From Street To Suite

• Share

Luxury hotels have not always been known for their shining altruism. But this may be changing, thanks to an innovative project in Cambodia that gives street kids a chance to work in the hospitality industry. Shinta Mani, tel: (855) 63 761 998, is a crisply designed, 18-room, $130-per-night boutique hotel, which opened last year in Siem Reap, 6 km from Angkor Wat.

But it also doubles as a vocational training institute, and its first classes, for some 16 youngsters, began earlier this month. The students — some of whom previously survived by scavenging in the city's refuse heaps — will learn everything from tidying beds to scrambling eggs. Shinta Mani's 50 full-time staff will also be giving the students on-the-job training throughout the hotel, including its restaurant, bar and spa. "Seeing the living standard of many of the residents of Siem Reap, you naturally want to try to help," says Martin Dishman, the hotel's general manager.

For their efforts, the students receive $10 and 4 kg of rice each per month. There is no requirement to stay on once the course finishes, but presumably many would love to work for the hotel that saved them from a life on the streets.