Phnom Penh’s Sokha Hotel and Courtyard by Marriott have been swamped with bookings for so-called “Alternate State Quarantine”. The pilot project, launched by the Ministry of Health, allows incoming travellers to book their quarantine directly, instead of being sent to designated hotels, where a plethora of complaints have been made on social media in recent months.

Both Courtyard by Marriott Phnom Penh and Sokha Hotel have their hands full of bookings. Courtyard’s General Manager, Mr. Piyoros Naronglith, says he’s proud his hotel has been selected alongside Sokha Hotel, with international travellers offered a choice between a top local hotel and an international brand hotel. He says apart from a more comfortable stay, the hotel is giving travellers plenty of options when it comes to food. “We have a selection of more than 20 choices of menu that the customer can choose during the quarantine. If they don’t like our rotational set of menus – I think that you have read on online and many social media posts that our food has actually been very very good and that the customers are liking our preparation for that purpose. We also cater to dietary requirements, for example, if the customer is – for a religious reason, do not take pork or any certain meat, we can cater that as well including low sodium, diabetic, vegetarian meals, etc are available.”

At both Sokha and Courtyard, the price range for alternative state quarantine ranges between approximately $2000 and $2500. This includes an airport transfer, meals and all Covid-19 testing. As long as passengers do not test positive for Covid-19 on arrival and are not travelling from a high-risk destination, they can enjoy all the added benefits of alternative state quarantine. If they do test positive or are deemed “high-risk”, it means they’ll be moved to a government quarantine facility, but will have their hotel booking refunded.

Courtyard by Marriott Phnom Penh says it hopes this will be the start of the tourism sector slowly bouncing back from the pandemic.