Where cheap is genuinely good

Budget hotels and hostels in Siem Reap

Anyone whose budget is going on the temple pass rather than the room.

In short

Siem Reap has more budget accommodation than it has budget travellers for most of the year, which keeps standards high and prices low. Private rooms with air conditioning and pool access are widely available at what would be dorm money elsewhere in the region.

Checked

September 2026

At a glance

The short version

Why it is cheap
Supply built for peak season has to fill in the other eight months
What you can expect
A private room, air conditioning, wifi and usually a pool
Where
Spread across town; the cluster near Pub Street is loudest and often the cheapest
Green season
June to October is when the bargains are real
What to check
Air conditioning rather than a fan, and whether the quoted rate includes the temple-run driver
Not to skimp on
The Angkor pass itself, which is fixed and not negotiable

Siem Reap built for the high season and has to fill those rooms in the other eight months. That arithmetic is the whole reason budget accommodation here is as good as it is.

A private room with air conditioning, wifi and access to a pool is a realistic expectation at the bottom of this market, particularly between June and October. The gap between a dorm bed and a private budget room is often small enough that it is worth pricing both.

Where to be

The cheapest cluster sits around Pub Street, which is also the loudest. A few streets out in any direction the prices barely move and the nights get considerably quieter. That is usually the trade worth making.

What not to economise on

Air conditioning in the hot months, and the Angkor pass, which is a fixed price and the reason you came. Everything else is negotiable.

Questions travellers ask

How cheap is Siem Reap really?
Cheap enough that the temple pass is usually the largest line in a budget traveller's day, not the room.
Should I book a hostel or a cheap hotel?
In Siem Reap the gap is small. Private rooms in budget hotels often cost little more than a dorm bed, so compare both.
Is air conditioning worth it?
Between March and June, yes, without hesitation. It is the one thing worth paying for in the hot season.
Is the cheap area safe?
Siem Reap is a comfortable town. The Pub Street cluster is noisy rather than unsafe; take a tuk-tuk back late rather than walking unlit lanes.
Siem Reap

Other ways to stay here

All of them
Grand hotels and design resorts

Luxury hotels in Siem Reap

Siem Reap is where Cambodia does luxury properly. Colonial-era grand hotels sit near the Old French Quarter, and design-led resorts spread along the Charles de Gaulle road towards Angkor. Rates are a fraction of equivalent properties in Bangkok, and almost everything is within fifteen minutes of the temples.

Where they are
The Old French Quarter, the road towards Angkor, and quieter grounds across the river
What you pay for
Space, gardens, a real spa, and staff who handle the 4.30am temple start without complaint
Distance to Angkor
Fifteen minutes or less from almost anywhere in town
See the detail
Small, walled and green

Boutique hotels in Siem Reap

Boutique hotels are Siem Reap's strongest category. Small owner-run properties, many of them converted villas with a courtyard pool, cluster around Wat Bo and the lanes off the river. They cost a fraction of the resorts and are usually the better experience.

Where they are
Wat Bo across the river, and the lanes behind the Old French Quarter
Typical shape
Fifteen to thirty rooms around a courtyard pool, often a converted villa
Why here
Land was cheap enough to build small and green, and the market rewards character
See the detail
Beyond the temples

Homestays in Siem Reap

Siem Reap's homestays take you out of town: to Kampong Khleang, the largest stilt village on the Tonle Sap, and to the rice-farming commune of Chansor east of the city. Both are an hour or less from Siem Reap, and a world away from Pub Street.

Stay
With a family, arranged through the community
Rooms
Simple - mattress, mosquito net, shared bathroom
Pay
Cash, in US dollars or riel
See the detail