Our MissionEthical - Creative - Sustainable
It's not just green washing
We maintain an authentic commitment to our team, to their families, to positively contributing to the Cambodian economy. By staying with us, you do that too.
Ethical - Sustainable - Creative
We are a social enterprise focused on responsible travel. Our profits drive projects that directly benefit our staff. Our philosophy is people, planet, profit. Yet we go further than that and as such we have developed a tagline that underpins everything from our guests, community, supply chain, the way we develop services and the way in which we interact with our valued staff – we are ethical, sustainable and creative.
Equitable Employment
We take pride in our responsibility to provide the Baby Elephant team excellent employment, education and professional development opportunities. Our staff are on competitive salaries, are provided nutritious meals at work, are entitled to fair work hours, are given fair vacation time and are on savings plans. We also offer bonuses and incentive programs, as well as add a percentage on to their tips each month.
Ethical employment is the key to development in Cambodia. By supporting and staying with us, you are directly contributing to empowering Cambodians to overcome poverty and become hospitality leaders.
Sustainable Environment
As an eco hotel, we have a zero single-use plastic policy. We teach our staff how to care about the environment and the future of our planet. Our initiatives include:
- regular cleanup days
- refillable glass water bottles in all rooms and refill stations throughout the hotel
- towels and linen policies
- recycling program
- organic kitchen garden
- organic spa
- organic room amenities
- compost and food waste managed
- LED lights throughout the hotel for better energy efficiency
- bicycles available for free use clean environmentally-friendly travel
- focus on vegan and vegetarian meals
- focus on locally-sourced ingredients
- training for our staff about the environment and minimising our impact on it
- mosquitoes managed with eco-friendly CO2 traps
Supporting Artists
Everywhere you look at Baby Elephant you will see something creative. We engage local and locally-based artists and artisans in projects. Everything from our bed runners and soft furnishings, to our gardens, to our murals, to artwork in rooms, and the gifts that you can purchase in our mini-shop, directly supports an artist or artist run initiative in Siem Reap. We pass these things on to our guests through our mini-shop and through our relationships with local galleries and artisanships.
What you can do when you visit in Siem Reap
Your visit and engagement at Baby Elephant provides our staff with skills development and allows us to continue to provide 25 ethical jobs. Consider doing a community visit with a responsible tour company, or organise your own with the experienced team at Baby Elephant Boutique Hotel. We also recommend checking out ChildSafe Cambodia, one organisation working with tourism businesses to educate them about not just orphanage tourism but also the sexual exploitation of children for tourism. They are a subsidiary of Friends International, who run a variety of fantastic social enterprise organisations in Siem Reap.
Responsible tourism and orphanage policy
We are passionate about responsible tourism and as such we do not promote orphanage visits. We believe the best way for tourists and travellers to support vulnerable children and their families is to support vocational training and community-based initiatives, rather than visiting an orphanage directly. At the heart of our belief is prioritizing the protection of children and keeping families together.
Please read more at http://www.thinkchildsafe.org/thinkbeforedonating/
Sex tourism policy
We do not accept sex tourism. We have a complete ban on prostitution, escorts and outside massage therapists within the hotel.
We take our responsibility in this respect very seriously. More than one third of the people connected with sex tourism in Cambodia are under 18 and are victims of abuse and trafficking. The Baby Elephant team is ChildSafe Certified and very clear about this rule.