TEDDY BEAR CARE

Pssst…wanna sponsor a cute cuddly teddy bear?  If so, you don’t have to head down to the woods tonight – instead head over to Le Meridien Angkor hotel’s in-house boutique armed with $15, and a bear is ready to be given to a sick kid to have and to hold.

It’s part of the Meridian’s annual Teddy Bear campaign to raise money for Kantha Bopha Foundation's Jayavarman VII Children's Hospital founded by the cuddly bear-like Dr Beat Richner.

Hotel guests and locals can buy the cute teddy bear soft toys and have their best wishes handwritten on notes to the children. The hotel contributes profit from sales to the hospital and the bears are given to the children.

The Kantha Bopha has been the hotel’s adopted charity since 2006 and, as the hotel reminds all,“The Foundation relies almost 100 per cent on donations to fund its medical services and provides free health care for Cambodian children and literally saves the lives of tens of thousands of children every year suffering from tuberculosis and other curable diseases. 

Annually the Foundation run by Dr Beat Richner serves 100,000 vaccinations and 600,000 visits by sick children.”

NEW SUITE OF BOUTIQUE HOTELS

A new collection of 33 luxury boutique hotels situated throughout Asia was launched to the press and trade during two receptions, one in Paris and the other in London.The collection, called Secret Retreats, lists one Cambodia hotel – Siem Reap’s The Samar Villas and Spa, which is also home to the high-profile Le Fou-Nan garden restaurant.

Secret Retreats is apparently the brainchild of three men who, according to the slightly clumsily-worded press release, are, “Experts in the travel and hospitality sectors, who fell in love with Asia a long time ago.

“Based in Bangkok, Kuala Lumpur and Singapore, Frenchmen Bruno Ferret (executive director),  Stéphane Junca (managing director), and Italian-born Federico Asaro (executive director) have at heart to learn about the cultures around them as well as deliver service excellence.”

KATHMANDU CALLING

One of the unheralded new direct flight destinations out of Siem Reap is Kathmandu, courtesy of BB Airways which began the charter service on September 13.The Himalayan News Service reported that BB Airways is a new Nepali international carrier which kicked off its operations with the Siem Reap flights.

The chairman of BB Airways, Bhaban Bhatta, told the news service, “We are a full-fledged carrier and have to compete with budget airlines in providing the most competitive air fares to our valued passengers.”

Bhaban Bhatta, the chairman, is a non-resident Nepali with Japanese business interests, and he owns the airline.  He is also chairman of the TBI  (Total Business Institute) Group of Japan, which has interests in brewery, media, education, and apparel,  among other things.

Early in October, BB Airways said it appointed singer and philanthropist Ani Choying Dolma and Miss Nepal 2012, Shristi Shrestha, as its ‘brand ambassadors’.The airline said the concept was to bring beauty and Buddha together.

"Dolma is an icon of Buddhism in modern Nepal and Shrestha represents beauty of Nepal," said Shishir Bhatta, managing director of BB Airways.