Clients looking for a low-impact stay? Laura French picks her top environmentally friendly resorts
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1. The Homestead, South Africa
Protecting the land and its biodiversity is the ethos at The Homestead, set to open in South Africa’s lesser-known Nambiti Game Reserve later this year.
Its 12 lodges and ultra-luxe spa will all be built from sustainable materials, including ethically sourced wood and local rock, while a solar farm will provide almost all of the energy needed to power the lodge.
Solar-powered electric vehicles will be used on safaris and the lodge will work with the Nambiti Anti-Poaching Unit to protect the reserve’s rhinos.
Book it: Rates start at £2,550 per night.
homesteadlodge.com
2. Cayo Exclusive Resort and Spa, Greece
This elegant retreat, which opened in Crete last year, has been designed to optimise the air purity, temperature and lighting with as little environmental impact as possible.
Another eco-sensitive feature includes a system that uses heat produced by the air conditioning units to warm rooms and water.
It’s all built to blend in with the scenery, with an emphasis on nature everywhere you look: from the rooms (all offer sea views) to the activities, which include kayaking, diving, stand-up paddleboarding and hiking.
Book it: Olympic Holidays offers a week from £965 per person, including flights on May 1.
olympicholidays.com
3. Four Seasons Resort Tamarindo, Mexico
Located on a private eco-reserve on Mexico’s Pacific coastline, this soon-to-open property will have conservation at its heart, with rewilding initiatives led by a team of on-site biologists and conservationists.
Guests will be able to meet the team at the Discovery Centre and learn more about the surrounding reserve. A spa in the forest will offer a selection of organic treatments.
Book it: Rates to start at $1,550 per night.
fourseasons.com
4. Habitas Santa Teresa, Costa Rica
Tucked away in a beachfront jungle near the remote surf town of Santa Teresa, Habitas’ first foray into Costa Rica is due to open later in the year with rooms built from ethically sourced organic materials, zero single-use plastic and trees planted to compensate for the wood used during construction.
The resort will also support several local community initiatives, and guests will be able to get involved with various memorable experiences – from clay spa rituals to snorkelling at an underwater volcano.
Book it: Room rates are expected to start from $400 per night.
ourhabitas.com
5. AndBeyond Grumeti Serengeti River Lodge, Tanzania
AndBeyond’s existing Grumeti Serengeti Tented Camp will be reopening in June with a new name following a large-scale rebuild in the wake of flood damage in 2020.
In keeping with the brand’s ethos, guests can expect a host of eco-credentials, from solar panels allowing the lodge to run on 80% renewable energy to wastewater recycling and rainwater collection.
Book it: Nightly rates start at $1,080 per person based on two sharing on an all-inclusive basis.
andbeyond.com
PICTURE: Christian Horan Photography
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