Golden House Hotel was a mixed experience. The hotel is new and rooms are very clean, but then, the rooms are clean in most hotels in Asia. There is a little noise from the bars even in the back. Most staff was very professional, very nice and helpful. Food is uneven in quality: breakfast was expensive for here, bread was stale but the omelette was extremely salty. The Amok is a nice dish to try. I found the food quite expensive here as along the quay in general. Cambodian establishments definitely gouge foreigners on food and transport with two-tiered pricing. It has free internet, but then so does almost every hotel in Phnom Penh.
Now for the deal-breakers for me, where this hotel is concerned, came on the second day in the form of an obnoxious receptionist. At breakfast, I was trying to check my emails. This woman had brought her two very small children to work, and they were running around screeching at the top of their lungs throughout much of breakfast. Scant effort was made to control them. At one point, one was on the chairs smearing his feet on the upholstery and cushions with shoes on -- and the streets of Phnom Penh are rank. I could picture all the rat excrement from the streets of Phnom Penh getting smeared on the cushions I was using in this hotel. As I was checking out on Nov. 18th, I was waiting for this same receptionist to finish adding my bill. I am a female traveler, and as soon as a man walked up to the counter, she dropped me like a hot potato and immediately asked how she could help him. I asked her, "can we first finish with my bill". She glared at me, gave me a curt yes, then turned to him and *apologized to him!* I said, you should apologize to me, not him, and she just gave me a cold stare through her white, wire-rimmed glasses. It is not uncommon for women to receive second class treatment in Asia, but I won't return to places where I receive it, especially after spending as much on room service in one day as I had spent on my room. I then mentioned to her that her children had been very annoying at breakfast and that she should not bring them to work. She answered with a snippy, "That's right". After I paid my bill I was gathering my things to leave, and heard her turn to the male customer and apologize to him again! I cannot believe that this woman's behavior is tolerated by this otherwise good hotel. Valuing some customers over others for superficial reasons is not good business sense. I am a considerate person and a quiet, paying guest, and I want the assurance of taking my meals in relative peace and being treated as a valued customer, with common courtesy.