Limitations

As happy as we were with the finished product of The One Hotel, and the many delighted guests we hosted, our limitations were obvious. With one room it was feast or famine: 100% occupancy or 0%. Thankfully we had Linga Bar to bring in some revenue for the days that we were empty. Then, as our popularity grew, we faced another challenge: how to accommodate everyone. If a guest wanted to book a three day stay and the hotel was already booked on one of those dates, we had to work with our guests to find a way to help them. Fortunately, many of our guests realized that we were a special place, and maybe worth the extra effort of changing their plans around slightly. Other guests, who did not have flexibility in their dates, would choose to stay at another hotel on the nights we were not available and then move to our hotel.

Then there were other limitations, like a family or three adults traveling together. The One Hotel can only accommodate single travelers or couples. When I received our first request for a family (Father, Mother and 2 year old child), I thought about it and realized we could not do it. Mainly, we did not design the room in a way that would make it comfortable, but more importantly, it was not designed with the safety of a young child in mind. Also, we could not accommodate three adults because there is no room for an extra bed. We are just the perfect hideaway for singles and couples, the perfect "cocoon."

The other limitation was price. We made a beautiful five star experience and gave it an affordable price(US$250+ per night) compared to other five star hotels in Siem Reap, but with the knowledge that we offered more amenities and a much more unique experience than larger hotels can not to mention an amazing value compare to high end hotels in the US or Europe. In addition, we include more in our rate than most hotels: daily breakfast on the private roof terrace, round trip airport transfers and complimentary drinks from the minibar are always including when staying with us. Besides, with just one room it does not make a lot of sense to discount the experience and try to have some broader appeal in terms of price. But, I am happy to say we are in the process of implementing an online availability check for instant confirmations. What we will do with online availability is offer a discount for last minute bookings, in addition to year round bookings. If you want to stay within 10 days of the date of booking, and our suite is available, we will offer a special rate (currently $195+). At the present time, and we will continue to do so, I answer all reservation correspondence. More time consuming for sure but it helps to walk guests through the process and know there is someone looking after them from the beginning.

I hope the online booking helps those guests that want it but the personalized reservation process with my assistance will always be available.

How to deal with our other limitations? I will save that for next time.