After two weeks in Siem Reap, German backpacker
Claire and her friend are checking in into a new hostel today. Standing in
front of the building’s elegant facade – undoubtedly vintage but with brightly
coloured windows – the backpackers cannot resist the temptation to snap a
selfie.
The 20-something girls enter into the
beautifully decorated reception, where they engage in another selfie session.
Western tourists may not love posting selfies
on social media as much as Cambodians, but in a place like The Twizt, no one
seems capable of resisting the urge to snap a picture.
“My friends recommended that I stay here. They
are Cambodians and live in Siem Reap. They told me this hostel was new and was
close to Pub Street,” says Claire.
“The prices are affordable and they have a pool
and a bar on the rooftop. We love the design of the hostel. It has many
plants,” the German backpacker says.
The Twizt - Lifestyle Hostel caters to
“flashpackers”, backpackers that travel on a bigger budget.
From the owners of Borei Angkor, a traditional
Cambodian hotel, and Lotus Blanc Resort, a Western hotel, The Twizt combines
elements of Cambodian and Western cultures to dispense a unique experience.
“When we came up with the idea in 2012, we wanted
to create a normal hotel for young people, but we later realised there were
already too many hotels and guesthouses in Siem Reap,” says The Twizt general
manager Ten Kanha.
“We realised that we have a great location,
right next to Pub Street, and that the best thing to do was to create a luxury
hostel with affordable prices,” she says, explaining that they wanted a place
where people from around the world come together to hang out and share travel
stories.
“Let’s go to Siem Reap together! Walk together!
Drive together! And sleep together! Everything we do, we do together, even
listening to other people snore!” a post on the hostel’s Facebook page says.
Decorated with plenty of plants, hammocks,
coffee tables, and street signs, the hostel’s reception radiates creativity.
“The idea was to draw people’s attention. If
you pay attention, you will see that everything in the building is meant to
resemble the streets. We have lamp poles, traffic lights and more. We want to
connect the indoors with the outdoors,” she says.
Kanha says the design is inspired by
traditional Cambodian aesthetics, and that all the decorative elements are
exclusively Cambodian. “Nothing here has been imported,” she stresses.
“The decoration and the style, combined with
the services we offer, is why more and more people are choosing to stay with
us,” says Kanha, sitting on a chair behind the reception desk.
Local tourist Chhir Pheakdey and her four
friends have chosen to stay in a six-bed dormitory at The Twizt. She tells The
Post they came here to meet other travellers.
“Staying here is a new experience for us. We
love it here – it has a great design, and it’s spotless.”
Pheakdey, who works for a local tour agency,
says Cambodia has plenty of hidden gems like The Twizt. “Because of my work I
have seen many places around the world, but what often surprises me the most is
my own country.
“We usually stay in four and five-star hotels.
This is just a hostel, but I love it because it is very unique and I can sleep
in the same room with my friends,” Pheakdey says.
Yem Ratha, who is travelling with Pheakdey,
says: “The bathroom is clean although in one of the corridors there are only
two bathrooms for men and women. There is a pool, a sky bar and many places to
take photos.”
The Twizt has 14 private rooms (single or
double beds) at $45 per night, including breakfast.
The hostel also boasts an astonishing number of
dormitory beds: 365 to be exact, divided into 84 dormitories for men, women or
mixed. Each dormitory has either two, four, six, eight or 12 beds. The cost of
one bed is $10 per night.
“The Twizt Hostel is the biggest of its kind
and we can say that it is probably the biggest in Southeast Asia,” says Kanha.
“Generally, Cambodians prefer big rooms where
many people can stay together,” she says.
Kanha says The Twizt boasts the same amenities
as a hotel, including personal wardrobes and safety boxes.
Guests younger than 15 years old are not
allowed. “We try to create a more international atmosphere, and sometimes it
may not be appropriate for young children. Also, we want young people to feel
free to talk and interact according to their age. If there are children around,
they may not feel so young anymore.”
The Twizt Hostel is located on 16th Avenue,
behind Angkor Children Hospital, in Siem Reap.