Date: Jan. 16-19
Reviewer: Christina & Uddy
After visiting Shinta Mani's website we were certain this was to be the place for our brief yet amazing experience in Siem Reap. Their commitment to the community through their village outreach projects and hospitality institute, devotedly run by Chitra, which trains and prepares young adult at-risk Cambodians for careers in hospitality and hotel management was the draw. We spent a day at a local village learning how Shinta Mani is helping empower these villagers to build economically sustainable communities. However, the beauty and magic of the place does not end there. The facilities are wonderful--pool, spa, restaurant and the deluxe pool suite. As a previous reviewer noted, the cold, sweet- smelling hand towel given upon each return from a hot day of touring was just one of the many small and friendly touches of this boutique property. Chitra and her staff pointed out that further room renovations and upgrades were to commence in the next few months. This will only enhance what is already a special place.

Yes, it is a training hotel - or the Institute of Hospitality as they call it. But the service is great, the people truly pleasant and the hotel itself is calm, clean and tastefully appointed. The pool is perfect for cooling off and relaxing. Don't forget, it is a non profit establishment - your tourist money spent there goes toward helping people. If you do stay there, take the time and ask to see one of the villages that is part of their program. You will be impressed at how so much can be done with so little.

We didn't stay at the Shinta Mani during our Dec 2006 trip, unfortunately, but visited it several times, since we participated in their community project. What we experienced was impressive:

* amazingly friendly young staff, caring for your every need smiling, but finding the right balance to not being obtrusive - all of them trainees in the Institute of Hospitality
* elegant architecture and rooms, in neat design, very carefully maintained
* top amenities, a wonderful spa, a cool pool
* a good restaurant with a range of local and international dishes and wines
* a great location, in the old French quarter - a better vantage point for the temples than many other hotels, and in walking distance to the bustle of the old town, but in a quiet and secure neighbourhood.

With the same owner as the De la Paix, the Shinta Mani is a cosy alternative - but the main focus for me is their dedication for community work. Feel free to visit my travel diary about this donation/trip.
http://www.pangolin.li/index.php?id=cambodia_donation

My wife and I have stayed at the Shinta Mani three times in the past three years. Each time it just gets better and better. Working wtih the hotel, we have been involved in several of their community outreach programs as well as the Institute of Hospitality. We have found that the hotel offers so much more than the normal tourist site visits, not that Angkor Wat and the temples aren't important to your visit. However, if you want to experience the true Cambodia life style, arrange for the hotel to take you out to the villages to see the results of the water well project, provide box lunches to children that don't always know when they will eat again and be sure to see the sewing center at the local pagadoa where abused women are learning to sew, providing them with a new opportunity in life. These are the real values of life; seeing how life after the terrible death march of the Kremer Rouge, remains. Historians have said that it will take five generations for Cambodia to recover--the programs of the Shinta Mani may help reduce that time in the Siem Reap villages. The staff and the facility continue to mature in providing a "home away from home" for their guests and now exceed our greatest expectations. Stay at the Shinta Mani for a real feel of the Siem Reap community. You won't be disappointed. You can obtain all of the necessary hotel information from their web site.
Ted Nieman
Frederick, Maryland