Glorious Hotel & Spa

An absolutely gorgeous hotel. It's location is a little bit outside of kampong thom. But the staff and the pool compensating for it

We’re a husband-and-wife duo in our 30s who’ve traveled to about 20 different countries, always seeking a balance of comfort, value, and memorable experiences. We provide a bit about ourselves so you know where our expectations come from. What matters to us might not matter as much to a family with kids or a retired couple looking for a more leisurely experience. For this trip, we stayed at the Glorious Hotel & Spa in Kampong Thom, Cambodia for three nights in January 2025, booking a Landmark Room directly through their website—at least, we thought we did. Check-in was… an experience. They had no record of our reservation, despite my confirmation email. After a brief back-and-forth, they went to consult someone—presumably the manager—and were eventually able to get us a room. Since the hotel wasn’t busy, it worked out, but I couldn’t help but wonder what would’ve happened if they were full. That said, first impressions of the property itself were mixed. We last visited about eight years ago, and it still looked much the same—which is both a good and bad thing. In Kampong Thom, “high-end” accommodations don’t really exist, so expectations need to be adjusted. Within that context, this hotel remains one of the better options, though it feels like it’s in need of some updates. The room was clean and functional, with no major issues. Sleep quality was fine, noise wasn’t a problem, and the bathroom was adequate. The shower had decent pressure and was clean—nothing fancy, but nothing concerning either. The staff, as is often the case at hotels like this, was excellent. They were warm, accommodating, and genuinely courteous. One small but appreciated touch was returning to our room to find a towel folded into a shape with flower petals on the bed—a simple but thoughtful gesture that added a bit of charm. The pool was well-maintained and enjoyable, but the biggest letdown of our stay was the on-site restaurant. We had dinner there one evening, and we were the only ones in the entire place—which isn’t necessarily a red flag, but things went downhill fast. They seated us at a pre-set table, where we quickly noticed small insects crawling inside an empty water glass and dead flies lined up along the window sills like tiny casualties of poor housekeeping. Not exactly the ambiance we were hoping for. Now, I’ve grown as a traveler and managed to put this behind me enough to enjoy the actual food (which was decent), but I can’t pretend this wouldn’t be a deal-breaker for a lot of people. Location-wise, the hotel is central and convenient for getting around Kampong Thom, which was important for our visit with family. However, would we stay here again? Maybe. There’s another “high-end” hotel in town that we’d probably try first to compare experiences. Like many hotels in regions still growing their tourism infrastructure, the foundation is there, but the execution needs work. Right now, it’s just “OK”—not bad, not great, just… fine.

Lovely character hotel with sweeping dark wood staircase. On arrival, lovely rose petals across the double bed. Good sized pool. Unfortunately the dining room has very bright brilliant lighting so not very calm or romantic. A cultural difference I suspect. All they need to do is put a dimmer switch in.