By:
• Phat Dane
• Meng Seavmey

• 5, September 2024 , 9:50 AM

SIEM REAP – Making tourists come for the temples but leave with the image of foods and people is a mission taken on by Memoire Palace Resort and Spa. Sustainable management and understanding personals are attractions of revisits. 

Different colors of buildings, known as villas within the resort, represent the color codes of Khmer tradition. General manager Set Sokun said the Khmer-French design shows the architecture of Khmer buildings during the 1960s—the time following the independence achievement. 

The decoration displays materials that were once popular in the 60s-80s, including the songs during the golden era which takes the guests back to the history time through the scent of Khmer herbs. 

One of uniqueness is its concept of color code, which is colorful. Outside the villas, the crab fat color—similar to yellow—is mostly used in weddings or celebration ceremony. Inside the rooms, the light green represents the greenery during rainy season while the dark green shows in dry season. 

“The country started growing rapidly in economy and architecture. So, we want to connect the resort’s vibe to that,” Sokun said. 

Located in more than one kilometer from Siem Reap city, Memoire values natural air flow, sun light, and sustainable use of materials. The design requires electricity for lights only at nights while the natural sunlight can bright up the building during the day time. 

Sokun said, “That is why Memoire is a resort, not a high-building hotel. The pool is surrounded by the villas, like how houses surrounded a river. The design prioritizes green spaces rather the quantity of rooms.”

“Walking within the resort is like travelling in a village. There are spaces between each villa, like how a house is distant from another in the village,” he added. 

The resort has kept its name as a green hotel since the beginning of establishment in late 2018. Sokun stressed that green hotels do not only focus on having trees or plants around, but it’s also about plastic reduction and recycling as well. 

It’s both eco-friendly and economical, he said. 

For water management, the resort, along with German Agency For International Cooperation (GIZ), studied the means to use water economically and sustainably. Both limited the water pressure to let water flow eight liters per ten seconds; otherwise, the characteristic won’t be a green hotel. 

The LED lights are not electricity-consuming, while the water management is limited at a specific momentum to keep the ‘green hotel’ status.  Sokun said, the resort is now looking for solar supplier, as the locations have been prepared. 

Refill bottles and amenity materials—which are made from coconut branches—can be recycled. 

Putting more efforts to earn guests’ impression and help local community

According to Sokun, all of these management tasks were difficult, particularly among guests because they used to refuse using those bottles as concerned about the hygiene. In response, the resort gets tested on the aspect once every three to six months to earn the certificates. 

Another uniqueness is the concept of making straws out of lemongrass. The process is expensive—three times greater than normal straws—and takes much effort to take care of. 

Sokun said the guests used to complain how it was hard for them to use, because each straw is made of two stems of lemongrass: a bigger stem is wrapped around a smaller one. However, the choice to use lemongrass straw benefits all stakeholders: guests, the resort, and local farmers. 

The lemongrass aroma leaking from the straw also adds a pleasant scent to the drinks, which is usually appreciated by foreign guests. The straws are more expensive than the plastic ones, but this helps local farmers to have a stable market for their lemongrass plantation, as the resort demands ten kilograms every day. 

“Although the resort expenses three times greater on the straws, we earn our guests’ impression and support when they learn the way we are contributing to helping environment and helping the community improve their lifestyle as well,” Sokun said.

He added that there was also a program for tourists to visit and have meals at a house in the community. The farmers grow vegetables organically for full year around to supply. They get supports for facility improvement if needed and distributions from the tourists.

The lemongrass left from making straws are not thrown away. The resort converts it into a tea, and anything they can to avoid wasting the remaining. 

“Every momentum is a memory” is the reason Memoire Palace was created, Sokun said. The services have a common mission, which is to make the guests happy. They might come to Cambodia for various reasons and is having an either stressful and joyful experience, but making them feel understood and leave with the image of foods and people is an excellent quality of a host. 

Hospitality is an attraction of revisit 

Sokun considers hospitality as a really difficult job because the staff have to serve and follow the guests. The task of Memoire to make people feel happy and welcomed regardless of the problems they are facing at the moment.  

Another perspective of Memoire is to give tourists the chance to come to the country with the image of temples but leave the country with the image of foods and people because it is an attraction for their revisiting.

“If the staff are not ready to serve the guests, they stay aside, because their mood will also affect the guests’ mood. When they are ready, they can come back to work again. Even if they try to smile and act friendly, their facial expression will not hide everything they feel. The guests will recognize it as well. That is why we are open for them to consult with us their personal problems,” he said. 

“This is our goal to make tourists think of Memoire when they think of Siem Reap and Cambodia, and vice versa,” he added. 

There are tourists, especially retired people, who come back to Siem Reap province twice to four times a year because they “fall in love with the local communities. They would visit villages whenever they come”.

“The resort allows the staff to take days off if they want to take tourists to the locals. In this sense, the staff can be the nurses taking care of them to somewhere they know that will great good impression among the tourists,” Sokun said.