From forest hideaways to solar-powered stays, these hotels are at the forefront of sustainability
More than ever hotels are developing innovative ways to move tourism towards a more sustainable future. Eco-friendly hotels are cropping up globally and challenging travellers to be more thoughtful and responsible when choosing where to stay and how to spend their money.
These sustainable hotels are at the forefront of this movement — identifying ways to celebrate and respect nature, from ‘Economic Nutrition’ labelling and eco-sound agriculture to solar-powered stays and anti-poaching measures.
Shinta Mani WildShinta Mani Wild, Cambodia
Eco focus: rainforest protection
Architect and designer Bill Bensley’s acquisition of nearly a thousand acres of rainforest on the border of three national parks in Cambodia’s south west saved swathes of ancient hardwoods from logging and mining. The decadent forest hideaway he then created in 2018 works in tandem with the Wildlife Alliance, and has AK47-wielding anti- poaching rangers patrolling for traps, with almost 500 chainsaws seized since opening and just under 32 feet of poachers’ snares dismantled daily. Amid all this, Bensley’s characteristic maverick silliness unfolds: guests can arrive by a 1,300ft zipline over the Tmor Rung river canopy, should they fancy it. Dandy butlers in military-chic uniforms service 15 waterside tents filled with quirky objets d’art. Days are spent cruising the river on a pontoon, being magicked to jungly dreamscapes for picnics, splashing about in the freshwater swimming pool or fly fishing. Locals, many of them ex-poachers, built Shinta Mani Wild. Several of the staff were trained at the Shinta Mani Hospitality Foundation’s school, created by Sokoun Chanpreda of Hotel de la Paix in Siem Reap, which aims to raise up Cambodia from the wreckage of the Khmer Rouge. Juliet Kinsman
Hotel address: Prey Praseth Village, Ou Bak Rothed Commune, Kampong Seila District Preah Sihanouk Province, Cambodia
Price: tents from about £1,595 all-inclusive
Copyright 2021 AVABLU / Ryan ForbesPlaya Viva, Mexico
Eco focus: biophilic design
Six new bamboo treehouses have landed at this light-touch eco-lodge in Juluchuca on Mexico’s wild Pacific coast, close to major Aztec archaeological sites. Playa Viva offers total immersion through biophilic design, shielding guests from the elements while getting them viscerally close to nature. Enormous care has been taken to fuse the structures with the setting, using prefab bamboo panels and paraboloid roofs that slot into place with minimal disturbance to the ecosystem. “It is a rare privilege to spend time in a space free of whirring or buzzing,” says Louis Thompson, CEO of Nomadic Resorts, who designed the treehouses. “We underestimate the value of not hearing a single man-made sound. As the shelters project towards the sea, all you hear is the ocean – no distracting motorised noises.” The solar-powered rustic resort is totally off-grid, with soft lighting so as not to disturb nesting turtles on the protected beach. Juliet Kinsman
Hotel address: Juluchuca, Zihuatanejo, Playa Icacos, 40834 Gro., Mexico
Price: from £270 per person per night all-inclusive
Jeremy Austin @jeremyaustinThe Brando, French Polynesia
Eco focus: renewable cooling
A parallel universe awaits guests whisked by plane from Tahiti to this private island – one of bobbing palms, a forest spa in a suspended bird’s nest and a jungle-wreathed freshwater lake topped with lotus flowers. Bequeathed to owner Richard Bailey in Marlon Brando’s will, The Brando was a dream realised a decade after the actor’s death, the result of a long, impassioned conversation between the two friends about the future of tourism. With just 35 tree-fringed villas, it nudges the gold standard in renewable resort living and is beloved by extreme A-listers (Margot Robbie, Barack Obama and Ellen DeGeneres once bumped into each other in the gym). Clean-energy solutions abound: the refined 4,000-plus solar panels and a customised battery energy-saving system are a standout for French Polynesia. The Sea Water Air Conditioning set-up is a pioneering technology that slashes energy use by up to 90 per cent and has been adopted by other properties including InterContinental Bora Bora Resort. The cutting-edge bathymetry-based AC system funnels low temperatures from the deep ocean; cool comfort for infinity pools that require zero air-conditioning. Juliet Kinsman
