Hotel Manolis

A view of the front facade of Hotel Manolis in Post Office square, Phnom Penh

I was looking through some photos from my visit with the Heritage Mission last year to look around some of the colonial French buildings still standing in Phnom Penh when I realised that I hadn't posted a few pictures of the old Hotel Manolis that stands opposite the Post Office and is now home to many families, who've converted the old hotel suites into homes. The Manolis Hotel was constructed in 1910 and looks out onto the Post Office square. It's obviously seen better days and deserves a lick of paint and some tender care, which has already been lavished on the Post Office and the former Bank of Indochina, that is now Van's restaurant. Some of the thirty families that live in the rooms of the former hotel do not have legal papers and face expulsion at any time. The building was also the headquarters of the French colonial Chamber of Commerce at one time. One of the hotel's most famous former guests was Andre Malraux, who spent four months there in 1923 after stealing carvings from the temple of Banteay Srei before getting caught.

Re published with the kind permission of Andy Brouwer

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