1. BORANA RANCH
Samangua Valley, Laikipia, Kenya
Tel: (+254) 20 2115 453
www.borana.co.ke
Visitors to Borana (pictured above) can enjoy magnificent views of Mount Kenya and horseback safaris with an easy conscience. This exclusive retreat’s eight luxurious cottages are furnished with huge open fireplaces and scenic verandas, and located on a 13,000-hectare working cattle ranch that underwent a conversion to wildlife conservation and ecotourism in the early 1990s. Careful wildlife management has nurtured abundant herds of elephants and giraffe while its owners, the Dyers, use clients’ money to support local community initiatives. These include classroom building, a mobile clinic, as well as irrigation and reforestation projects. Borana was awarded Virgin Holiday’s Responsible Tourism Award for Poverty Reduction in 2007.
2. CHAA CREEK
Macal River, Belize
Tel: (+501) 824 2037
Fax: (+501) 824 2501
www.chaacreek.com
Chaa Creek was one of the pioneering eco-resorts back in the early 1980s and continues to collect eco-awards. It is set in a 147-hectare nature reserve in Belize’s Maya Mountains and guests awake to the roars of black howler monkeys outside palm-thatched cottages. Solar panels provide power, photovoltaic switches save energy, air-conditioning is environmentally friendly and cleaning products are biodegradable. Chaa Creek has already bagged a prestigious Green Globe certification. The resort provides miles of forest trails for the adventurous to explore that weave past Mayan temples and provide opportunities for biking and bird-watching.
3. DAINTREE ECOLODGE & SPA
Daintree, Queensland, Australia
Tel: (+61) 7 4098 6100
Fax: (+61) 7 4098 6200
www.daintree-ecolodge.com.au
A nature spa retreat of 15 hideaway villas set in northern Queensland’s 100 million-year-old rainforest that sets high environmental standards in energy and waste management. The rustic lodges are cocooned by the natural hubbub of Daintree Rainforest, waterfalls and extravagantly coloured butterflies. The award-winning eco-lodge pays dutiful respect to local aboriginal culture with the lodge interiors adorned by works of art while aboriginal guides lead rainforest walks to explain the surrounding biodiversity. Its wellness spa draws upon aboriginal inspired massages to pamper guests.
4. THE FARM
Batangas, The Philippines
Tel: (+63) 2884 8073
Fax: (+63) 2889 1150
www.thefarm.com.ph
This is a luxurious wellness and health resort set amid 48 hectares of coconut palm forest, lagoons and gardens, on southern Luzon Island. The Farm’s five-star villas and suites are based upon traditional Philippine designs of rice barns and leaf-roofed houses. Its holistic philosophy of wellness through detoxifying the body is backed by locally reared produce. Its own organic garden produces much of the exquisitely prepared vegan food on offer at its Alive! restaurant, while its modern Salus Per Aqua Spa utilises locally harvested coconut milk, oil and cocoa for its treatments. The Farm also employs and trains a significant proportion of local staff.
5. HUAORONI LODGE
Quehueri’ono, Ecuador
Tel: (+593) 2222 5907
Fax: (+593) 2256 0756
www.huaorani.com
This eco-lodge is the place to go native and is a bulwark against the diminishing lifestyle of an indigenous people. Deep in the Ecuadorian Amazon on the banks of the River Shiripuno, Huaorani Lodge consists of a collection of solar-powered thatched cabins built from sustainable harvested timber. Guests can take dugout canoe trips on Amazonian tributaries and even masterclasses in blowpipe use. All profits go to the Huaorani people’s community.
6. WHITEPOD
Villars, Switzerland
Tel: (+41) 24 4713 838
www.whitepod.com
Mongolian yurts meet Moonbase Alpha in the Swiss Alps near Villars, offering an eco-friendly alternative for skiers and lovers of mountain sports. Whitepod’s geodesic shaped eco-domes are made from thick, insulated cotton stretched over tough steel frames and in wintertime blend harmoniously with the surrounding environment. Guests remain snug inside the stylish pods courtesy of log stoves and sheepskin rugs. Gourmet-style cuisine prepared from locally grown, organic food is served in a restored 19th-century chalet nearby. Energy conservation is important, so generators are turned on for just a few hours each morning and evening. It re-launches on 1 December this year with 15 new pods.
Thanks for this list and the explanation on each hotel. It is important to know not just that a hotel is green, but what steps it has taken to become so. That is the approach of RezHub.com, where a green hotels are identified and detailed within the booking path!
Dear CNN Traveller many thanks to you for recognising Borana in this way, this accolade is much appreciated and means a lot to our team here. This also gives us further incentive to continue creatively managing Borana and the surrounding habitat in the most sustainable and efficient manner.
Thanks for compiling this list. I really enjoyed having a look at this collection of environmentally friendly hotels. Lots of good ideas at these properties. We have tried hard to run our small hotel in Nanaimo minimizing our impact on our local environment and making better purchasing decisions. Thanks for this new list of ideas.