It's a tricky dilemma. We're all desperate to do our bit for the environment -
but we're also keen to have lovely holidays. Yes, we can offset the carbon
emissions from our flight but, choosing a green hotel isn't nearly so easy.
They run the gamut of greens from the palest limes thatrequest we reuse our
towels to save the world — aka their laundry bill — to the darkest emeralds
where every penny of profit is ploughed back into local projects.
Fortunately, we can now hand over the task of weeding out the charlatans to
Alastair Sawday, one of the UK's most respected hotel reviewers.
A committed environmentalist, he stood as a candidate for the Green Party back
in the days when it was regarded as weirdy and beardy (Mr Sawday is,
thankfully, cleanshaven), his guidebooks are printed on recycled paper, the
emissions from every trip are offset, his West Country offices are heated by
wood-pellet boiler and he is about to publish the first definitive guide to Green
Places to Stay worldwide.
Here, he reveals his ten favourites from the lush jungles of the Amazon to the
desertscapes of the Middle East.
PENPONT, BRECON, WALES
This is one of my all-time favourite places: an organic farm set in a mini
stately home on the banks of the river Usk in the heart of the national
park. The courtyard wing has been turned into a comfortable self-catering
apartment. It doesn't try to be spectacular, it's simply cosy and warm, with
a large kitchen where we congregate before long walks in the Welsh hills or
trips into Brecon. Owners, Gavin and Davina Hogg, run the place with a rare
informality. Their commitment to the environment is deep in their souls and
goes way beyond recycling and composting. They launched an organic veggie
box scheme long before such things were fashionable, for example. They've
installed a woodchip boiler, which is a lot of hard work for them,
transporting chipping and loading the hopper. They've planted 60,000 trees —
all in all saving 60 tonnes of carbon emissions a year. But, essentially,
Penpont is just an utterly enchanting place where art and imagination are
woven into the fabric — there's an extraordinary maze, you'll see willow
sheep grazing on the lawn. It's one of the finest places to stay in Wales.
01874 636202, www.penpont.com,
the apartment sleeps up to 17 and costs from £1,200 for a week.
CORNISH TIPI HOLIDAYS, ST KEW, CORNWALL
This is a fabulous place created with an enormous sense of fun. There are 40
white canvas tents, some sleeping up to 12 people. They're decorated in a
way guaranteed to encourage happy campers so there are Turkish rugs on the
ground, North African lanterns, a Baby Belling to cook on and all you need
to start a camp fire. You feel real care has been taken over every detail.
And there's a wonderful sense of space. It's set in 16 acres of wooded
valley, with streams and grass pathways and a large lake where you can swim
and catch fish. Showers are in lovely communal wooden blocks, which
encourages a Swallows and Amazons ambience. It's proper countryside, with
nothing to offend the eye: no nasty signs, concrete, noise or cars — they're
not allowed after unloading. It's wind- and solar-powered and superbly low
impact. The whole site could be dismantled in a couple of days. Details:
01208 880781, www.cornish-tipi-holidays.co.uk,
from £365 for a week for up to three.
STRATTONS, SWAFFHAM, NORFOLK
This is as close to the ideal of the eco-friendly hotel as it gets. The good
news is that doesn't mean it's horribly worthy and dull. The style of this
Queen Anne villa is eclectic and cool enough to satisfy trendy weekending
couples. The interior is crammed full of cow-hide rugs on stripped wooden
floors, gorgeous wrought-iron beds, marble busts, stained glass, Lloyd Loom
furniture and lots of flamboyant murals and mosaics. When you learn that the
owners Les and Vanessa Scott met at art school, you understand why there is
so much interesting modern artwork packed tight on the walls. The Scotts are
great fun but incredibly serious about the environment — they recycle
everything, have a strict "buy local" policy and even offer a 10%
discount for those arriving by public transport. And they do their best to
get guests out of their cars and walking or cycling in the nearby Thetford
forest. They're bohemian and like taking risks — so the delicious organic
restaurant even serves eyebrow-raising dishes such as pea ice cream.
Details: 01760 723845, www.strattonshotel.com,
doubles from £130.
