Koh Kong City Hotel

The Koh Kong City Hotel was a nice venue, a little bit higher standard than we would normally use, because the organizers wanted the trip to be something really special and really pleasant to remember in order to give a good sense of the staff as a happy family.

When staff travel, they are required to stay in inexpensive guesthouses without air conditioning and other conveniences, but for this trip the rooms were air conditioned for those who wanted to use it and the facility was more spacious and pleasant.

Many Cambodians have never seen the sea even though Cambodia is only the size of the state of Wyoming and the sea is just four hours from Phnom Penh. It was exciting for some of the staff to be staying in a hotel right on the waterfront.

We ate dinner and breakfast at a restaurant next to the hotel. The food was good and everyone enjoyed the meal.

In the morning many of the staff were out on the promenade along the waterfront before breakfast. Breakfast wasn't until 7:00 AM but Cambodians are earlier risers so some of the staff had been up for two hours by that time.

The hotel meeting room was nice and just about big enough for our group of 52 staff, but its shape was not good for a deaf meeting. Long, narrow rooms make seeing the speakers and interacting with other participants rather difficult.

We had planned to get away quickly on Friday morning and so had placed an order for a 7:00 AM breakfast on Thursday night. It didn't help. Some of our staff were not served their food until after 8:00 AM!

There are many things to criticize about Cambodia but it's also good to note its good points and values. These are the main water pipes serving the hotel. Note that the cut-offs are out in the open and freely accessible to anyone. But Cambodians would just not think of turning off the water to the hotel maliciously or as a prank. That's a big difference from the U.S.!

Go to Staff Retreat Trip main page
Go to Deaf Activities main page
Go to Charlie Dittmeier's home page