Sustainability is top of mind for many travelers, so they’re seeking out green properties more than ever before.
From the mountains to the coast to the heart of major cities, hotel properties are going above and beyond to offer a more sustainable, but still luxury, experience for guests.
With Earth Day a little over a month away, on April 22, checkout these incredible properties from around the world that have incorporated sustainable initiatives.
Waves Cane Bay | St. Croix, USVI |
The Waves Cane Bay is an oceanfront boutique hotel that features 11 suites, fully reimagined in 2021. The eco-friendly hotel strives for maximum sustainability and is situated a few hundred yards away from the beaches it aims to conserve, which feature amazing snorkeling and scuba diving. Waves Cane Bay features rainwater cisterns for harvesting and reuse and is completely bottle-free, providing guests JUST Water upon request. Built directly into the cliffs on the water with a natural grotto and endless views to St. Thomas and beyond, guests can indulge in dinner and drinks at the sustainable seafood restaurant, AMA, while Sunset Bar offers curated ceviches, appetizers, and handcrafted cocktails. AMA works diligently to support local farms and sources nearly all ingredients locally. The majority of the seafood featured on the menu is locally caught, including the invasive Lionfish that threatens the health of St. Croix’s reef systems. In close collaboration with Virgin Islands Good Food Coalition, the property supports Farm to School Initiative, providing students with fresher, local fruits and vegetables, Farmer Support and Education, and Community Education and Advocacy, while providing more than 100+ St. Croix residents gainful employment.
Limelight Hotels | Denver, Aspen, and Snowmass, CO + Ketchum, ID |
Limelight Hotels are unique contemporary properties set in the heart of authentic mountain and urban communities. Limelight, and its parent company Aspen Hospitality, are committed to protecting the environment. The properties utilize bamboo key cards, feature water refill stations, are 90% plastic-free, and Snowmass and Ketchum are both LEED Silver standard.
By 2030, Limelight Aspen will have 100% clean power and Limelight’s upcoming debuts, Limelight Boulder and Limelight Mammoth, will be all-electric hotels. The commitment to sustainability includes The Environment Foundation out of the Roaring Fork Valley, a charitable branch of the company founded and led by employees, which works with local organizations in the valley to reduce the impact of climate change, protect the ecosystems, and foster environmental advocacy. Additionally, each Limelight Hotel has a property-specific community fund that is primarily grown through employee donations, which are matched by Aspen Skiing Company Family Fund and the Aspen Community Foundation, though hotel guests are also invited to donate. Additionally, Limelight Hotels partners with Protect Our Winters to bring the outdoor industry to the climate fight in Washington.
Fairmont Pacific Rim | Vancouver, British Columbia |
Fairmont Pacific Rim, Vancouver’s premier luxury hotel, has prioritized the implementation of measures to promote sustainable tourism and hospitality over the last five-plus years. In 2018, the property began a four-year journey to eliminate single-use plastics, which culminated in September 2022 when Fairmont Pacific Rim received a Single-Use Plastic Free Certification from Greenstep Solutions Inc., the first in the North American hospitality sector. This process saw widespread changes across all aspects of the property, including the replacement of the following: 36,000 plastic key cards with reusable FSC Certified cherry wood, approximately 1,600 kilograms (198,700) of small bath amenity bottles used annually with large format refillable bottles, 12,500 plastic laundry bags used per year with a reusable cloth alternative, and all food and beverage take-away containers and cutlery have been replaced with fiber-based solutions. The hotel’s award-winning food & beverage outlets, The Lobby Lounge & RawBar, and Botanist have also incorporated sustainability into their core practices, including composting and closed-loop-oriented cocktail and ingredient creation for bartenders. Closed-loop-oriented cocktail and ingredient creation aims for as close to zero waste as possible, with methods such as saving waste trimmings for citrus, fruit, and vegetable garnishes to create cocktail syrups and utilizing alternative acids instead of freshly imported citruses for a lower carbon footprint. The Lobby Lounge & RawBar is Vancouver’s first 100 percent Ocean Wise sushi destination; Ocean Wise is Vancouver Aquarium’s conservation program that addresses overfishing, ocean pollution, and climate change.
Viceroy Bali | Bali, Indonesia |
Located in a secluded ridge above Bali’s Valley of the Kings, Viceroy Bali is an independently owned and family-operated, five-star luxury villa resort created with the surrounding land and sustainability in mind. This extends to many areas of the resort including solar energy, natural composting and use of manure to fertilize and grow plants and flowers, and once a month the staff hosts a cleaning session around the surrounding village, Nagi, and the road leading up to the resort. There is an organic garden on the grounds of the hotel that guests are welcome to walk around, which is used to grow, care and harvest vegetables for use in the property’s kitchen and bar. The on-property fine dining restaurant and cocktail lounge, Apéritif, employs a full-cycle or ‘zero-waste mentality,’ using trimmings for fermentation processes, garnishes or as elements in other dishes and cocktails or mocktails. Chef Nic Vanderbeeken is at the helm of Apéritif‘s kitchen program, creating dishes with ingredients like Shoyu, made from leftover coffee grind, and vegetable trimmings to make vegetable jus into a tasty paste. At the bar, led by Head Mixologist, Panji Wisrawan, the zero-waste rule is applied in almost every cocktail made, such as The Illustrator, which is garnished using cookies made from the leftover cashew nut atole syrups for the drink, or mocktails with tepache, created from pineapple skin, ginger beer and various kinds of kombucha.
InterContinental Khao Yai | Khao Yai, Thailand |
Located a 2.5-hour drive northeast of Bangkok in the heart of Thailand, the InterContinental Khao Yai Resort is a lush haven for travelers seeking a perfect blend of natural beauty, local culture, wildlife, and adventure. Comprising 19 hectares of tropical landscape with over 30,000 trees and five lakes, the property is a slice of paradise on the cusp of a national park and UNESCO World Heritage Site. To further its role as a custodian of Thailand’s natural gems, the InterContinental Khao Yai has entered a corporate social responsibility partnership with The Thai Elephant Research and Conservation Fund (TERF). TERF’s mission is to promote public participation in elephant conservation through education and raising awareness, working with colleagues in the field both in Thailand and around the world. Through the partnership, the property allows international guests to participate in the same conservation and education programming as locals; namely, the opportunity to visit an educational sanctuary that serves as a home to three rescued elephants. Located a one-hour drive from the Resort, the sanctuary allows visitors to interact with the gentle giants, as well as educate them on animal welfare and relevant environmental issues affecting the elephants. Alternatively, guests can book through the Resort to attend one of three educational courses during which they can learn about various types of elephants and their evolution, biology, ecology, and behavior, as well as elephant care and management.
