The Elephant Bar, Raffles Hotel

No list of bars in Phnom Penh is complete without city's classiest bar—the Elephant Bar at Raffles Le Royal.
Jackie Kennedy Onassis once stayed here, and a glass she drank from in this very bar was found in the hotel during a renovation years later, complete with a too-perfect impression of her pink lip-stick (believe that if you will)! The elephant theme is gorgeously done, from the cocktail menu, through to the artwork and decor.

But I think the real highlight is the piano player—if you’d like to be transported back in time, order a gin and tonic, sit back into one of the deep couches and listen to the piano man do his thing. So good!
Despite being, perhaps, the fanciest bar in the city, it has a very generous happy hour with half-price drinks from 4 PM till 9 PM.

The bar has been recently renovated, but it was much needed and the result is gorgeous. It may have lost a little of its shabby appeal, but it now has a much larger bar, and drinks arrive twice as fast.

Why go?
For a taste of class and sophistication.