Hotel address: Tetiaroa, Arue 98702, French Polynesia
Price: one-bedroom villas from about £3,130 all inclusive
Nathan Whittaker @manc_wandererHotel Brooklyn, Manchester
Eco focus: slick accessibility
It’s hard to miss the vintage yellow New York taxi parked outside this boutique hotel in Manchester, or the lobby that sort of resembles a Brooklyn brownstone street while bartenders flip Rickeys nearby. What you may not notice is that the whole place has been designed to be accessible across a spectrum of needs – wide lifts, level public spaces, a lowered reception desk, adjustable clothes rails and clear colour contrast throughout. The hotel group worked with Motionspot, specialists in this type of design (other clients include The Newt in Somerset, while a second Brooklyn has just opened in Leicester). Rather than the dutiful addition of a couple of bedrooms at the back, there are 18 Liberty suites dotted about – nine of them wheelchair accessible, with support rails, slip-resistant tiles, shower seats and lever taps, and two with overhead hoists tucked into the ceiling. Unsurprisingly, Brooklyn has Blue Badge and Catey awards on its lapel. This is what happens when accessible design is considered from the start, without compromising on style or fun. Rick Jordan
Read our full review of the Hotel Brooklyn, Manchester
Hotel address: 59 Portland St, Manchester M1 3HP
Price: doubles from £139
Shawn HeinrichsMisool Resort, Indonesia
Eco focus: biodiversity boosting
Few places can claim to have saved part of the most biodiverse place on Earth by implementing a conservation economy through sustainable tourism. But such is the case for this private island in Raja Ampat, thanks to co-founders Marit and Andrew Miners. Balinese-style bungalows made from reclaimed driftwood and local materials overlook the shores of a former shark-finning camp. Being here is about reef exploration, and the experience is meticulously curated for divers. Beneath the bungalows are turtles grazing on seagrass, vibrant schools of clownfish, giant clams and manta rays; more adventurous guests can snorkel by torchlight after dark. There are many sustainability wins, including hydroponic gardens, natural waste-water treatment, a solar farm, a vegetable co-op run by women and a recycling project – but what is most impressive is the 248 per cent increase in fish biomass since 2007. This was done by creating the 300,000-acre Misool Marine Reserve, patrolled 24 hours a day by workers, many of whom were once poachers. Jonny Bierman
Hotel address: Yellu, South Misool, Raja Ampat Regency, West Papua 98483, Indonesia
Price: seven nights from about £2,665 per person full board
Seamus PayneHotel Marcel, USA
Eco focus: passive house power
Two miles from the pseudo-gothic towers of Yale University, this long-empty 1970 Brutalist monolith by Bauhaus master Marcel Breuer has been reborn as a hotel. Connecticut architects Becker and Becker acquired the building from Ikea (it was previously owned by tyre giants Pirelli), ripped out asbestos and restored the distinctive gappy façade. NYC studio Dutch East Design turned offices and research labs into minimalist grey-and-caramel rooms and lobbies. Now the 165-room Hotel Marcel is under the Tapestry Collection by Hilton. Breuer’s pre-cast concrete design lends itself to centuries-old efficient heating and cooling methods, according to Dieter Cartwright of Dutch East. Solar panels and a clever Power over Ethernet lighting system provide energy, which is also conserved through electronic shade treatments and all-electric kitchens. Hotel Marcel is on track to qualify as the USA’s first net-zero hotel by May 2023, creating a crucial blueprint. Juliet Kinsman
Hotel address: 500 Sargent Dr, New Haven, CT 06511, United States
Price: doubles from about £155
Tom de Peyret courtesy Grupo HABITATerrestre Hotel, Mexico
Eco focus: solar smarts
