Ten years in Temple Town can take its toll on a building, and after a month’s refurbishment the new spruced-up Victoria Angkor Resort and Spa has reopened its doors.

General manager Hanno Stamm says that being one of the oldest hotels in town, the Victoria was in need of a freshen-up.

“It was quite a big scope of work. We re-painted the whole hotel, apart from the front which we did two years ago,” he says. “After ten years, with the climate being what it is, the paint had faded. With the hotel closed we also had the chance to fix all the broken tiles, little jobs like that, and we re-varnished pretty much every wooden surface in the hotel.”

Stamm says the hotel has retained its original colonial look, with no major design changes.

“We don’t want to change it, we’re not going to become a Hyatt suddenly or something,” he says. “The way I look at it is, if it ain’t broke don’t fix it. We did modernise a few things – we put flat-screen TVs everywhere and we put in these new inverter air-cons which save up to 40 per cent energy which, with 150 air-cons, is quite a bit.” The Victoria will celebrate its new improved appearance with an official re-opening soiree later this month.

On a more musical note, the Victoria has donated a piano to Phare Ponleu Selpak, an organisation the hotel has supported for some years.

Phare communications supervisor Valentin Sam said, ““Through our programs we have seen many lives changed for the better. This fabulous gift adds great value to our Performing Arts School. Students and teams thank the Victoria Hotels, and in particular Victoria Angkor Resort and Spa for these years of unfailing support.”