Review: Courtyard by Marriott Siem Reap Resort

During our family trip around the world, we decided to spend a week in Siem Reap, Cambodia. During this stay, we decided to test the two accessible hotels with the Marriott Bonvoy loyalty program:

• Courtyard by Marriott Siem Reap Resort
• The Meridian, Angkor

And having tried both hotels, we had a clear preference for the Courtyard by Marriott Siem Reap Resort, so much so that we came back there after 1 night at Le Méridien!

This gave us the opportunity to test two types of rooms:

• Presidential Suite
• Courtyard Suite

In order to benefit from the 5-night stay at the price of 4 using Marriott Bonvoy points, we have therefore booked our first 5 nights with points.

In addition, we benefited from the category 2 low-season rate: 10,000 points per night (instead of about $155 CDN).

For example, our 5-night stay cost us only 40,000 points!

To earn these points, a single purchase of the Marriott BonvoyTM American Express^MD Card is all it takes! After spending $1,500 in 3 months, you’ll get a great welcome bonus detailed below.

And if you already have this card , you could get the version for self-employed workers, professionals or small businesses: the Marriott Bonvoy™ Business American Express^® Card!

The Courtyard by Marriott Siem Reap Resort is located about 20 minutes by taxi from the international airport and less than 10 minutes east of Siem Reap town centre.

To go anywhere from the Courtyard by Marriott Siem Reap Resort, you must use a Tuk Tuk or taxi. In the evening, you can take the hotel’s free shuttle bus to downtown Siem Reap.

The advantage of this location: to get to the temples which are North of the city, your Tuk Tuk will take the Apsara road, much less busy than the Charles De Gaulle avenue.

Angkor Wat is thus only fifteen minutes away from the hotel.

Points of interest to see from the Courtyard by Marriott Siem Reap Resort include

• Angkor Wat
• Angkor Thom
• Ta Prohm
• Angkor Night Market
• The National Museum of Angkor
• The Angkor Dynasty show

As usual, Jean-Maximilien negotiated an upgrade in a suite through Marriott Bonvoy’s mobile application 48 hours before our arrival.

Little did we know that we would be updraged to the hotel’s Presidential Suite! This is the largest room available.

Upon our arrival, the hotel tols us that we are the first Titanium members from Canada to come to the hotel since it opened.

As a welcome gift, the hotel also offered us breakfast. Even though we’re Titanium members, breakfasts are never included in Courtyard hotels.

By the way, here is the hotel lobby, which is very different from the Courtyard Hotel lobbies we know in North America!

The hotel concierge took us to our suite.

The upstairs corridor is wide, but rather dark. The suite is at the end of the corridor.

When the door opened, the children were stunned. And so were we. The living room in the Presidential suite is simply gigantic!

There are two sofas, as well as a dining room – with a closed kitchen!

At the end of the room, a large office from where Jean-Maximilien did a Facebook Live with the milesopedia community.

At the entrance, a bathroom, which is practical for children at night!

Let’s move on to the bedroom in the Presidential suite. Also a very nice area, including a sofa.

Every evening, room service took great care to prepare the room and bring bottles of water and small chocolates on the pillows. Remember, this is a Courtyard Hotel. Not a St. Regis!

My favourite room: the bathroom! Made up of a beautiful bathtub, a separate shower and toilet.

This bathroom is separated from the bedroom AND the huge dressing room by two sliding doors.

There is a large dressing room close to the bathroom and the bedroom.

You’d think this would be the gym locker room. But no, this is really the dressing room of the Presidential suite! 😀

Let’s finish this tour of the Presidential suite on the terrace. Or should I say, the soccer field?

An incredible area. But unfortunately, it was not furnished enough: we didn’t really enjoy it, and the children prefered the swimming pool!

On our second stay, we were upgraded to a Courtyard Suite. Typically the one available for Platinum and Titanium members.

The living room in the Courtyard Suite is a nice size.

A large desk with mini bar is present.

Let’s see the Courtyard Suite bedroom.

Like the Presidential suite above, this one is connected to the bathroom.

This bathroom has nothing to envy the one in the Presidential suite.

It also includes a bathtub and a separate shower.

Breakfast consists of a very large international buffet.

With, of course, a predominance of Asian dishes. I love it!

Here are, for the pleasure of the eyes, all the dishes available:

There are two large pools, connected to each other. One is more for swimming, while the other is for the youngest guests.

We had a lot of fun there, especially with a temperature of 35 degrees and not many people!

On the roof of the hotel, there is a beautiful terrace. We went there a couple of times at the end of the day for a drink and a bite to eat.

Above the reception is the well-equipped gym!

We had chosen this hotel because of its Kids Club, which is practical when travelling with young children.

The Courtyard by Marriott Siem Reap Resort, only a category 2 in the Marriott Bonvoy program, impressed us with the quality of its facilities. Check out the following section to find out how you can stay there for free with Marriott Bonvoy points!

The concierge went out of his way to find us a private French-speaking guide who took us on a tour of the Angkor temples, or a nanny so that we could enjoy an evening out as a couple in the city!

In short, we highly recommend it if you are passing through Siem Reap. As you will soon see in another review, the Méridien, of a higher category, is not worth it in our eyes.

There are two main methods to earn Marriott Bonvoy points through credit cards:

• Directly: with Marriott Bonvoy credit cards
• Indirectly: by transferring Membership Rewards from American Express

You can earn Marriott Bonvoy points directly with the two Marriott Bonvoy credit cards:

• Marriott Bonvoy^® American Express^®* Card
• Marriott Bonvoy^® Business American Express^®* Card

These two card s each offer a excellent welcome bonus. And, for each of your expenses, you can earn Marriott Bonvoy points.

Besides, upon renewal, with each of these cards, you get an annual reward night certificate.

Marriott Bonvoy points can be earned indirectly via American Express Membership Rewards by transferring points via American Express Membership Rewards credit cards.

These cards each offer a nice welcome bonus. You can transfer Membership Rewards Points to Marriott Bonvoy at the rate of 1:1.2. That means that by transferring 50,000 Membership Rewards points, you will earn 60,000 Marriott Bonvoy points!

Our favourite card here is the American Express Cobalt^® Card: you can earn up to 5 points per dollar (that’s 6 Marriott Bonvoy points per dollar) for everyday purchases how grocery stores, restaurants or convenience stores.