This otherworldly brick-and-concrete Tetris is set in the scrub – surf, jungle and mountains softening its monolithic edges. It is pitch-perfect beach modernism for the 21st century from Grupo Habita, the Mexican hotel outfit that has eschewed faceless resorts for something new and sustainable. Terrestre is fully solar powered. Passive cooling and native planting invite birds and butterflies. There are 14 rooms in the main building and guests socialise in a large alfresco restaurant where chefs prepare plantain patties and herby salads. Punta Pájaros, a 40-minute drive from Puerto Escondido, was once the reserve of fishermen and surfers. Now digital entrepreneurs and Californian mini-breakers seek upmarket cultural stays, and Terrestre Hotel is part of the forward-facing new options. LB
Hotel address: Carretera Salina Cruz- Pinotepa, 71983 Puerto Escondido, Oax., Mexico
Price: doubles from about £300
Crookes & JacksonWilderness Vumbura Plains, Botswana
Eco focus: community support
Wilderness Safaris is a standard bearer for stylish Botswana adventures, and its rebuilt Vumbura Plains – a contemporary retreat that seems to float on the floodplain – shows its heart. Vumbura exemplifies Wilderness’s partnership with the Okavango Community Trust. Chef Ipeleng Gloria Gasimodimo, whose popular water-lily stew graces the menu, has been with the company for 38 years. Joining her are sisters, aunts, cousins and childhood friends who work together with a closeness palpable at the Monday boma, or campfire gathering. Locals intrinsically understand this vast microcosm of lagoons, swamps and floodplains, where crocodiles bask on sandy banks and hippos groove water channels. Ola Tale takes guests out in a makoro, propelling the canoe with a long wooden pole. As a child, he and his family would pole to Maun – now a 45-minute light-aircraft flight – for supplies. It took three weeks, so they carried fishing nets and slept on small islands at night, lighting fires to ward off hippos and elephants. LB
Hotel address: 2VCV+5CG, Lechomos, Botswana
Price: from about £1,375 per person per night all-inclusive
Greg FunnellAsilia Usangu Expedition Camp, Tanzania
Eco focus: water conservation
Now part of the Ruaha National Park, this wetland area has long been a source of hunting trophies, but it also feeds into river systems throughout Tanzania. As a result of the expansion of large rice farms nearby, vast interconnected rivers have started to dry up, affecting people and wildlife. The new Asilia camp – with four simple tents, showers and camp-style fireside food – is at the heart of a project intended not only to protect this key resource and bring jobs, healthcare and education to the community through tourism, but to encourage guests to play a key role in citizen-science projects. Activities include setting camera traps, helping scientists collar lions and wild dogs and taking plaster casts of animal footprints. With 2,300 square miles of protected wilderness, there’s a great variety of landscapes to enjoy: on game drives, walks, boat safaris or looking out from tents on private camping excursions. Lisa Grainger
Hotel address: Ruaha National Park, Iringa Tanzania
Price: from about £775 per person per night full board (minimum stay three nights)
Tahi, North Island, New Zealand
Eco focus: bee-promoting
This three-villa eco-retreat on a Pacific-set eco reserve two and a half hours north of Auckland is all about the birds and the bees. Two-bedroom villa Hiwi overlooks the Pacific, four-bedroom bungalow Mara is hugged by sub-tropical gardens, and cosy two-bedroom Tara is set back from Pataua Beach. Guests immerse themselves in wild walks on the beaches and dunes, in the forests and along the estuaries. Tahi’s creator Suzan Craig is the daughter of New Zealand conservation expert John Craig, and the credentials of her beekeeping ancestors (behind the eponymous honey brand) hark back to 1888. Craig bought Tahi as a remote, depleted cattle farm in 2004, and set about rewilding the land. She recognises that the health of bees, the most precious of pollinators, depends on us caring more for flora and fauna throughout the ecosystem. Thus native vegetation such as carbon-sucking puriri and nectar-serving mānuka trees are a golden lure to bees and other species, too. The family has planted almost half a million indigenous trees on their 800 acres of forest, wetlands, decarbonising mangroves and dunes.Thanks to Tahi, this landscape’s future is sweeter. Juliet Kinsman
