"While Siem Reap traditionally attracted tourists for short, intense tours of nearby Angkor Wat, Phum Baitang has helped to change it from mad-dash cultural destination into somewhere well worth lingering (its name translates to “green village”). An eight-acre sprawl of lush jungle, lemongrass, and paddy fields hidden in the sleepy Cambodian countryside, Phum Baitang is a mere 20 minutes from the 300-plus Buddhist and Hindu ruins of Angkor Archaeological Park. If you don’t feel like venturing outside of the resort, however, that wouldn’t be totally unforgivable: there’s a 100-year-old Khmer farmhouse turned cocktail lounge, a jaw-dropping 50-meter infinity pool, and 45 stilted villas inspired by traditional Cambodian rice farmer houses built of thatch, rattan, and clay tiles. Each has sizable deck, and twenty of them have private plunge pools for cooling off in the late afternoon heat. Add in the resort’s gorgeous Spa Temple, two restaurants, and cooking classes with trips to the local market and we think we’ve found the perfect retreat."
