Andy Devaney
Raffles Hotel Le Royal, Phnom Penh’s grand dame of hospitality and no stranger to the odd tale or tipple, has just unveiled a set of new menus at its iconic Writers Bar—and it’s not just about cocktails, it’s about storytelling in liquid form.
Tucked just off the immaculately restored 96-year-old lobby, the Writers Bar is where Hemingway might’ve lingered for a nightcap and Graham Greene could’ve penned a few scandalous pages between gin slings.
Now, after a refined refurbishment, the bar is back in the spotlight with menus that toast the titans of literature who found inspiration in Southeast Asia’s heady blend of mystery, history and humidity.
“With its timeless elegance and literary soul, Writers Bar at Raffles Hotel Le Royal is more than just a cocktail bar. It is an ode to the art of storytelling, the romance of travel and the spirit of those who have shaped history with their words,” said General Manager Dagmar Lyons, doing justice to a bar that treats a Martini like a manuscript.
Let’s talk menu. This isn’t your average hotel cocktail list cobbled together by someone who once read Kerouac in college.
The new ‘Signature Cocktails from the Pages of History’ take cues from the books and films that have shaped entire generations of wanderers, readers and daydreamers. Think flavours as layered as a good novel and just as intoxicating.
Not to be outdone, the Espresso Martini Collection is a caffeinated love letter to every bleary-eyed author who ever stared down a deadline with coffee in one hand and a cigarette in the other. Beans sourced from far-flung regions come with their own flavour profiles—and a whisper of nostalgia for those who believe the best writing begins after dark.
Then there’s the Wine Library, which reads like a sommelier’s dream journal: world-class vintages handpicked from lands with literary lineage. Whether it’s a bold Bordeaux or a whispering white from Marlborough, each bottle tells a story—some better than others after the second glass.
The Signature Champagne Cocktails? As effervescent as F. Scott Fitzgerald’s prose and twice as dangerous. Served with flair, these bespoke concoctions evoke the glamour of literary salons and the kind of parties that end in inspiration—or infamy.
And because Raffles Hotel Le Royal understands that happy hour should be sacred, the bar now offers ‘Champagne O’Clock’ daily from 5pm–7pm, with a generous buy-one-get-one offer. That’s two flutes of bubbly inspiration for the price of one—a steal for aspiring poets and champagne socialists alike.
But it’s not just the drinks doing the talking. The newly styled Writers Bar leans into its namesake with vintage typewriters, stacks of books, and enough atmosphere to inspire even the most stubborn writer’s block. Plans are in place for book launches, author events, poetry nights and storytelling sessions, making it a proper refuge for the literary-minded.
Since opening in 1929, Raffles Hotel Le Royal has hosted royalty, revolutionaries, and more than a few restless scribes. A meticulous restoration in 2019 brought its 175 rooms and suites back to their full Art Deco-Khmer-French Colonial glory—because if you’re going to write the next great novel, you might as well do it somewhere worthy of a book jacket.
Recently crowned Best City Hotel in Cambodia by Travel + Leisure and hailed by Luxury Lifestyle Magazine as one of the world’s best, the hotel continues to prove that old-world elegance still has a place in a modern world that often forgets how to slow down and sip.
To book your seat at the bar—or perhaps your chapter in its story—call +855 23 981 888 or visit www.raffles.com/phnom-penh.
Now if you’ll excuse me, I’ve got a date with an espresso martini and a half-finished manuscript.
