Hotel de la Paix, Siem Reap

Class: Deluxe

Style: Contemporary classic

Rooms: 107

*** Hotel de la Paix will close June 30, 2012 and reopens spring 2013 as the Park Hyatt Siem Reap ***

Tourism in Cambodia is booming, and nowhere more than in Siem Reap — this picturesque colonial city is the center of the local luxury travel industry, thanks in no small part to its proximity to Cambodia’s most famous attraction, the temple at Angkor Wat. And now one of the city’s classic hotels, the Hotel de la Paix, has been rebuilt, in a style that’s partly a modern homage to its Art Deco heritage and partly a tribute to Angkor Wat itself.

The focal point of the Hotel de la Paix is the central courtyard swimming pool and water garden, a stunning and sedate public space. The hotel’s 107 rooms ring the courtyard, and the pricier suites have garden terraces of their own, some including outdoor baths. Other rooms face outward, overlooking Siem Reap’s street life — inside, though, even these rooms are quiet and still, little Art Deco temples in black and white.

An excellent Khmer restaurant and the three-story Spa Indochine make the Hotel de la Paix something of a self-contained hospitality experience. It’s far from the only game in town, however — there’s plenty to see (and to eat) on the streets of the city, and of course just a few miles up the road is a certain ancient temple site you may have heard a bit about.