Tara Lodge Haven of Peace

Tara Lodge is gorgeous, quiet, well located, the service impeccable, and couldn’t ask for more. It feels like you’re in a lodge paradise in the middle of a forest yet if you want to visit Kep town, Fish Island, a café, a restaurant, Chinese New Year festivities, you are literally a 5 minute Tuk Tuk ride away.

We loved our stay at Tara Lodge. Jim and Vireak have created a wonderfully peaceful environment and it definitely lived up to the name 'Haven of Peace'. The breakfasts were amazing and freshly made to order every day, with a different freshly squeezed fruit juice. The staff all work very hard. We love a bit of bird watching and it was a great place for that. The pool was really inviting and the perfect temperature, it's described as a salt water pool but it didn't feel or taste at all salty (in a good way). Jim and Vireak were very helpful in suggesting things to do during our stay and also helping with advice for the next part of our trip and helping arrange onward travel. We particularly appreciate the efforts to reduce plastic usage, it was a shock during our time in SE Asia the overuse of plastic everywhere we went. The lodge are doing everything they can to reduce this. Every hotel we stayed in during our travels gave us 2 small bottles of water every day, which isn't enough to get by so you still end up having to buy more plastic bottles. At Tara Lodge they provide you with a jug and have a free filtered water machine in reception that you can refill as much as you like. As a result of this our time in Kep was the only place that we didn't buy a single bottle of water. It was very noticeable the different this made. I wish other hotels would make this simple change.

This place is divine. Very small (I think only 8 rooms) and no it’s not on the waterside (but that’s a good thing). This place is about a 15 min walk to the crab market, 10 min to the national park, 10 min walk to sailing club … note there is no “town” as such so don’t look for being “in town”. For westerners there is no 711 or shopping street. It’s just one big food stalls and hammocks. But Tara lodge is unique. Beautiful pool, huge rooms, amazing restaurant and the staff (Jim especially) cannot do enough for you. We were here for 2 nights and we were the only guests (Cambodian election). We are in our 60’s from Australia and we walked 8km or more around Kep national park. There is a “convenience” store at end of the street which sells everything but the wine and beer at the hotel was great. Food was divine. The chocolate fondue… don’t share! 😀

We just spent three days at Tara Lodge with our yoga group. It's one of my favorite places to stay in Cambodia. Patrick, Jim and the staff provided excellent service and helped us arrange tours and transportation. The food was delicious and fresh. The breakfast omlette was amazing! The rooms are a good size with comfortable beds. The location is walking distance to the Crab Market. We will definately be back!

This hotel is set in lush tropical gardens with a lovely restaurant which serves great food. All the staff very friendly. Jim the manager went above and beyond to make sure our stay was memorable, he and all the Cambodian staff are LOVELY. Food in restaurant was great but not cheap. Downsides, weak wifi, low pressure shower and the white towels, although clean, are slightly stained brown. Small details that have a big impact. Both the bedding and the room could do with an update and whilst not exactly dirty weren’t sparklingly clean as we have come to expect in similar hotels. Mini bar products out of date. This hotel rooms just needs a bit of care and attention especially as it was $85 a night.

A nice quiet nest, with a friendly welcoming service. It might have been much more charming some years ago, but the room cleanliness, amenities quality and freshness of bed linen should seriously be improved. Yellowish and stained towels are definitely not a good sign…