Luxury Travel: Find A Green Hotel

“The future of tourism is green,” President Mohamed Nasheed of the Maldives has said. Perhaps that does not come as a surprise – his nation has 1,190 coral islands. “People will always want their luxuries and creature comforts but, I think, increasingly they also want to holiday in places that respect and look after nature rather than destroy it.”

With this attitude in mind, there are now countless Asian properties with excellent environmental credentials. Go green at these excellent boutique properties and holiday guilt-free. Below we have identified some of our favourite green hotels.

Six Senses Laamu

Six Senses Laamu, which is located on picturesque and privately owned Olhuveli Island on the Laamu Atoll, is committed to its parent group’s global environmental programme. The latest energy efficient LED lighting is fitted, and no rainforest timber was used, in the 97 rustic but chic beach and over-water villas, which also feature plush beds, outdoor rain showers and bicycles for exploring the jungle-covered isle. The Chill Bar boasts alluring waterfront hammocks and the Maldives’ only resident mixologist, who blends fresh fruits and herbs from the resort’s organic garden in cocktails like the Rosemary Smoked Red Snapper.

www.sixsenses.com/sixsenseslaamu

Don’t miss: breakfast at Longitude for dolphin spotting over homemade bread and exotic fruit jam.

Alila Villas Soori


 

To maintain stringently high standards in water conservation, reducing energy consumption and preservation of the natural environment, Alila Hotels employs a dedicated environmental officer who oversees every aspect of properties in the Singapore-based group’s stable, including Alila Villas Soori on the southwest coast of Bali. “It is part of the DNA of Alila Hotels to be environmentally sensitive,” CEO Mark Edleson has said.

Singaporean architect Chan Soo Khian achieved hotel-industry watchdog EC3 Global EarthCheck’s “Best Building, Planning and Design” certification for Alila Villas Soori’s 48 beachfront accommodations. Chan locally sourced paras Kelating (a type of sandstone) and the volcanic batu candi lava stone, minimised CO2 levels by designing cross ventilation in all rooms, and incorporated roof insulation in his design. Electric buggies whisk guests between villas and the atmospheric Spa Alila.

www.alilahotels.com/soori

Don’t miss: watching local kids’ jaws drop as you whiz through villages on Alila Villas Soori’s Segways.?

URBN Shanghai

Shanghai’s Nanjing Road screams conspicuous consumption. Just a few steps away, a 1970s’ post office-turned-hotel offers hope for a green revolution in China. URBN Shanghai is an entirely carbon neutral property – a first for the city and the nation, which is the planet’s fastest growing emitter of greenhouse gases.

The boutique hotel offsets energy use – right down to staff commutes and food deliveries – by investing in United Nations-monitored emission-reduction programmes. Guests can purchase carbon credits as easily as ordering room service inside 26 functional and neutral-hued guestrooms featuring recycled mahogany floors covered in hemp rugs. Vintage suitcases have been recycled as artwork decorating a lobby wall made from grey bricks rescued from demolished buildings.

www.urbnhotels.com

Don’t miss: the all-recycled interior of the Downstairs with David Laris restaurant, named for the Australian-born but Shanghai-based celebrity chef. The eatery serves 80 per cent organic and farm-fresh cuisine.

See our top picks of wilderness tours for the discerning eco-traveller.

Thanyamundra Organic Resort

Nestled among palm trees below the karst limestone hills of Khao Sok National Park just two hours north of Phuket, this nine-room private home turned organic retreat nestles alongside a 12-hectare farm. It is the only farm in southern Thailand approved by the International Organic Accreditation Service. Guestrooms are decorated with Thai silk furnishings and antiques. The resort’s butlers were trained at some of Phuket’s finest resorts, and the spa looks out over one of planet’s oldest rainforests.

Charismatic gardener Pierre Larigaldie oversees the morning farm tour, during which you can reach down and grab handfuls of arugula as the loquacious Frenchman points to rows of aromatic Thai and Italian basil, dill, coriander and chillies running parallel to white and purple eggplants, red snake beans, winged peas, bitter gourd and morning glory. Avocadoes, papaya, passion fruit, mango and a variety of banana trees grow nearby. The resort’s show kitchen is the place for a relaxed Thai cooking class over a glass of biodynamic wine.

www.thanyamundra.com

Don’t miss: a guided jungle trek in search of lar gibbons, long-tailed macaques, Malay sun bears, tapirs, monitor lizards and the endangered clouded leopard.

The Banjaran Hotsprings Retreat

Fifteen minutes outside the Malaysian city of Ipoh and a two-hour drive from Kuala Lumpur, this under-the-radar, 25-villa holistic spa resort takes full advantage of its perch on a jungle’s edge. Instead of warming up for a traditional Malay urut massage in a steam room, head into the natural steam cave on this lushly forested property that is designed to blend with its surrounding. Then dip into the resort’s geothermal pool. The same naturally occurring source provides water for villa Jacuzzis.

Villas take advantage of natural shade and layouts maximise ventilation so that even the most air conditioner-addicted traveller will find ceiling fans sufficiently cooling. Outdoor areas are lit by solar power and staff ride bicycles to reduce fuel consumption.

www.thebanjaran.com

Don’t miss: the Banjaran’s bespoke spa products are 100 per cent carbon free and produced from local plants.

See our list of private island resorts to consider for your next getaway.

Song Saa Private Island

With 27 over-water, rainforest and beach villas, Song Saa is the first private island getaway in Cambodia. This sexy haven is located on the Koh Rong archipelago off the country’s southwest coast, and its mission is to revive the surrounding marine ecosystem that has been damaged by decades of neglect, dynamite fishing and excessive harvesting. The owners have established a 10 million square foot marine reserve – Cambodia’s first. It extends from reefs that surround the two islands of Song Saa. This no-take zone is being managed to international standards for marine protected areas, and Song Saa’s expatriate marine biologist teaches sustainable fishing methods to fishermen in the nearby villages. The initiative aims to protect underwater assets like the area’s sea-grass meadows that are vital to dugong, green turtles and seahorses.

www.songsaa.com

Don’t miss: playing castaway among the 20 deserted islands that are easily accessible via the hotel’s swanky flotilla.