With its modern rooms, attentive service, slate-lined pool and full spa, Shinta Mani is like many other luxury hotels in Siem Reap, Cambodia. But there is an important difference: It is one of a small but growing number of upscale properties in poor areas that are making significant contributions to the community.
Since opening its doors three years ago, Shinta Mani has built more than 60 wells for local families, all of them paid for by guests. Cost: $85 each. The hotel also finances and runs a hospitality school where 21 students a year -- most referred by local relief agencies -- are given free admission, meals, uniforms, and a monthly stipend. After graduating, the students are placed in jobs that pay $60 to $100 per month—two to three times the country's average income.
"These students come here with less than nothing," says Billah, who worked at some of Bali's top resorts before arriving in Siem Reap. "They scavenge the garbage dump or work the rice fields, but after a few months they're real hospitality professionals." (Continue reading this story in Conde Nast Traveler)
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