We stayed in the Himawari during the Water Festival in November (when the population of Phnom Penh swells from 1 million to 2 million - or so I'm told!). The Himawari is located right in the centre of the activity. This provided a great atmosphere and some entertainment (like the four of us getting moto-taxis through the Cambodian crowds).

The hotel kindly upgraded us for free from a 2 bed to a 3 bed apartment, with a huge master room, two balconies, living area (with river view), dining area and kitchen - which I have to admit we rarely used! As we stayed for 6 nights, we received the last free - which meant that the cost worked out at £25 per person per night.

The apartment was very modernly decorated, very clean and well-kept - although I imagine it had only re-opened fairly recently.

We loved the pool area and hot-tub, plus the bar area on the river side - especially great for watching the Water Festival (and inviting a few friends to join us).

The breakfast was ok (I can't actually remember it over the breakfasts on the beach in Thailand) and we only ate at the hotel for one evening - due to tiredness. It was a little overpriced and I would recommend eating at some of the local restaurants - what's the point of visiting Cambodia if you're not going to get out and truly experience it?

I would highly recommend the Himawari - we definitely enjoyed our stay.

We have just returned from Cambodia and the best bit about Phnom Penh was this hotel, it is totally luxurious, very clean, friendly and helpful staff, great breakfasts and gorgeous rooms. I can recommend this hotel to anyone and everyone - very pleased with our selection !

We stayed at the Himawari for three nights in early February before heading off to Siem Reap. We have two children, ages 10 and 12, and were also traveling with my mother-in-law, so I was attracted to the extra space of the "two-bedroom executive suite".

Pros: extremely spacious, including a kitchen, dining room, and living room plus two full baths. (More than enough room for five people) Very clean rooms and bathrooms. Nice pool area with comfortable loungers and a jacuzzi. Fitness room. Decent (but not great) breakfast buffet. Excellent, central location on the river--walking distance to dozens of restaurants and shopping. Also a handy supermarket across the street. Pleasant staff. Wi-Fi internet, which we were not charged for.

Cons: Hard beds (common in Asia) Inconvenient pool access with no restrooms without going back through lobby. No balcony chairs. No river view rooms available, because "All of our river view suites are fully booked by long-term guests." This is important to know if you are looking for a river view, like we were. Rollaway beds are just awful--would NOT be okay for an adult to sleep on.

Overall, we thought the Himawari was just fine for the price, spaciousness, and excellent location. Have also stayed at the Intercontinental, which is very "western" and comfy, but is in the middle of nowhere. The apartment-style layout at Himawari is a great alternative to getting two adjoining hotel rooms.

Tuk-tuks are readily available out front--no need to book through hotel.

We stayed at the Himawari hotel for 6 nights whilst visiting Cambodia; it was our first stop before moving on to Siem Reap and then other parts of Cambodia.
We found the Himawari to be probably one of the best stays in Cambodia, The service was great, and the staff friendly, the food was excellent.
The rooms were big and clean, we were lucky enough to have en suite in both rooms, it was so modern inside that it looked like the hotel had just been built. The hotel was in a good location for visiting places of interest like the royal palace and silver pagoda a nice walk or short tuk tuk drive along to other sites of interest. The hotel @ night was very quiet.
All in all an excellent hotel and would have no doubt in staying here again!