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Shinta Mani – The Most Stylish Luxury Hotel in Cambodia

Bonnie Rakhit Cambodia Shinta Mani Angkor wat

Shinta Mani – The Most Stylish Luxury Hotel in Cambodia

Where?  Cambodia.

Exactly? Shinta Mani Hotel, Siem Reap, about a 15 minute Tuk Tuk ride from the famous Angkor Wat Unesco World Heritage Site.

When? December 2017

Best time to go? November to March is peak season with the most temperate weather, but if you’d prefer it to be a bit quieter, then May to early October is the best time for you.

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Shinta Mani

After a hectic year of travel I decided to see in the New Year by ticking off one of my bucket list destinations. I’ve always been in awe of the magnificent Angkor Wat Temple in Cambodia. So when the stunning, luxury design hotel Shinta Mani in Siem Reap invited me to stay I couldn’t believe my luck.

The Shinta Mani group consists of three hotels, the luxury hotel Shinta Mani Angkor, boutique property Shinta Mani Shack and the brand new, spectacular private pool villas at Shinta Mani Angkor-Bensley Collection, complete with your own Bensley Butler.

The hotel was originally built in 2003 and underwent a huge renovation in 2012 by world renowned creative director and architect Bill Bensley. With the new addition of the private pool villas, Shinta Mani is now one of Cambodias premier hotel destinations inviting elite guests from all over the globe.

Situated just a 15 minute tuk tuk ride from Ankgor Wat, the Shinta Mani Hotel includes two excellent restaurants serving international and Cambodian dishes, two swimming pools and a divine spa.

Top image Bonnie wears blue stripe dress by Tularosa at Revolve

Bonnie Rakhit Cambodia Shinta Mani luxury hotel

Every inch of Shinta Mani is an instagram dream. From the Cambodian-meets-modern architecture, the whitewashed entrances inspired by the local historical site, spacious outdoor communal and reception areas with marble floors, Lombok style furnishings and serene water features, the hotel’s feng shui is completely aligned to make you feel 100% at ease, so you can relax into your holiday effortlessly.

Above Bonnie wears pink lace dress from Tobi

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The majestic reception rooms are filled with eclectic and ornate statues and artwork. Each space makes you want to stop and take in the beauty, which is probably why there are so many seating areas.Bonnie Rakhit Cambodia Shinta Mani luxury hotel private pool villa

The Rooms

There are several different catergories of room but all are spacious, elegantly decorated and super stylish. So lets skip straight to the highest category shall we? The Angkor-Bensley collection is a group of 10 private pool villas each with there own sky garden sun deck, private entry courtyard where the private pool is located, leading on to a spectacularly designed bedroom, walk-in-wardrobe, kitchenette and bathroom with wet room, including an al fresco bathtub in the back garden. They are utterly fabulous!

Above Bonnie wears Lazul swimsuit in the private pool villa and below the lovely house keepers laid a lotus petal heart on the bed.

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Bonnie Rakhit Cambodia Shinta Mani luxury hotel design hotels asia where to stay

Above Bonnie hanging out in the splendid hotel grounds wearing Silk Fred playsuit and below the largest communal swimming pool located in Shinta Mani Shack gardens.

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Bonnie Rakhit Cambodia Shinta Mani luxury hotel design hotels asia shinta mani

Above: Bonnie wears Silk Fred playsuit in the modern maximal interiors of the Shack barshinta mani spa hotel cambodiaThe spa at Shinta Mani is sublime. We indulged in the couples massage which was such a lovely and romantic experience.
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Charlie and I enjoy breakfast at Kroya Restaurant on the hotels hanging day beds, surrounded by a lovely moat swimming with golden koi fish and floating lotus flowers.

 kroya restaurant best places to eat siem reap shinta mani hotelFood and Drink

The food offering in Siem Reap in general is excellent. You can head into town in a hotel tuk tuk and explore the Old Market area which is filled with shops, bars and restaurants. The hotel owns a bar/restaurant in town called Soul Kitchen which is super chilled and offers yummy comfort food.

Back the hotel you can pick from two different restaurants Kroya and The Elephant Polo Club or head to the lovely Bensley Bar for a Mai Thai with a rooftop view.

My favourite place for breakfast was the buffet at Kroya, with fruit and juice station pictured above. In the evening Kroys transforms into one of Siem Reaps best and most prestigious restaurants.

Bonnie Rakhit Cambodia Shinta Mani luxury hotel design hotels asia

Bonnie wears black playsuit by Revolve and shoes by Accessorize.

kroya restaurant best places to eat siem reapA Taste Explosion

We sampled the five course tasting menu at Kroya (for research purposes only of course!) and it was a fabulous culinary journey through Cambodia with a modern twist. The experimental (and delicious) dishes are designed by the celebrated Kroya chefs.bonnie rakhit cambodia revolve clothing

What to do in the day 

Angkor Wat of course. A short 15 minute tuk tuk ride from the hotel is the worlds largest religious monument, 1.6 million square metres of land filled with ancient intricately carved Hindu / Buddhist temples creating a magical temple city surrounded by a moat.

