Song Saa Private Island

Independent (founder-owned, Rory and Melita Hunter) · Koh Ouen and Koh Bong, Koh Rong Archipelago, Cambodia

Cambodia's only ultra-luxury private-island resort occupies two tiny islands, Koh Ouen and Koh Bong, joined by a wooden bridge over turquoise shallows — 'Song Saa' means 'the sweethearts' in Khmer, after the islands' local nicknames. The resort holds 24 villas built from reclaimed timber, driftwood, and local stone: jungle villas set into the rainforest canopy with private plunge pools, and overwater villas on stilts above the reef with direct steps into the sea. It was conceived from the start as a conservation project as much as a hotel — founder Melita Hunter established the Koh Ouen Marine Reserve, Cambodia's first protected marine area, in 2007, five years before the resort itself opened in 2012, and the couple's non-profit Song Saa Foundation now runs the largest island-based marine conservation program in the country. There is no real competitive set: this is the only property of its kind in Cambodia, and one of a handful of true private-island resorts anywhere in mainland Southeast Asia.