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Babel Siem Reap Guesthouse Reviews

No # 738, Village:, Wat Bo Road, Siem Reap, Cambodia

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The following reviews were submitted by customers who booked in the last 6 months.

The reviews and ratings in the rating box are based on all-time feedback and are the opinions of the customers who submitted them and do not express the opinions of Hostelworld.com. This way, you get an up to the minute opinion of just how good a hostel really is. Read our review guidelines »

Reviews of Babel Siem Reap Guesthouse

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100%

We loved the hostel, had two double rooms wich were really clean, comfortable and beautiful. The staff was real nice and the cooking as well. Defo would go back there again. Only one dollar to go to the center by tuk tuk, its also real close in case you want to walk. They also offer really nice and cheap massages that they did in the room. Pick this hostel!

  • Novice Nomad
  • 13 Jan 2012
  • Anonymous
  • Chile
  • Mixed Group 18-24
  • (1 review)


80%

Excellent service from the staff. They are very friendly and helpfull. In our room i missed some necessary power outlets. Our toilet seat and toilet door were not in great shape. They forgot to clean our rooms two nights in a row since we were in a back room on the third floor. All just minor inconveniences. The inlcuded breakfast you can skip because it was realy a very small portion. Which is a shame because it was well presented.

  • Novice Nomad
  • 10 Jan 2012
  • Anonymous
  • Belgium
  • Male 31-40
  • (1 review)


83%

Your staff were fantastic and couldn't be more willing to help. Their smiling faces and real desire to connect with you as you come and go was by far the best part of my stay with your hostel.

  • Novice Nomad
  • 08 Jan 2012
  • Anonymous
  • Australia
  • Male 25-30
  • (1 review)


83%

The staff here was extremely friendly and helpful.

  • Novice Nomad
  • 07 Jan 2012
  • Anonymous
  • USA
  • Male 41+
  • (1 review)


86%

I recommend Babal Siem Reap Hotel as it is a very nice and peaceful hostel. It is well located and the staff is super firendly!

  • Novice Nomad
  • 24 Dec 2011
  • Anonymous
  • France
  • Male 18-24
  • (1 review)


100%

Awesome place with great staff! Will definitely come again.

  • Novice Nomad
  • 21 Dec 2011
  • Anonymous
  • France
  • Couple 31-40
  • (3 reviews)


96%

Very clean rooms of good standard. Staff were absolutely excellent. Loved the garden area.

  • Novice Nomad
  • 20 Dec 2011
  • Anonymous
  • Australia
  • Couple 41+
  • (3 reviews)


100%

Amazing staff, real friendly so long the most friendly and helpful during my travelling carreer, good location, u can rent bicycle for 2$ which is quite good for the 1st day visiting angkor(don't take for the second day). The best hostel Ive ever been. Secret message: " italians shouldn't eat cat"

  • Novice Nomad
  • 19 Dec 2011
  • Anonymous
  • Hungary
  • Mixed Group 31-40
  • (7 reviews)


86%

I had a great time in Babel guesthouse. The cambodian staff, the zen chill out in the garden, the good music and the good food created the a very peaceful atmosphere to chill Asia and enjoy the time with the other guests. Very good laughts. The location is very good, 10 minutes by walking to the center with the markets and the nightlife and it is very quite with the possibility to chill in the garden. I really loved it

  • Novice Nomad
  • 27 Nov 2011
  • Anonymous
  • Italy
  • Female 25-30
  • (2 reviews)


100%

One of the best guesthouses i´ve ever been!! Good location, very clean, very nice, delicious food and with the friendliest staff i´ve ever met.

  • Novice Nomad
  • 01 Nov 2011
  • Anonymous
  • Spain
  • Female 31-40
  • (1 review)


96%

Brilliant hostel! We absolutely loved it! This has got to be one of the best hostels I have ever stayed in. The staff are very friendly (as are a majority of Cambodians). Also the hostel has great contacts are a dozen other efficient services! I'd recommend this hostel any day! We were extremely sad to leave!


90%

I have to admit that this is one of the friendliest place I have stayed in and there is certainly some chill-out character to this place. The rooms are big and comfortable but just a small complain on the towels as it had some odour to it (possibly because it was raining most of the time). The location of Babel is just about 15-20minutes walk to the old market/pub street area but I am not complaining as this place wasn't as badly flooded as compared to downtown.


86%

Babel was dry while much of Siem Reap was under water. We highly recommend Ros Samath for a tuk tuk driver! Rooms are large and spotless with nice wood furnishings. Our toilet did not work well during our stay despite attempts by the staff to fix it, and the air con in one of the rooms barely cooled it. The lighting in the rooms is poor. Be aware that the bus ticket we booked through the hotel was supposed to be direct, but it ended up being a ride on two different vans, left late, crazy driver.

  • Avid Traveller
  • 23 Sep 2011
  • Anonymous
  • USA
  • Mixed Group 41+
  • (19 reviews)


83%

Good value for money hostel in a decent location 15mins walk from the main part of the town - dark and deserted enough walk in places!! Staff were friendly and helpful and the place was good fun! Rooms were clean and security was good. Don't take the advice of the owners and eat the Italian food (which is ironically prepared by the Italian owner). It is possibly the worst we've ever had - came out cold and tasteless and then it was heated in the microwave and came back out like rubber!!

