HOTEL REVIEW


Every nook and cranny was conceived


and built in-house, from the architectural masterplans to the interior design and creative curation. The only outsourced company were Belt Collins of Singapore, who undertook the landscape design. The villas themselves contain state-of-


the-art coffee machines, iPods and iPod stations with surroundsound speakers. For soft furnishings, Melita explains: “I have taken care to ensure all of the touch points, from the Stearns & Foster mattress, to the highest quality linen available, as well as all fixtures and fittings, are of the highest quality – never compromising on comfort.” For durability, furniture fabrics are top of the line – Sunbrella from Europe. “I have made a huge effort to use local and sustainable materials where I can,” explains Melita: “By buying and hauling old fishing boats that had been left to rot in the estuaries off the locals and hauling them out of the rivers, we were able to use them for beautiful panelled art, and environmentally we were able to stop the effects of the paint leaching into the rivers,” she adds. Protecting the marine life is at the heart of Song Saa – its marine conservation team has set up a 200m “no-take” zone around the archipelago to protect fish stocks.


Villas are clad simply in local traditional board and batten timber salvaged from around the archipelago. Their wooden floors are comprised of old recycled housing from Thailand and Cambodia, and when constructing the jungle villas, the sandstone cladding was dug out from the foundations. The pool tiles are local natural granite quarried from the mainland – each piece chipped by hand then placed in the pools. Melita’s unique organic style can be seen in the reclaimed driftwood used in feature columns, the bases of bathroom vanity units, outdoor pool showers and in the sculptures all around the island, stools, tables and picture frames. Old copper bowls are salvaged from the markets, recycled boats are used as timber wall features, and rusty oil drum bases have been converted into chandeliers. The gardens have huge orchid troughs and 100-year old Cambodian beds, adapted to include desks. Twisted jungle strangler vine accents some ceiling areas. “I have aimed to create many layers throughout all of my designs,” says Melita. “I hope that after the initial impact of walking into a space, that the person, no matter who they are, discovers further elements and details the more time they spend there.”


064 NOVEMBER / DECEMBER 2012 WWW.SLEEPERMAGAZINE.COM


ABOVE LEFT: The view from the pool sala towards two of the ‘Over-water’ villas which have glass panels in the floor through which guests can look down to the seabed ABOVE: All villas have their own private plunge pools


EXPRESS CHECKOUT


Song Saa Koh Rong Archipelago Sihanoukville, Cambodia Tel: +855 236 860360 www.songsaa.com


„ 27 villas ‰ Vista Restaurant & Bar  Driftwood Bar + Spa treatments available throughout


Co-owner / Developer: Rory Hunter Designer / Architect / Creative Director / Co-owner: Melita Hunter Landscape Design: Belt Collins


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