Canvas & Orchids Retreat | Glamping in Cambodia

We stayed here for a week. And I had the blast! The rooms, service, and food was explicit. I booked several trips. The local village one so we could see how our guild lived and his kids school. The mangrove trip we even planted some for the future of the ma grove and the 8 hour jungle track approx 13km. All of them very nice. And I would like to do a personal shout out for Naren he was our private guide for the tours. Very nice man and made the stay and trips that 10/10:) thx all and hope you guys will keep this up.

I had booked a floating bungalow back in mid-December when the conflict with Thailand was going on. I was the only guest staying there for the first few days until a few friends of the manager showed up. From the time I stepped off the shuttle boat I was treated like royalty. The staff are local from the surrounding villages and are some incredibly nice people. The level of service was as good as any five star resort I've been to anywhere in the world. By the time I left I felt like family with all the staff. I can't wait to return one day, it's a slice of paradise.

Canvas & Orchids is a very very special retreat, in an exceptionally special location, run by the most incredibly special group of people. It’s all about conservation in relation to the wildlife and the forest, by educating the local population to realise that caring for everything around them and sharing it with the world, will preserve the landscape, the animals that rely on it and the local community. It doesn’t stop at education either, it provides and promotes training, jobs, careers and much much more, with great passion and meaning for the benefit of the locals and the environment. My wife and I have spent a month in Cambodia doing as much as we can fit in, all over the country and loved every single minute of it, however, the 4 days and nights we spent at Canvas & Orchids in The Cardamom Mountains are definitely our most memorable and enriching days in Cambodia and right up there with some of the best days of our lives, thanks to Paulo, Boanar, Rawi, Narang, his wife Mom, who gave us both the most amazing massage. Also a big thank you to everyone else who works there, such wonderful souls and a huge bonus, the food really is delicious. My advice is to do all the trips and add on a day of rest, at least 3 days, preferably 4. The retreat may be in the UK government’s current no go zone because of the border conflict but you should go anyway, we’re so so glad we did. If you do run into any problems Paulo and his team will look after you and get you to Phnom Pen if needed. It was an extraordinary, enriching, life affirming experience I will never forget.

I fell in love with Canvas & Orchids from the moment I saw the website – and I ma happy to say I was not proved to be wrong in the slightest. It is just the most magical place – thinking about jumping into the beautiful river from the deck of our floating tent still makes me smile back home in the UK. The tents really only bear a passing resemblance to a tent – hot and cold running water, electricity and proper furniture all make it feel decidedly untent like. But it is a tent, full canvas walls and it does float. It was an amazing ‘room’ to stay in – plenty of space and totally comfortable. As others have said, there’s no aircon but there are fans and a large dehumidifier unit which does work well.|The staff here felt like family after just being with them for a few moments. They can’t do enough to help – from the trips where we were so looked after, to the bar and restaurant, they make you so welcome at every turn. I was so sad to leave them behind!|The restaurant is great with a super range of breakfast and dinner options. We didn’t bother with lunch as breakfast was so big – you choose from a menu but there’s no restriction on what you can have so it’s easy to fill up. Dinner has a different set menu every night but there’s also an a la carte. The bar is also open all day – perfect for those sundowners as the day draws to a close.|Honestly, this was one of the most memorable stays of any trip we have ever taken anywhere. The stunning location, the uniqueness of the rooms and the hospitality of the staff combined to create a place that’s pretty close to perfect. It deserves more than five stars.

My partner and I stayed at Canvas & Orchids in our second week of Cambodia, and we were very eager to sleep in one of the floating tents. And they did not dissapoint! The property is a unique place to start (or end!) your vacation. Prepare to be emerged in nature and top class hospitality. During our stay the WiFi wasn’t always working but we couldn’t care less and neither will you, because you’re in the jungle!! Amazing stay, service, and food! Would highly recommend, and we will be sure to come back if we visit Cardamom mountains in the future.

We adored our time at Canvas and Orchid. We stayed 20-22 November. We're on honeymoon and have selected a few luxury places in amongst backpacking and this was one of them. It was by far our favourite room to stay in over our 8 weeks so far. The space over the water is just beautiful and calm. The room is so gorgeous and full of cleverly reused items. The absolute highlight is the enormous bathroom with an absolutely awesome shower experience!! You even get brought a hot water carafe at 6am (left outside so you are not disturbed at all) so you can make your own hot drink with the luxury coffee and tea facilities in the room. We adored the eco-friendly messaging and drive to be at one with nature whilst supporting the local people. There was tons of information in the room about where your money goes. We are vegan and they were able to easily accommodate our requirements but for one boiled egg that made it's way into our packed hiking snacks (which we were not too upset by as someone else could enjoy it). Otherwise the staff absolutely fall over themselves to accommodate you. We selected the half day hike as an activity to do. We got to paddle out for 10mins in the kayak and then a fairly leisurely 3 hour hike before returning via a little natural pool to cool off in. Our guides were very enthusiastic in showing us the flora and fauna and pointing out animal tracks. We even saw a sleeping mangrove snake and a cobra!! Very cool. Yes the private taxi is expensive... But man was it worth it! We felt very well looked after. Please don't cancel your trip to this peaceful region. Koh Kong province is completly unaffected by the Thai/Cambodia border dispute despite the FCDO block 50km warning. This place is about 35km away from the border. Of course the border is closed, but the locals are very much feeling the pain of cancelled bookings even when no travellers to this hotel will ever be at risk.

AMAZING LOCATION, PEOPLE, EXPERIENCES If you are thinking that Canvas & Orchids is too remote or too expensive or too quiet, then don’t! The place is amazing on so many levels - provided you’re looking for peace, quiet, local experiences, amazing views / tranquility, and opportunity to wind down. Owner Anna, along with Ravi, Bona and all of the staff from bar/restaurant, boats, guides and housekeeping can’t do enough - but are respectful and unintrusive. Plus ghey are all locals really trying to satisfy international visitors, educate us about villagers and the forest, plus learn new skills to advance themselves. All of that aside, the river tents (we stayed in N3) are brilliant. So peaceful, litterally on the river, where the swimming is superb - dive in off your private terrace. Water is warm and clean (but don’t drink it!) and great for cooling off. If you’ve never done glamping then this is a great place to start. Tents are huge, perfect facilities, with a ceiling fan that kept us cool all night. We slept each night with only the mesh so special to wake up and have coffee early (they deliver hot water each morning at 5am) and watch the sunrise. So so so special… The food and drinks are also good and mot super expensive which I am sure they ciuld do as nowhere else to go. Breakfast was ala carte with good, string coffee constantly topped up. Each night there’s a set menu or ala carte. We did both over our stay of 3 nights. And when ordering a drink or dinner, you never have to tell them your room number - everyone knows who you are by name! Only midly disappointing element was a toddler around 2yrs who like to make a lot of noise and sort of spoilt the atmosphere. Plus some guests smoking when its a smoke-free hotel (except on private terrace which is also annoying). But these are just small gripes against what was a spectacularly experience. Including the boats transfers to & from - just rounded out the stay.

A beautiful little retreat with fantastic food and service! The staff address you by name from the second day onward and always greet you with a smile. We took three wonderful excursions and enjoyed the nature. Thank you for a lovely time!