Sandy Beach Bungalows by EHM

The staff was lovely and helpful. They arranged a reasonably priced private boat tour for me. When the waves were too high on the day of my departure, they helped me rearrange my transfers and made everything the nature gods allowed for work marvelously. The bedroom was nice and I loved the outdoorsy jungle-vibe of the bathroom. The restaurant is quite decent and reasonably priced for a beach resort. The beach is simply amazing. They’ve got plenty of recliners. Coniferous trees create shade. The water is shallow and warm. The sand is soft and bright.

The bathroom and the amenities were rather basic for the price. The room smelled a bit moldy. My toilet didn’t have a ring. There was only cold water in my bungalow. The pavements in the bungalow park were poorly maintained. The WiFi in the bungalow was pretty much nonexistent. Same for mobile connectivity, only EDGE.

Location, location! The beach was immediately in front of the bungalow and the water temperature perfect for swimming. Here you are protected from the devopment occuring elsewhere on the island. Saracen Bay, Lazy Beach, Sunset Beach and the lighthouse were all in hiking distance, or you could hire a boat to Saracen and walk from there. The staff were friendly, and overall we felt it was good value for the price.

First, there are no cushioned seats or lounges to hang out in, which detracts a bit from a lazy day in and out of the water. It was inconsistent whether or not we received water for the room everyday, and the room was not cleaned very often. It was disappointing to find out that there were no free shuttles to Saracen (which was advertised when we reserved through booking.com, and part of the reason we chose Sandy Beach). Finally, large groups came in for a night or two of partying, and were sometimes quite loud.

This resort is absolutely fine for a ‘no frills’ stay in a quiet location, on a beautiful beach with clear, turquoise water. The staff are friendly and helpful and the accommodation (cabins and the wooden bungalows) if basic, is clean and comfortable enough, with air-con.

Sandy Beach resort, and the island as a whole, are clearly still in post-pandemic recovery mode and the facilities are in need of some TLC. There are no padded cushions for the wooden sun-beds on the beach, only plastic chairs to sit in on the verandas. No hammocks or swings. Food is very limited - not much at all for vegans - and the mini-mart is low on stock. You can eat at the two other resorts along the beach who have broader menus.

Location it is absolutely beautiful and the staff in the all hotels and the chap who runs a bar up the hill take very good care of the beach to ensure it’s clean. it’s much quieter and more sandy than some of the other beaches we went to and whilst you can see Sihanoukville on a very clear night there are only three small hotels so it feels very much like a secluded island paradise. The buva sea ferry if weather is good drops you right off at Sandy beach or a short walk away if the weather is too windy for Sandy Beach pier. Let them know ahead of time what ferry you’ll be on and someone will come to meet you. Same for checking out, they helped us arrange the ferry back to the mainland. They renovating some of them so there may be some noise but it wasn’t too noticeable for us. There is a minimart next door which was handy for essentials but would suggested stocking up on these prior to coming as the island is more expensive. it is hard to get to other parts of the island unless you want to walk for an hour to Saracen Bay or do the scheduled tour the hotel offer. However, the guy who owns the bar a 2 minute walk away has started offering a taxi boat of sorts which would definitely positively influence whether we’d stay on this beach again. The Bungalows we stayed in one of the beachfront ones and the beds are very comfy, decent size and there are is international plug sockets and a hairdryer which is a nice bonus. The bathroom is more outdoorsy but we liked it and we appreciated the cooler shower (we were aware they were cold showers when we booked) after a hot day (and it is always hot in Cambodia!). They have a decent bit of decking out the front with two chairs and table which are nice to sit at in the morning and in the evening.

it isn’t what we didn’t like, but just a few things to bear in mind / that could be improved as we would come to this beach again! - The sun beds do not have cushions which means after a long period of sunbathing, you end up aching. The sun beds are wooden. it would be nice to get some cushions for them! - There isn’t a lot of atmosphere, some quiet music in the bar/reception area would help. but we were the only ones here at times so appreciate atmosphere would be hard! - I think if there were more people staying they’d do more activities but unless you wanted to do the tour, that was it. We rented paddle boards and snorkelling gear from Archipelago Tours instead. - if you want a coffee you have to go to the mini mart or the staff will have to go to the mini mart and get it for you. - staff at times seemed disinterested. Granted there was a language barrier and we should have practised a few more basic Khmer phrases. There appeared to be a reliance on certain staff as their English was good so if the others didn’t understand you they went back to their phones. It would have been nice whilst we were on the beach (and it was just us) to maybe offer a beer or a drink. We can’t comment on the food as we went to the bar up the hill every night (highly recommend!) and we went to Tube Resort next door at lunch due to their more lively atmosphere and just being closer to our bungalow. Covid seems to have had a negative impact on the island in general and things are in the process of being repaired. We would stay again and hope the comments don’t dissuade people from booking to come as the beach is lovely and quiet and we much preferred it to Saracen Bay for a few nights and the bar up the hill is a great addition and hub of info.

bungalows were on the beach

no hot water, shampoo etc … very expensive for what it is plastic all over the beach

Staff are friendly, though most of them cannot communicate in English.

1. Room is not clean and some nights you can smell the sewage. No hot water. Housekeeping is on request. I need to tell them what I need, but still they don’t clean as I requested (E.g drying the bathroom) 2. Restaurant food is pricey, with poor food portion. Most menu items are not available. It seems whoever is in charge did not care about resupplying their restaurant. 3. Staffs need more training. Though many of them are nice and helpful, but often times some of them were playing on their phones at work. There was one time a waiter asked me if he could take the food menu from me while I was still viewing it. The problem was they only had one menu so the waiter had to rush me so he could show the menu to the other customers. One of the manager didn’t interact with me at all. I stayed here for a week and we met on multiple occasions. She did not greet me at all and made me feel like I do not exist. 4. On weekends, there are usually parties held by the local tourists, so it was noisy in the night. Also it seems okay to smoke in the public area such as restaurant. Many tourists smoke cigarettes around and I had to leave the area.

The location and the ambiance. Mr. Tito is a great guy very friendly and helpfull.

The road is a bit rough otherwise its great.