From the Maldives to Bali to the Cayman Islands, Marc LeBlanc and Laura Robinson have lived and worked in places that the majority people dream of visiting.
They work within the hospitality industry — a journey that LeBlanc, who’s Canadian, began at 16 years old when he accepted a job as a dishwasher at a hotel. He worked his way as much as bellman, then to the reservations desk, before pursuing a level in hotel management.
Robinson, who’s British, studied marine biology and worked as a diving instructor before transitioning to hotel leadership.
The couple met while working within the Cayman Islands and have since lived and worked on several islands in Asia, including the small eastern Indonesian island of Sumba.
Now they reside in Shinta Mani Wild, a luxury resort tucked away in Cambodia’s Cardamom Mountains, where LeBlanc serves because the hotel’s general manager, and Robinson oversees operations and sustainability.
Robinson and LeBlanc, preparing to zipline greater than 1,000 feet across the Cambodia jungle into Shinta Mani Wild, the preferred approach to enter the resort.
Source: Laura Robinson
The couple regularly speak with hotel guests, a lot of whom “are super curious to learn about our story,” said LeBlanc.
For starters, working in places just like the Maldives — which is thought for its “one island, one resort” concept — is different from visiting it, he told CNBC Travel.
“You are locked on that island, surrounded by water,” LeBlanc said. “You are not likely going anywhere … you are form of stuck there for long periods of time.”
For workers, resort life centers on a staff village, where employees sleep, eat and do laundry — a situation LeBlanc likened to a summer camp.
“It becomes a bit of community of its own,” Robinson said. “You continue to have the identical challenges that having a big group of individuals living together can present. There are differences in personalities and opinions.”
Managing those differences is vital, she said, especially in places just like the Maldives, which has a multicultural workforce. That has been easier at Shinta Mani Wild, because “except a couple of of us, everyone seems to be Cambodian,” she said.
Many individuals think that working in hospitality is about ensuring guests are having an excellent time. But “you’ve got got 100 [employees] that you’ve to be sure are comfortable” too, she said.
Robinson said she and LeBlanc have fun staff birthdays and other events on the hotel. “Marc sometimes gets his decks out and DJs for them, which they adore,” she said.
While island life spells sun and fun for many travelers, saltwater creates maintenance issues for those working behind the scenes, Robinson said.
Robinson, pictured within the Cayman Islands, says her past work as a diving instructor prepared her to handle activities and experiences on the hotels that she and LeBlanc manage.
Source: Laura Robinson
Within the Cambodian forest, the environmental challenges are different. “Here you’ve got got the humidity and the forest attempting to reclaim itself,” she said.
Shinta Mani Wild has 15 guest tents, however the resort sits on land that “is the dimensions of Central Park,” and it requires a “very high level of attention to detail, by way of product and repair, but also the conservation work that we do,” LeBlanc said.
He said staff patrol the property, including a big farm on the land, while also maintaining the paths that run through it.
“It’s recent for us,” he said. “We’re learning.”
Removed from family
Life in among the world’s most coveted travel destinations has its perks, but LeBlanc and Robinson also contend with living removed from their families.
Once they lived within the Maldives, their parents visited them yearly, they usually returned home every other 12 months to see siblings, said Robinson.
Now the couple travel home yearly, she said. “My brother and sister began having kids … and our parents are getting older.”
The couple would not have children, so education — a giant consideration for a lot of expatriates — is not a problem. They recently adopted two dogs from the Cardamom Mountains forest, they said.
Working together for nearly 20 years
LeBlanc and Robinson discussed one other challenge: living and dealing in distant locations as a pair.
“Initially you do not know the way it will go,” said LeBlanc. But “we work quite well together.”
Hiring couples to administer hotels is sensible for distant destinations, said LeBlanc. “We have now one another,” he said.
Source: Laura Robinson
“We’re still doing it,” Robinson said with fun, adding that separate offices are key.
As the overall manager of Shinta Mani, LeBlanc oversees matters related to human resources, finance, security and engineering on the hotel, while Robinson handles more “front of house” matters, she said.
“[Laura is] highly organized, highly efficient, and I’m more on the creative side,” LeBlanc said.
Robinson said LeBlanc comes up with daring ideas and is expert at executing them. The couple spend time, even on personal holidays, brainstorming ideas — often finding inspiration from their travels, she said.
“There is not any shortage of places on the lookout for managing couples,” LeBlanc said. “There are recruitment firms that concentrate on hiring couples, not just for hotels, but additionally for personal islands, for ultra-high net price individuals. The job opportunities are on the market.”
In distant destinations, having a companion can ease loneliness too, said LeBlanc.
“It is sensible, we now have one another,” he said.
