I've come to Kompong Thom 4 times in 16 years since adopting my daughter from the government orphanage at the center of town. It is a simple traveling salesman town, with the very interesting old temple complex Sambor Prei Kok at some distance from the town. The relatively new Sambor Village Hotel is an amazing step forward. Beautiful lush garden, perfectly clear pool, really delicious food, nicely designed room with great hot water shower.
I'll mention a few things that can improve the Sambor Village Hotel, and also a couple of things for travelers to be aware of. First, the light in the rooms is inadequate to read in bed, and the WiFi may work in some rooms, but certainly doesn't work in rooms that are mid-distance from the center/ restaurant or bar of the hotel. Secondly, the wonderful hotel is located near a church that, with as much righteous ARROGANCE as the Moslems who blast Koranic singing 5x a day from towers all over the Islamic world, play at very high volume some kind of western hymns with Khmer lyrics from their loudspeakers on Sunday mornings from early. I'd advise to time your stays to avoid Sunday mornings, since the pastor has all kinds of excuses for not moderating the deafening volume, which is pretty similar to secondhand smoke. When the music stops, the pleasant river views and gardens are still there. Maybe if the hotel blasted Pin Peat music whenever the church started the over-loud hymns in sonic warfare, they would suddenly get reasonable? ;-)