Hotel address: 1824 Pataua North Road, RD5, Whangārei 0175, New Zealand
Price: Four-bedroom villas from £130 per night
Even TryggstrandHolmen Lofoten, Norway
Eco focus: minimal foodprint
This remote clutch of centuries-old rorbuer cabins, built to shelter migrant fishermen on the Lofoten Islands, has expanded gently to include contemporary eco-friendly suites. But even with 26 guests in residence at full tilt, Lofoten remains close-knit, hyperlocal, wild and rugged – in its Arctic Circle landscape, its spirit and its menus. Valentine Warner helms the outstanding visiting-chef programme and curates the Kitchen On The Edge Of The World long weekends, when general bookings at Holmen are suspended and everything falls sway to the sacred experience of eating that’s attuned to the landscape. He was lured north by owner Ingunn Rasmussen, who fell in love with his TV show Valentine Warner Eats Scandinavia. “It’s a great privilege being so close to the production of every morsel of food you eat,” says the British chef, brandishing a langoustine he’s caught himself. “It’s wonderfully visceral seeing the cooks bring in shellfish or a giant carcass to the open kitchen.” Exclusive, immersive experiences are the mainstay and include foraging and fishing with foodie names such as Mark Hix and Rick Stein. “When you go somewhere as remote as Lofoten,” says Warner, “you get a stronger sense of what flavour really means.” Juliet Kinsman
Hotel address: E10 3180, 8392 Sørvågen, Norway
Price: three nights from about £1,480 per person half boardChisa Busanga Camp, Zambia
Eco focus: the low-impact safari
The Kafue National Park is the second biggest on the continent: the size of Wales. Flying from the capital, Lusaka, onto the tiny airstrip at Busanga Plains, there’s nothing below to see but wilderness: hundreds of miles of water-logged swamps, pockets of miombo forests and, when floodwaters recede, a golden sea of grassland teeming with birdlife (almost 500 species), 26 species of antelope and big cats that feed on them. Birds (“chisa” in the local Nyanga language) were the inspiration for Green Safaris’ four oval, nest-like rooms, constructed from woven branches and fronted with oval netted openings from which to survey the wilderness below. Everything about the camp is green: its power (solar), its water (pumped from the ground, filtered and bottled), its fruit and veg (grown on local farms), its safari vehicles (electric and silent) and even the tented living-room (floored with sand from the local river). Through the Green Safaris Foundation, funding is diverted into lion conservation, education and vegetable-growing projects – and training camp staff, all from remote villages, who clearly love their jobs. Lisa Grainger
Hotel address: 3km off of Hook Bridge Kafue National Park, Mumbwa, Zambia
Price: from £646 per person per night
Forestis, Dolomites, Italy
Eco focus: net zero hero
Ensconced in spruce, mountain pine and lark, this 62-suite South Tyrolean sanctuary basks on the sun-blessed southern side of the Plose mountain. A sexy carbon-preserver with emissions as pared-down as its look and feel, Forestis occupies the site of an old tuberculosis sanatorium built by the Austrian monarch and once owned by the Vatican. Minimalist surrounds pay homage to soul-stirring views of the Geislergruppe massif and the invitation is to destress – whether that’s in the outdoor pool or Finnish-style spa in the woods, or by dipping into an arsenal of activities, from show-shoeing and hiking to skiing and guided forest bathing. Co-owners Teresa Unterthiner and Stefan Hinteregger share a 360-degree eco-friendly perspective, with two seedlings planted for every tree logged, and local architect Armin Sader ticked off carbon-neutral status for the build using wood and stone from the surroundings. The owners plant a tree for every day the ‘No Housekeeping’ button is activated. Eating well from hyper-local or foraged supplies means a revolving tasting menu of ‘forest cuisine’ by Roland Lamprecht – Tyrolean wild herb salads, pickled brook trout and pearl barley risotto with mountain artichoke. Juliet KinsmanHotel address: Palmschoß 22, 39042 Bressanone BZ, Italy
