Eco-chic Cambodian resort balances luxury and social responsibility

Rory Hunter knew he had stumbled upon something special when he and his wife Melita landed on the shores of the remote and untouched islands of the Koh Rong archipelago a few kilometres off mainland Cambodia. It was 2005 and the Australian couple had moved to Cambodia to start a 12-month adventure. They ended up staying 10 years - and they bought an island.

"I was working for Saatchi & Saatchi and accepted a transfer to Cambodia to spend a year setting up an office there before going to New York. My wife and I thought it would be a fun adventure, and we were in our 20s," says Rory, who is now based in Hong Kong.

"As an entrepreneur I saw opportunity everywhere. It's a new country awakening from a troubled past. The Cambodian people were ready to get on with life: the government made some key changes to the constitution so there would be more political stability and the economy was growing. There was an air of 'anything is possible'."

With that in mind the Hunters went on to found award-winning Song Saa Private Island Resort. Opened in 2011, it was the country's first island resort. But it was no ordinary resort. Hunter wanted the highest levels of conservation and community development so he made it his mission to follow the mantra "luxury that treads lightly" - the protection of the environment and the support of local communities is central to Song Saa's ethical charter.

"Song Saa evolved naturally. We found the island by accident. We heard through a friend's dad about these beautiful untouched islands in Cambodia, so we went exploring. We packed two weeks' worth of supplies and headed off with the help of a fisherman and his boat. Each day we visited a different beach and couldn't believe how beautiful it was. We had it all to ourselves. There wasn't one other tourist there, nor any tourist infrastructure. No bungalows, restaurants … and we had the time of our lives. On our last day, we stopped by this little village and got chatting with the family who owned the island and as it turned out, they wanted to move back to the mainland. They asked if we wanted to buy the island. It was such a ridiculously low price of US$15,000 that we agreed to the offer on the spot. The situation was odd because we weren't sure about the legalities of owning an island in Cambodia. The legal tenure didn't exist back then. And also, what would we do with the place?"