Go Green

In the spirit of Earth Day (April 22!), we’re showing off our favorite green hotels. “Green” is a tough concept to quantify, but only because there are so many ways for us to lessen our impact on the environment.

One thing is for sure: it takes more than just a half-flush toilet and a card telling you to re-use your towels. Serious green hotels take a more comprehensive approach to environmental protection — they build with renewable materials, they’re heated and cooled with efficient energy systems, they minimize waste, and they source their food locally. The entire travel industry is greening up its act, and we’re happy to see it — but we’d like to recognize these hotels in particular for leading the way, and for proving that environmental friendliness and extraordinary hotel experiences often go hand in hand.

SOLAGE CALISTOGA
Calistoga, California

Californians take the environment fairly seriously, and in Napa Valley this concern is paired with a passion for food, wine and the finer things. Solange’s rustic-chic bungalows are luxe, stylish and green as can be, from the reclaimed wood construction to the geo-thermal radiant heating.

URBN HOTEL SHANGAI
Shanghai, China

China’s not exactly known as a trend-setter on environmental issues, but URBN Shanghai leads by example. It’s built largely from salvaged brick and reclaimed hardwood, and an offset scheme combines with an energy-efficient operation to make it China’s first carbon-neutral hotel.

HOTELITO DESCONOCIDO
Cruz de Loreto-Tomatlan, Jalisco, Mexico

If you’re looking to make a small ecological footprint, it makes sense to book a small hotel. Hotelito Desconocido is so low-impact it’s barely there; just a handful of bungalows on a gorgeous stretch of Pacific coastline. It’s more than just a pretty beach — the estuary’s nature reserve is a habitat for a variety of protected wildlife.

LONGITUDE 131
Yulara, Ayers Rock, Australia

Within sight of Ayers Rock there’s a special reverence for the environment, and strict prohibitions against interfering with nature. This extraordinary resort has it both ways — though no luxury is spared, its footprint is nearly nonexistent, its buildings raised a foot off the ground so as not to disturb so much as an insect.

SONEVA FUSHI BY SIX SENSES
Baa Atoll, Maldives

This Maldives resort isn’t just a luxe island escape, it’s also a two-time Green Resort Award winner, no small feat when you consider how stiff the competition must have been — after all, this is a country where controlling carbon emissions is literally an existential issue.

THE ZETTER HOTEL
London, England

If you’re old enough to remember London having been called “the Smoke,” then Green London likely sounds like a contradiction in terms. The Zetter, however, shows how it’s done, with an energy-efficient design, plenty of free natural light, and a well that taps the once-forgotten London Aquifer for drinking water and natural cooling.

EL SILENCIO LODGE
Bajos del Toro, Costa Rica

Deep in the silence of the Costa Rican highland jungle, you’re about as close to nature as you’re ever going to get. At El Silencio it’s in good hands: your food was raised on-site, and your eco-concierge will help you invest in some carbon offsets, to atone for your air travel.

PROXIMITY HOTEL
Greensboro, North Carolina

Proximity’s many green measures are anything but an afterthought. This place was conceived from the ground up to be as low-impact and energy-efficient as it’s currently possible for a hotel to be, and has the LEED Platinum certification to prove it. It’s worth the trip to Greensboro solely to see, in person, the future of green hospitality.

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