BALENBOUCHE, ST LUCIA
The Caribbean usually means gold taps and swanky stuff, but not Balenbouche —
it has a simplicity and elegance rare for the region. It's not that this
former sugar plantation is particularly ecologically minded — they don't
have the resources to be — but it is green in that it's authentic and
low-key. It will never have a swimming pool or helipad. Uta and her two
daughters who own and run it are passionate about their island and doing the
right thing for it so they really involve the local community. They're also
obsessed with aesthetics: there are imaginative flourishes everywhere such
as inspirational splashes of colour, open-air showers and chairs swinging
from beams. The main plantation building with its dark wood floors and
antique furniture oozes a wonderfully serene atmosphere. You just sit on the
low-slung white clapperboard verandah and soak up the magical setting. It
also has the best restaurant on St Lucia by a mile. Details: 00 1 758 455
1244, www.balenbouche.com,
doubles from £50, minimum three night stay. Fly to St Lucia with Virgin
Atlantic (01293 747747, www.virgin-atlantic.com)
and British Airways (0870 850 9850, www.ba.com)
from Gatwick, or with BWIA (0870 499 2942, www.bwee.com)
from Heathrow. Expect to pay from £388. Taxi transfers from the airport cost
about £10.
HIMALAYAN HOMESTAYS, LADAKH, INDIA
Ladakh doesn't need the rest of the world. It's completely self-sufficient.
The villagers' ecological footprint is as close to zero as you can get.
They're healthy, balanced ,happy people, growing their own food the way they
have done for centuries. That might sound trite but this is one of the most
astonishingly civilised places I've ever been — and add the stunning views
over the world's highest mountain range. During the day, you just walk and
walk in the emerald green valleys, then you go back to your Ladakhi family
and have a delicious curry in the kitchen. You'll never feel more connected
to the ecotourism ideal. Their homes are basic, that's their charm: thick
stone walls and huge sash windows. They're usually over two or three floors,
with an open-plan ground floor living area and, above, bedrooms that are
just a mattress on the floor with a long-drop lavatory. You squat, cover the
results with ashes and, later, it becomes great compost for the garden.
There's no electricity, you light a oil lamp at night and sit in front of a
wood fire. Profits from tourist stays are shared between the villagers. It's
all very satisfying and green. If you only go to one place in your lifetime,
I urge you to make it Ladakh. Details: 00 91 1982 250 953, www.himalayan-homestays.com,
£5.50pp per night, half board. Fly from Heathrow to Leh with Jet Airways (0800
026 5626, www.jet
airways.com), via Delhi, from £554. Or try Air India (020 8560 9996, www.airindia.com)..
The homestay office organises the six-hour car transfer from Leh.
FEYNAN ECO-LODGE, JORDAN
It's always terrific — and green — to stay somewhere that's owned and run by
local people. This majestic, modern Arabesque lodge, in the arid mountains
of the southern Rift Valley, is brilliantly run by Bedouin. Nobody does
hospitality better than these people, it's world renowned. You'll be served
mountains of delicious food: masses of bread, hummus, lentils, vegetables —
everything but meat. The lodge itself is a striking adobe-walled retreat
surrounded by one of the Middle East's most archeologically important
wildernesses. You'll see lots of birds such as the griffon vulture,
Bonelli's eagle and Sinai rosefinches. Rooms are simple but stylish with
Egyptian cotton sheets, all powered by solar energy. The place really comes
into its own at night, when it takes on a monastic feel. Its high walls are
lit with hundreds of goat-skin shaded candles, you look out on to a purple
sky and fall asleep to the sound of a thousand years of silence. It's a
profound experience. Details: 00 962 6461 6523, www.rscn.org.jo,
doubles from £33. Royal Jordanian (0207 878 6300; www.rj.com)
and BA (0870 850 9850; www.ba.com)
fly from Heathrow to Amman, with fares from £349. Private transfers take
three hours and cost £15.
SURAMA VILLAGE, GUYANA
Guyana is one of those places that has been politically sidelined because it
has no rich natural resources other than its jungle. It's quite common to
see men going out on bicycles to hunt with bows and arrows. Surama Village
is a traditional Amerindian compound in the heart of the rainforest where
you can find your inner intrepid explorer. You'll be very much part of the
community and encouraged to visit the school, pay your respects to the local
shamen and watch the women pounding cassava for hours on end to make bread.
Accommodation is in small, hexagonal wooden huts with thatched roofs.