Price: from about £620 half board
Alex FradkinFogo Island Inn, Newfoundland, Canada
Eco focus: economic transparency
Stilted onto rocky and jagged topography with unbroken North Atlantic views, the 29-suite Fogo Island Inn was built to protect Newfoundland’s future as a settlement. But its most radical creation could be the ‘Economic Nutrition’ label it sports. Just as food-labelling displays calorie breakdowns, economic labelling shows guests exactly where their money goes, whether that’s to wages, supplies, or profit. Fogo’s creator is visionary social entrepreneur Zita Cobb, the daughter of an inshore fisherman who wears her Order of Canada lightly. This is an entirely social enterprise, with profits driven back into the island and its projects, which started with the Fogo Island Arts charity, supporting environmental, ocean and cultural conservation. Every detail of the Inn celebrates these coordinates with pride: the V&A Museum-endorsed wooden furniture made by pivoted boatbuilders; the locale-illustrating artist-made wallpapers; the award-laden foraged, hyper-seasonal restaurant. Cobb’s vision prizes people beyond real estate and builds a new model of hospitality designed to make older paradigms obsolete. Juliet KinsmanHotel address: 210 Main Road, Joe Batt's Arm, NL A0G 2X0, Canada
Price: Suites from £1,629 per night, full boardTahi, North Island, New Zealand
Eco focus: bee-promoting
This three-villa eco-retreat on a Pacific-set eco reserve two and a half hours north of Auckland is all about the birds and the bees. Two-bedroom villa Hiwi overlooks the Pacific, four-bedroom bungalow Mara is hugged by sub-tropical gardens, and cosy two-bedroom Tara is set back from Pataua Beach. Guests immerse themselves in wild walks on the beaches and dunes, in the forests and along the estuaries. Tahi’s creator Suzan Craig is the daughter of New Zealand conservation expert John Craig, and the credentials of her beekeeping ancestors (behind the eponymous honey brand) hark back to 1888. Craig bought Tahi as a remote, depleted cattle farm in 2004, and set about rewilding the land. She recognises that the health of bees, the most precious of pollinators, depends on us caring more for flora and fauna throughout the ecosystem. Thus native vegetation such as carbon-sucking puriri and nectar-serving mānuka trees are a golden lure to bees and other species, too. The family has planted almost half a million indigenous trees on their 800 acres of forest, wetlands, decarbonising mangroves and dunes. Thanks to Tahi, this landscape’s future is sweeter. Juliet Kinsman
Hotel address: 1824 Pataua North Road, RD5, Whangārei 0175, New Zealand
Price: Four-bedroom villas from £130 per night
@valentinasommarivaOasyhotel, Italy
Eco focus: not-for-profit rewilding
La caccia – the hunting of red stag, roe deer and wild boar – is as woven into Tuscan culture as truffle-snuffling pigs. But amid the old hunting ground of the Pistoia Apennines, a small miracle has taken root. Oasyhotel is a 16-lodge concept for the WWF-affiliated Dynamo Oasis, a 1,000-hectare parcel of the San Marcello Piteglio nature reserve. Sustainable wood was repurposed to create handsome, minimalist retreats with large verandas and picture-book windows with views of chestnut, beech and fir forests. The hotel is part of a wider project that rolls in eco-sound agriculture, breeding programmes and scientific research. Wolves, deer and wild boar have returned, woodpeckers sing and golden eagles swoop. Days are spent exploring peaks, meadows, lakes and rivers, with activities including hiking and biking, wolf tracking and foraging, lake swimming and kayaking. Yoga, guided meditation and saunas are laid on by the lakeside. The bounty of the reserve’s farm can be tasted at Le Felci farmhouse restaurant or alfresco Casa Luigi, where guests gather to salute the Tuscany of the future over organic wines. Lydia Bell
Hotel address: Via Privata San Vito, 1, 51020 San Marcello Piteglio PT, Italy
Price: lodges from about £470Kasiiya Papagayo, Costa Rica
Eco focus: biodiversity-boosting
