moria carey
a little hotel with a big heart
WHEN KRISTIN HOLDO HANSEN FIRST CAME to Siem Reap in 1999 she was a fresh-faced 19-year-old from Norway, studying international tourism management and travelling around South-East Asia. Back then, she says, there were only about 25 hotels in the “sleepy town”. A decade on, Hansen co-owns Soria Moria, one of the 110 hotels and more than 400 guesthouses that have sprung up around Siem Reap like the Angkorian temples.
Now expecting their first child, Hansen and her Japanese boyfriend Ken Oishi have thought of the community in every aspect of their business, since the boutique hotel opened in November 2007. Through a socially responsible enterprise called the Iron Workshop, they hired young men from the Pouk District to make their outdoor furniture. Underprivileged young women from the same area designed all the silk decorations in the hotel’s 38 bedrooms, as well as the handbags sold in the lobby. The hotel hosts a traditional Apsara dance performance by the children from the Sangkheum Centre every week, and while the show is free, guests often give donations to the centre aft er watching the poised Cambodian teenagers put their elder counterparts to shame. Not resorting to theatrics or extravagant donations, Hansen’s common-sense community initiatives simply draw on things tourists already do, and incorporate a charitable element.
Rental money from the snazzy white bicycles guests can use to whizz around the temples goes towards fitting water filters at schools in the outskirts of Siem Reap. And the money made from the sale of ‘love cards’, handmade by local schoolchildren, subsidises local teachers’ salaries. Every step Hansen and Oishi make takes into account Cambodians in need. Developing their staff is top priority.
Sokha started with Soria Moria as a cleaner and kitchen hand seven years ago, with just a smattering of English. The hotel’s first sponsored student, she recently graduated with a bachelor’s degree and is now fluent in English. Today, as front office manager, Sokha runs the hotel’s higher education programme, which has seen flve new students enrolled at Build Bright University.
“Next year Sokha will start her masters degree. She is a shining example of how a little help and a lot of determination can break you out of the poverty cycle,” Hansen says.
Rooms from US$40. Wat Bo Road, tel +855 (0)63 964768, www.thesoriamoria.com – Laura Dannen
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