The two main temples to visit are Angkor Wat and Angkor Thom if you’re short on time. But you can buy a 3 or 5 day pass and discover new areas, temples and stunning views at a languid pace. The temple of Ta Prohm was also made famous because scenes from Lara Croft: Tomb Raider, the movie featuring Angelie Jolie were shot here.

angkor wat temple cambodia

Above walking into Angkor Wat and below Bonnie at Angkor Thom.angkor wat temple cambodia bonnie rakhit style traveller

Bonnie wears floating maxi dress by Tobi.

Please note you are supposed to wear clothing which covers shoulders/ knees and mid riff. I was allowed to wear this outfit for shooting purposes, but in general, admittance is only granted when wearing conservative attire. So ladies make sure you take a sarong in case you need to cover up.

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Below: one of the lovely trainee Buddhist Monks at the temple stops for a photo.

angkor wat temple buddhist child

Huge thank you to the spectacular Shinta Mani Hotel in Siem Reap. I had the most amazing experience especially my visit to the ancient temples of Angkor Wat and The Shinta Mani Foundation. More on that next time!shinta mani foundation CambodiaBye for now. Tune in next week to find out more about the Shinta Mani Foundation and how the hotel charity is helping local people living in poverty, train and hone their skills in order to create a better future for themselves.

Until next time. Bon Voyage xx

Angkor wat photo by lonely planetAngkor Wat final photo credit thanks to Lonely Planet

34 Discussions on
“Shinta Mani – The Most Stylish Luxury Hotel in Cambodia”
  • Wow that really is the most stylish hotel ever!! I don’t think I have ever seen anywhere as luxurious, and definitely haven’t stayed there! The food looks amazing!

  • Wow!! talk about luxury. And the food, looking at the pictures, it looks tasty. Excellent I should say. Thanks for your review!

  • The hotel is beautiful and the pools look so inviting. My sister went to Cambodia last year and I have wanted to go to Angkor Wat ever since.

  • I can’t imagine a more romantic and luxurious place to stay! If my husband and I were ever lucky enough to visit, you can bet I’d be spending lots of time at the spa getting pampered and my husband would be eating his weight in all of the incredible looking food. I also like to promote businesses that give back to their local communities. So glad to know they’re helping with poverty and providing skills to others can have a better their future. x

  • Wow thats some fancy resort to relax in . II was hoping throughout the entire article that you would shed some light on the expense part. but oh well off to booking website. and the pics are fabulous .

  • Very opulent hotel and amazing interiors and structural design. I loved the breakfast buffet station the colour and variety of fruit and juices was impressive. So glad too that the hotel has its own charity fund . Cambodia has quite a lot of poverty so its nice to know that they are giving back to the community.

  • Oh wow! What an amazing place, I absolutely love it. Especially the pool and the lobby, they are so gorgeous. I went to Cambodia 7 years ago and this made me want to go back asap.

  • I just came back from Cambodia last month, but since I travelled more places and also visited Siem Reap for the temples and the history in the first place, my experience there was of course totally different: I did get to see real Cambodian life which is not very stylish and pretty, actually it’s one of the poorest countries I’ve ever been to – and of course being reminded of the country’s history when one third of the population was eliminated is quite depressing – when you bother to think about it.
    However, glad you had such a good time, the hotel certainly looks posh.

  • This hotel is beautiful! The ornaments in reception are amazing and that room! Wow! They even have a private pool! I would absolutely love to stay there, you are so lucky!

  • Wow, I don’t know which I like the most. The rooms, pool, food, spa… everything is really beautiful. I enjoyed reading your post. Also, I love the black dress.

  • That looks like such a luxurious and relaxing place to stay. The property is also absolutely beautiful! Angkor Wat would be such a cool place to visit.

  • Wow! that light from the hotel that reflexes in the swimming pool is very very beautiful! that big structure is really beautiful too. That smiles of those children are very inspiring. You really have so much fun in there!

  • You weren’t kidding about the stylish part! This hotel is everything you want to be when you’re planning to stay in a luxury hotel. It’s definitely perfect for treating yourself to a good vacation.

  • Haven’t traveled to any Asian country but would love to someday. I dream of visiting Angkor Wat! If I ever make it there I would want to book a stay at the Shinta Mani too.

  • WOW! This place looks absolutely beautiful! The architecture and design are so interesting. Thanks for sharing. It looks like you had a great time.

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