The footprints on the beach are yours, next to the paw prints of a racoon and the markings of the Olive Ridley turtle. The creators of Kasiiya understand that privilege now is not about fulsome amenities, such as those that define the raked and gated resorts sparkling on the far side of Papagayo Bay. This new sanctuary of nine taupe canvas-roofed lodges in 123 acres is a pioneer, a throwback to simplicity in one of Central America’s remaining pockets of dry tropical forest, where primordial acacia thorn trees and tall jaragua grasses form an eternal landscape that feeds into a sense of time immemorial. There are no schedules, and no minibars, coffee pods, music stations, pools or hairdryers. But there is space: three deserted sandy bays, and attention from a dedicated wildlife guide. Boatmen, fishermen and “movement and mind” teachers open doors to different physical and spiritual spheres. Yamuma, the healer, will devote hours to shining your aura in his retreat across a rope bridge. In the Sunset restaurant, you can soak up the spirit with a Crudo e Fuego – raw or flamed-cooked – menu. This 360-degree vantage point is high above the ocean and offers up breaching whales and the watery curvature of the globe. Catherine Fairweather
Hotel address: 7 km west of Diamante Eco Adventure Park Matapalo, Provincia de Guanacaste, Papagayo, Costa Rica
Price: from £586 per night all-inclusive
Vegan Hotels Saorsa 1875
Eco focus: vegan values
Referencing the Gaelic word for ‘freedom’ and the year this 19th-century Pitlochry pitstop was built, Saorsa 1875 is an 11-room hotel in the Cairngorms National Park and is Britain’s vegan first. Sandra McLaren-Stewart, an interior designer, and son Jack, a food lover with a bar-scene background, ensure there is no trace of animal products on the refined five-course tasting menu (overseen by former Noma chef Deborah Fleck, it includes beautifully plated dishes designed to seduce the ‘plant-curious’, too, such as black garlic and mushroom agnolotti) or the furnishings (that means fair-trade textiles and duvets with fluffy recycled-PET plastic fabrics and paints without whey or egg whites). ‘We were always vegetarians,’ says Jack. “And our frustration as people who loved to travel was that luxury and animal products seemed synonymous. We knew there must be a better way.’ Thus food comes from a Glasgow food cooperative with a human-rights-focused approach, and only alcohol filtered in a vegan way (e.g., not through fish guts), is allowed through the front door. Crucially, the McLaren-Stewarts have created country-house energy that is anything but finger-waggy or ‘eat your vegetables’. Juliet KinsmanHotel address: 2 E Moulin Rd, Pitlochry PH16 5DW
Price: double rooms from £140, including breakfastHotel Marcel, Connecticut, United States
Eco focus: passive house power
Two miles from the imposing pseudo-gothic towers of Yale, this long-time vacant 1970 Brutalist monolith by Bauhaus master Marcel Breuer is reborn as Hotel Marcel. Connecticut architects Becker+Becker acquired the building from IKEA (previously owned by tire giants Pirelli), ripped out asbestos and restored the distinctive facade with its gaping void. Brooklyn studio Dutch East Design turned offices and research labs into minimalist concrete-grey-and-caramel rooms and lobbies. Now Marcel is under the Tapestry Collection by Hilton Hotels, a 165-room Passive House-certified hotel. ‘The beauty of Breuer’s pre-cast concrete is that it lends itself to the triple-glazing system and thermal insulation required for a Passivhaus system based on centuries-old efficient heating and cooling building methods,’ explains Dieter Cartright of Dutch East Design. Solar panelling, a cunning Power over Ethernet (PoE) lighting system and voltaic-cabling technology, provide energy – and it’s also conserved, with electronic shade treatments, all-electric kitchens and other eco-ploys. Hotel Marcel is on track to qualify as America’s first net-zero hotel by May 2023, creating a crucial blueprint. This leaves guests to explore the up-and-coming seaport of New Haven, itself deftly transitioning from industrial decay to lively vibrancy. Juliet Kinsman
Hotel address: 500 Sargent Dr, New Haven, CT 06511, United States
Price: doubles from about £156 a night, including taxes