"There aren’t many hotel designers whose creations have genuinely made my face hurt from smiling. I first came across the work of Bangkok-based American Bill Bensley when I stayed at the Capella Ubud in Bali, a joyous feat of maximalist storytelling in the jungle. Shinta Mani Wild is an even deeper immersion into nature—specifically, the lush wilderness of southwestern Cambodia. To me, the most thrilling thing about the place isn’t that you arrive by army four-wheel-drive and then zip-wire over the forest canopy, your grins met with a Khmer G&T beside the rushing river. No, it’s the fact that Bensley bought an 865-acre swath of magical, orchid-rich rain forest between three national parks to protect it from logging, mining, and poaching. This meant I could properly enjoy one of the decadent, whimsically themed tents along the river, and the house-made herbal tonics in the thatched spa, against the happy background hum of the Raging Sister waterfall. I could thrill to the snappily dressed staff ushering me to take a river safari or eat wonderful foraged food in the main tent. Among scores of river- and forest-based adventures, the most fulfilling was joining an anti-poaching patrol team, whose sheer love for the minutiae of the jungle belied the AK-47s slung across their shoulders. Shinta Mani Wild is no airy piece of greenwashing. For all its grin-inducing whimsy, this is the real thing. Doubles from $920 (all-inclusive, minimum three nights). —Juliet Kinsman" - CNT Editors
