I'm a real twit

Well actually I've been called far worse but it seems to be all the rage this week - next week it'll be something else - but before I get accused of being left way back in the Stone Age again, I've gone and done it, I've signed up to Twitter. Not that I imagine anyone will be interested, but you can catch me here. I'm also on MySpace and Facebook - isn't everyone?
On my recent visit to Siem Reap I was told that the newest 5-star hotel in town, The Sothea, was closing down, just a matter of months after opening. It was a false rumour. The hotel's GM, Sarah Moya (right), came to see me yesterday to make sure we knew that it was false and whilst the hotel, like everyone else in the tourism industry over here right now, is finding it hard to get customers through the door, the hotel is alive and well and busy making new plans to attract more clientele. Sarah and her team have worked damn hard to get The Sothea's name out into the marketplace and this kind of vicious and false rumour reflects badly on us in the industry, as it had to start somewhere. One hotel that is closing for the forseeable future though is Le Relais de Chhlong, the already-restored colonial villa along the banks of the Mekong River at Chhlong, south of Kratie. They tell me that its for renovations but a year seems a heck of a long time to close your doors and lose business. But hey, I'm not a hotelier so what do I know.