Shinta Mani Angkor - Bensley Collection

Ask your Bensley Butler to arrange for a private chef to cook for you on the rooftop of your private villa. The fresh local seafood barbequed in front of you, the delectable Khmer salads and traditional desserts all make for a most memorable meal under the stars.

Guests are fast-tracked through Immigration on arrival at the airport and chauffeured to the property whereupon you are greeted in the impressive lobby area by a Bensley Butler bearing cold lemongrass-scented towels to combat the Cambodian heat, and a welcome drink. Guests are led past lush tropical foliage and over black and white pebbles that have been painstakingly arranged in geometric motifs redolent of designs found on ancient Khmer temples, and enter their private villa through traditional wooden doors. Each private villa has its own private 30ft pool, and outdoor seating area where breakfast and afternoon tea can be served. Up each villa’s external stairs, a private rooftop with a generously proportioned daybed awaits you.

Once inside the main bedroom area of your villa, guests may find themselves wondering where the room begins and the garden ends, thanks to a floor to ceiling window behind the bed. Another floor to ceiling glass sliding door opens out directly onto the swimming pool below. The opulent furnishings ooze class and glamour; though comfort has not been sacrificed for the sake of aesthetics – the beds and linen alone deserve their own fan club. Every time you walk through the garden corridor that links the bedroom to the dressing room and semi-outdoor shower and open-air bath, you walk past what seems like your own personal mini jungle; a perfect reminder that the terrain around you once was all jungle.

All guests have access to facilities at the two other Shinta Mani sister properties, so you will have a choice of restaurants and bars, including the excellent Kroya as well as a luxurious Spa. When it comes to day trips, your Bensley Butler can help to arrange excursions to nearby Tonle Sap Lake, visits to the Shina Mani Foundation villages or nearby farmland – Siem Reap has so much more to offer than just the Angkor Wat temple complex.