But here at Song Saa Private Island, our origin story is rather different. Our founder, Melita Koulmandas, fell in love with the island after glimpsing it from a boat and began working with local communities to restore it long before the hotel was built. Only once the island and marine began to recover was the resort thoughtfully woven into its natural fabric, with Melita leading both the architecture and interior design.
Today our work in the areas of land, water and people is led by the Song Saa Foundation and Song Saa Private Island is one of Cambodia’s most stylish sustainable escapes. Here, design isn’t just a matter of aesthetics but another way to express our regenerative ethos. We hope that our hotel can be a blueprint that inspires more mindful travel throughout Southeast Asia.
Every element of our resort’s infrastructure and architecture has been designed to tread lightly on the extraordinary island and marine ecosystems we call home. More than a sustainable design resort, our philosophy begins with a question: how can we give back more than we take?
From laundry to cleaning, luxury hospitality guzzles water which is why water-saving systems are embedded throughout the property. Our saltwater infinity pool reduces the need for fresh water, while greywater from villas is filtered and repurposed to nourish the island’s vegetation. We’ve carefully designed our buildings to optimise natural light and airflow, minimising energy use without sacrificing comfort.
The decks at our flagship restaurant, Vista, and our overwater villas rest on reefs that were so badly degraded they stood little hope of recovery. However, through the Song Saa Foundation’s coral monitoring and propagation programme, as well as the establishment of Cambodia's first Marine Protected Area around the hotel, the majority of our reefs are once again teeming with life.
Regenerative thinking constantly pushes us to improve what was once damaged. In this way, our role as an eco-conscious hotel in Cambodia becomes a continuous catalyst for healing: of land, water and ways of being.
Each of our 24 villas embodies a soulful luxury that’s earthy, elegant and deeply connected to place. Unlike many of Cambodia’s seaside resorts, our architecture was designed to blend seamlessly into the island's natural contours, while interiors reference village life. We wanted our resort to feel like an extension of the landscape and local community, not an intrusion.
As a sustainable design resort, we’ve constructed our villas almost entirely from reclaimed materials. Expect timber from abandoned warehouses, internal flooring from reused ironwood and even smaller details — mirrors, shelving, railings — that carry the marks of a former life.
As a design-led resort in Southeast Asia, we see ‘imperfections’ as tributes to the human hands and natural processes that have helped to shape our interiors. For us, the subtle irregularities in handwoven textiles and the shifting shadows through locally thatched eaves speak to a version of luxury that favours authenticity over mere opulence.
At Song Saa, each piece carries memory, texture and spirit. Our villas are galleries for Southeast Asia’s finest artisans, whom we consider to be both artists and guardians of intangible – and invaluable – cultural heritage. This is what defines us as an eco-friendly interior design hotel: not just our low impact but the human stories preserved within our aesthetic.
From the bats that emerge at night to the leggy mangrove forests growing in the shallows, our island is alive with quiet miracles. Saraan Sanctuaries by Song Saa, the open-air wellbeing centre at our sustainable design resort, gently invites you to remember the wild within you.
There are no synthetic scents or piped music. Instead, you’ll find open-air sanctuaries nestled beneath old-growth trees, where the scent of just picked lemongrass drifts on the breeze and the soundscape is alive with cicadas and distant waves. It’s here, barefoot and grounded, that many guests say they begin to exhale for the first time in years.
The concept is intentionally raw. Our outdoor gym is scattered throughout the jungle, which also conceals running trails. Changing rooms are salvaged fishing boats, their pastel-painted timber weathered by sea and sun (although hot and cold rain showers await within).
This is a version of eco-conscious travel in Cambodia where buildings breathe with the forest, therapies are based on the plants that are grown locally and Indigenous wisdom sits alongside modern science. We believe that healing happens more deeply when we align with nature. Our sustainable design resort doesn’t just offer wellness; it offers the wild as teacher and companion.
At Song Saa, sustainable design extends to what we wear. Our staff uniforms were created in partnership with Remade in Cambodia, a social enterprise that empowers Khmer designers and champions responsible fashion. The silhouettes are contemporary but rooted in traditional lines, using natural and upcycled fabrics. Every element down to the stitching was considered for comfort, durability, and cultural pride.
The conversation continues each year at our Recycled Fashion Show, where creativity meets climate consciousness. Staff work for months to turn waste into statement pieces that walk our jungle catwalk at sunset. Think oil drum skirts, palm-frond headpieces and gowns of woven fishing rope.
We created this island as both a refuge and reminder that eco-conscious travel in Cambodia should be both elegant and ethical. We know that design, when carried out with integrity, can reconnect us not just to place but also to purpose.
So if you’re dreaming of a stylish sustainable escape, consider this your invitation. Come curious and we hope you’ll leave with eyes prepared to reconsider what beauty really means.
We’re ready to welcome you home. Check our availability or speak with a member of our team to discuss which villa might suit you best.
