Cambodia & In Pictures : Club Millésime, the lounge at Sofitel Phnom Penh Phokeethra

The Sofitel Phnom Penh Phokeethra website presents Club Millésime as a lounge reserved for guests staying in Club rooms and suites. We spent an evening there last weekend on a package at a very affordable price. It includes the high tea and the evening buffet. It also lets guests use the lounge's meeting room.

The lounge: herringbone parquet, dark wooden armchairs with leather seats, bookcases between the spaces

A library setting

The room is all dark wood. The floor is laid in herringbone. The armchairs have old-fashioned lines and light brown leather seats. Bookcases serve as partitions between corners.

By the windows, a tufted leather sofa, porcelain lamps and a black lacquered coffee table make a lounge corner. Further on, white tables of various sizes surround the buffet counter.

The lounge corner: tufted leather sofa, porcelain lamps, lacquered coffee table

On the wall, a large canvas in thick strokes of blue, green and orange shows figures in hats in a landscape- Artwork from Chhim Sothy. Another wall is covered with framed black-and-white portraits, with a plaque under each frame.

Art from Chhim Sothy

A wall of framed black-and-white portraits, each with its plaque. Portraits of officials and personalities who stayed at the Sofitel

The shelves mix bound books and titles on Cambodia: Regards sur le Cambodge, Paris / Angkor, itinéraire d'un défi by Paul Dubrule (Éditions de La Martinière) and The Royal House of Cambodia. A carved hand, bracelets at the wrist, rests on a red-and-gold bound book. Enamelled porcelain pots, one with gold motifs, the other decorated with green bamboo, complete the set.

On a shelf, books on Cambodia and a porcelain pot with gold motifs

"The Royal House of Cambodia," placed behind a porcelain pot decorated with green bamboo

A carved hand, bracelets at the wrist, on a bound book

The high tea

The high tea is laid out on the counter, on gilded stands. A metal birdcage holds strawberry tartlets and small layered pastries. A basket of rolls and baguettes sits next to it.

The teas are kept in a wooden Ronnefeldt box. The tins carry the label "L'Épicerie du Sofitel": Earl Grey, English Breakfast, jasmine. A red espresso machine stands at the back of the counter.

The high tea: a cage stand with strawberry tartlets and pastries, a basket of bread

Tea tins "L'Épicerie du Sofitel" in a Ronnefeldt box: Earl Grey, English Breakfast, jasmine

The evening buffet

In the evening, the counter holds different things. A charcuterie platter lines up ham, salami and gherkins. Another shows cheeses: pressed, blue and bloomy rind, with dried apricots, raisins, walnuts and crackers.

On the gilded stands, toasts topped with cream and dill, and verrines. In small white dishes, salmon and pepper skewers with their sauce. Sesame mini-burgers on wooden picks are served on a pierced tray. A framed card near the platters concerns dietary requirements and intolerances.

The buffet: charcuterie and cheese platter, topped toasts, verrines on gilded stands

Ham and salami, with gherkins and green leaves

Pressed cheeses, blue and bloomy rind, dried apricots, raisins and walnuts

skewers and sesame mini-burgers

At the bar

At the bar, a server in a dark suit and orange tie. On the counter, bottles of red wine, among them an organic wine from Gérard Bertrand and a Chilean Casillero del Diablo. A copy of Les 1001 vins qu'il faut avoir goûtés dans sa vie sits beside them, with glasses full of corks and a silver hippopotamus.

Further along, spirits and syrups: vodka, rum, orange liqueur, vermouth, strawberry syrup.

Red wines, a wine book and corks in glasses, near a silver hippopotamus

Vodka, rum, orange liqueur, vermouth and strawberry syrup on the bar counter

Working on site

The lounge's meeting room is a separate space: a round table surrounded by chairs with woven backs, a glass-fronted bookcase full of bound books, a wall-mounted screen. The package we tried gives access to it.

The meeting room: round table, chairs with woven backs, glass-fronted bookcase and wall screen

Practical information

The lounge is inside the hotel, at 26 Old August Site, Sothearos Boulevard, Sangkat Tonle Bassac, Phnom Penh. The hotel website lists opening every day from 11:00 to 22:00.

For Club and Suite guests, the hotel lists complimentary coffee, tea, soft drinks and mineral water, free-flow sparkling wine, Wi-Fi, newspapers and magazines, free use of the meeting room,express check-in and check-out, and late check-out until 4 p.m.

Information: +855 23 999 200 or h6526@sofitel.com.