  • Avid Traveller
  • 17 Sep 2011
  • Anonymous
  • Northern Ireland
  • Couple 25-30
  • (19 reviews)


86%

I had a great room with ensuite including a bath. The staff were very knowledgeable about tour options and gave good advice. Certainly a place to be recommended.

  • Globetrotter
  • 29 Aug 2011
  • Anonymous
  • Australia
  • (Gender undisclosed)
  • (56 reviews)


90%

Lovely place. Staffs were always smiling and ready to help. My friend forgot her jean in the room on our last day. When we returned back to Babel to collect , the jean was washed and dry. Thumb up! :)


100%

The place is great. The semi al fresco lounge area is the reason I chose it, and it was just fine. The owners as well as fellow lodgers are fun. Staff is quite chirpy too. The rooms are clean and large enough but could do with a bit of decor and character to help make it even better. Cheers, Juju

  • Novice Nomad
  • 28 Aug 2011
  • Anonymous
  • India
  • Male 31-40
  • (1 review)


56%

The Cambodian staff were friendly, the European coowners slightly less than that. i wouldn't call the room or the bathroom clean, the towels that have seen better days, no shower curtain and nothing to dry the floor with made our showers a bit of a problem to say the least. The location is far from perfect, a tiring walk from the city center in the blazing sun, thank God for tuk-tuks. On the 'plus' side, the hostel is situated in a quiet area and the cook makes excellent pancakes for breakfast.

  • Novice Nomad
  • 19 Aug 2011
  • Anonymous
  • Poland
  • Couple 25-30
  • (2 reviews)

Owner Comment (Show)
First of all, thank you for the feedback. We think it's brilliant that websites like this exist as it gives potential customers a real time feel for what's on offer. It keeps us and our competitors on our toes. At the same time it gives us the opportunity to give response to critic. Firstly we would like to say thanks for complimenting the staff on their friendliness, we will pass on your comments to them. We do apologize if we, the owners, didn't appear as friendly (it's quite a tall order). We do like to spend as much time as possible with guests and enjoy lasting friendships with many, who return time after time and have become part of the Babel family. This we regret is not always possible, we have approaching 15 staff who we commit a considerable amount of time training and managing so that they can provide the service you mentioned. Some, though not all join us with little or no English or pre defined skills and we seek to provide them with necessary education. You have raised a number of points that you were not satisfied with, for which we apologize. Therefore we have looked into your comments regarding the towels, shower curtain (lack of) and cleanliness. We must admit that a few of the towels had seen better days, so we have replaced them. Shower curtain... We really can't win on this one, some people like them others hate them, that's why we provide a foot mat for your exit from the bath/shower room. As regards cleanliness we are at a loss.... The Guest House has been open 4 years and nobody has ever criticized us on that one. We have however had a number of new starters so we will double our efforts to ensure that the high standard is maintained. Finally the location: As mentioned in all our advertising we are located in a quiet street across the river from the Old Market area. Unfortunately you can't have the best of both worlds. What is perfect? Pub street on your doorstep with the music and bass from the fun and lively bars until the early hours (they don't do double glazing in Cambodia) or a quiet safe street shared with other popular Guest Houses (3 of the top 11 are on the same street) where you can chill in its own garden. As for the 'tiring walk' it's a 10 to 15 minute stroll along the very picturesque river at worst. Yes a tuk tuk is an option for $1, if that 'trek' is just too much in the glorious sun shine. In fact I'd advise anybody to do it as you can meet some really friendly and interesting Khmer people, watch them fish, read a book on a bench and watch the fearless children jump 30ft in to the river. We are a Guest house/ Hotel with European Standards. We charge a fair rate for the service we provide. We also go the extra mile by helping the staff improve themselves, offering life coaching, sponsoring those with talent and assisting ex staff with money when they leave to make a family. Sometimes we are hard on them, but ask any of the staff what they have gained from their time at Babel Siem Reap Guest House and we are Confident that they will give a positive response because what they have learnt will enable them to prosper Obviously, we can't please everyone every time, but we try our best. Regards Simen Julner On behalf of The European co-owners and the rest of the staff at Babel Guest House Siem Reap

We now classify our reviewers based on how well travelled they are.

  • Novice Nomad: 1-10 Reviews Added
  • Avid Traveller: 10-20 Reviews Added
  • Globetrotter : 20+ Reviews Added
View all Siem Reap Hostels
  • 89%

  • Overall Rating
  • From 24 ratings
  • 89%Character
  • 90%Security
  • 83%Location
  • 97%Staff
  • 88%Fun
  • 88%Cleanliness

Latest Review

  • 13 Jan 2012 (100%)
  • We loved the hostel, had two double rooms wich were really clean, comfortable and beautiful. The staff was real nice and the ...
  • Read more...
  • Anonymous

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