They're pretty basic, but dry and cool. The food is simple, too, but very
tasty. You'll go on dawn hikes and canoe trips with knowledgable guides and
spot giant river otter, fish-eating bats and, if you're lucky, you might see
jaguars. Details: 020 8417 1585, www.wilderness-explorers.com/surama_village.htm,
doubles from £60, full board. BWIA (0870 499 2942, www.bwee.com)
flies from Heathrow to Georgetown (via Barbados or Trinidad), from £740. A
four-night package including two nights in Georgetown, two at Sarama and all
transfers costs from £472pp.
KAPAWI ECOLODGE AND RESERVE, ECUADOR
We're talking remote. This beautiful lodge is on a tributary of the Amazon up
towards the Peruvian border and about a 10-day hike from the nearest town.
Don't panic, all you have to do is a 10-minute hike from the airfield,
followed by a 15-minute canoe ride. The setting is spectacular, the 20
thatched cabanas line a deep blue lagoon and, in accordance with the area's
ancient building techniques, not a single nail has been used in their
construction. They're enormously attractive, with timbers lashed together to
make rough wooden walls, a lovely deck area where you soak up the sights and
sounds of the rainforest. There are 540 bird species here as well as 200
mammals including pink river dolphin. It's an eco lodge in the true sense,
so all electricity is solar-powered, so, too, are the showers, which have
biodegradable soap. It's run as a partnership between a tour operator and
the indigenous Achuar people, but in 2011 the reserve will be handed over to
the Achuars entirely, providing them with an alternative to Amazon
destruction. Details: 00 593 4 251 4750, www.kapawi.com,
doubles from £355pp for three nights, with a $10 Achuar community fee. Fly
to Quito with Iberia (0845 850 9000; www.iberia.com),
via Madrid, or KLM (08705 074 074; www.klm.com),
via Amsterdam, each with fares from about £600. The lodge arranges transfers
from Quito for £122pp.
TUI NATURE RESERVE WILDERNESS PARK, NEW ZEALAND
This collection of self-catering wood cabins has an epic location: overlooking
the inlets, bays and forested peninsulas of the Marlborough Sounds on the
South Island. The couple who run Tui, Brian and Ellen Plaisier, are so
completely devoted to the land and the Maori culture, they plough all the
profits back into local initiatives and haven't taken a holiday in years.
Everything about the operation is exemplary from the solar-powered cabins to
the homemade breads, and vegetables in the food baskets. The rooms offer a
cosy privacy with pine furnishings and corn-coloured walls. It's a great
place to go tramping and kayaking and all you will hear at night is the
wonderful stillness of the Marlborough Sounds. 00 64 27 448 3447, www.ontopofthesounds.co.nz,
cabins from Nz$90. Air New Zealand (0800 028 4149, www.airnewzealand.co.uk)
flies from Heathrow to Christchurch from £639, via Los Angeles. Argus Car
Hire (0141 005 0007, www.arguscarhire.com)
has a week's inclusive hire from £123. The lodge is a five-hour drive from
the airport.
TOILOGT GER CAMP, MONGOLIA
This is camping in a grand style, following a noble tradition. The site is on
the west shore of Hovsgol Lake, the deepest lake in Central Asia, and close
to Khoridol Sardag Mountain where you'll find elk, reindeer and red wolf.
You stay in gers — the ancient nomadic dwellings of Mongolians with a design
that's stayed pretty much the same for more than 2,000 years. Tents have a
collapsible latticed cedar-wood frame, covered by sheep's wool felt and
strapped together by horse mane. Inside, each has a central stove that warms
the tent, there are red rugs on the wooden floor, trunks, stools and tea
tables. The camp staff, all Mongolian born and bred, feed you grilled lamb
and dumplings and entertain you with the haunting sound of hoomi or throat
singing, fascinating because it sounds as though several notes are being
produced simultaneously. Mongolia's a land without fences, and you can horse
ride for miles and miles. It's the wildest place in the world. Details: 00
976 11 460368, www.hovsgoltravel.com,
yurts for one person from $35, full board. Opodo (0871 277 0091, www.opodo.co.uk)
has fares from Heathrow to Ulan Bator with Aeroflot via Moscow, from £465.
Mongolian Airlines (00 976 11 1881, www.miat.com)
flies from Ulan Bator to Moron, fares from £20, the camp will arrange a
transfer from here for about £40.
- Alastair Sawday's Green Places To Stay is published on September 28
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