent.


Is this per night?
Yes.
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Alex
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Re: VKirirom Pine Resort

Post by Alex »

hanno wrote: Sat Jan 18, 2025 8:40 am
Doc67 wrote: Sat Jan 18, 2025 8:23 am
I had booked two “Luxury Tents” for us at $61.20 for the double tent and $72 for the twin tent.


Is this per night?
Yes.
Not exactly great value, considering the messy state.
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hanno
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Re: VKirirom Pine Resort

Post by hanno »

Alex wrote: Sat Jan 18, 2025 10:44 am
hanno wrote: Sat Jan 18, 2025 8:40 am
Doc67 wrote: Sat Jan 18, 2025 8:23 am
I had booked two “Luxury Tents” for us at $61.20 for the double tent and $72 for the twin tent.


Is this per night?
Yes.
Not exactly great value, considering the messy state.
Couldn't agree more. USD 30.00 would be more acceptable. I think we were the only people having booked luxury tents, but no way I will stay in some small pup tent.
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Re: VKirirom Pine Resort

Post by khmerhamster »

My family have been at me for a while to go here.
Needless to say, after reading this, I’m far from enthusiastic.
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Re: VKirirom Pine Resort

Post by total nutter »

I once stayed at the Kirirom tube room, a huge concrete pipe, around $70/night, but no toilet, and NO LIGHTS to the outdoor communal toilet shared with 500 campers. Genius marketing.
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Re: VKirirom Pine Resort

Post by total nutter »

khmerhamster wrote: Sat Jan 18, 2025 2:49 pm My family have been at me for a while to go here.
Needless to say, after reading this, I’m far from enthusiastic.
Oh, come on, throw your money away! Tourism in Cambodia depends on people like you! :stir:
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hanno
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Re: VKirirom Pine Resort

Post by hanno »

total nutter wrote: Sat Jan 18, 2025 5:25 pm I once stayed at the Kirirom tube room, a huge concrete pipe, around $70/night, but no toilet, and NO LIGHTS to the outdoor communal toilet shared with 500 campers. Genius marketing.
Now that sounds like a really bad deal.
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hanno
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Re: VKirirom Pine Resort

Post by hanno »

khmerhamster wrote: Sat Jan 18, 2025 2:49 pm My family have been at me for a while to go here.
Needless to say, after reading this, I’m far from enthusiastic.
There are not that many options and all overpriced. Romdoul has nice rooms but about 3,000 noisy Khmer on the weekend. Le Kirirom has OK rooms but is way too expensive for what it is.
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