The Beige is a stunning Eco Resort, the design is spot on. Gorgeous tents, built on traditional Cambodian stone foundations. The fine design detail is everywhere to be seen. The prices are luxury prices, no big deal, after all, it is International level service in a remote jungle. We took the only villa with a private pool. We thought we were in Jungle heaven. Let’s step back a bit. We turned off the main road onto a local “Village Commune” road. This road was stuffed with potholes so we had a bumpy ride past a collection of magnificent houses set next to run down shacks. This should have been a clue to us that not all was well here near The Beige. Warning: There is only one road into the resort, so the village knows exactly when guests are arriving. Upon arrival, through the massive security gates, the duty staff greeted our airport pick up car, which, by the way, took us to all of the Angkor Wat temples before we arrived at the hotel. Check in was a breeze in the AC controlled glass reception. The welcome could not have been more impressive. The short walk to the Grand Tent revealed a truly magical jungle. We swam, watched the wildlife, napped on the swinging bed over the pool. Dinner was excellent, the wine list held classic surprises from the globe. The fire pit near the marsh sent us off to dream land. THIS IS WHERE THE DREAM TURNED INTO A HOLIDAY NIGHTMARE! At 6am, a local, described as a “Crazy young man” by the staff, began to play from the west of the resort, loud pounding, repetitive bass music on a loop. This went on until 11am. Next day, 7am the noise started again. (See photo attached of the 2 massive Rock Concert size speakers aimed directly at the resort from the village) A serious complaint was made to the staff who earlier had told us “There are ear plugs in the tents as Cambodians like to party.” We were to discover the truth during breakfast, this was not a party, this is an alleged extortion racket against the hotel. It was alleged that the “Crazy Man” who lives near The Beige, plays this looping bass music until the hotel calls the Police. The “city” staff told us they have to meet with the “local” leaders of the Commune Village to gently get the music turned down. The hotel give the Police cash, this goes who knows where, the music stops for a while. There is a second local who plays music that bombs the resort with noise from the East, although, it is actual music and not as loud as the repetitive looping noise that “Crazy Man” plays. We had 6 hours of full waking silence on the first day. 2 hours on the second day (before checkout) to enjoy the natural sounds of the jungle. 8 hours out of 48! The resort was empty, we were the only guests there, all the other tents were empty, now we know why. The hotel has a Standard Operating Procedure to deal with these sound pollution attacks. It is a roll of the dice if it works as we are told by the staff,the local Police and Village leaders “can only do so
Cemerlang
14 Ulasan