5 Outstanding Sustainable Luxury Stays Around the World

If you love soaking up the outdoors when you travel, but are looking for a more elevated experience than sleeping bags and tents, it’s worth considering a resort that’s committed to protecting its wonderful surroundings.  As it turns out, you can enjoy a luxury jungle escape or sea-faring adventure without destroying nature. Below are five sustainable luxury stays located all over the world, all of which make a positive impact on their local environment.

With stunning Lake Tahoe on one side and a beautiful mountain-scape on the other, Edgewood Tahoe Resort is a destination for any season. With their MasterCraft partners, Edgewood has Crest Pontoon boats, kayaks, and stand-up paddleboards. Around the iconic Lake Tahoe area, there is fly fishing, hiking, golfing, skiing, or cycling. At Edgewood you can enjoy the outdoors, follow it up with a meal that doubles as a piece of art, and then crash around the pool with a drink in one of their cabanas. The are the only resort in Nevada to earn Michelin’s One Key Hotel recognition—the travel equivalent to its restaurant ranking system.

Edgewood funds wetlands and land restoration projects, charging stations for electric cars, initiatives to reduce single-use plastics, and lake clean-ups. They back up their sustainability by being LEED Certified, members of Green Beyond, and Audubon International sustainably certified for golf.

With adventure packages, a gourmet menu, and an observatory for night sky views, Hotel Rangá is a green luxury boutique hotel that balances environmental stewardship and exhilarating outdoor fun.. Guest experiences range from horseback riding, hiking, glacier and volcano tours, paragliding, snowmobiling, whale watching, geothermal baths, and more.

Hotel Rangá is part of the Small Luxury Hotels of the World’s Considerate Collection, which is for “boutique hotels that go above and beyond in sustainability.” They use green and renewable energy at their lodge that comes from hydroelectric or geothermal power. They conserve energy through efficient lighting systems, and use locally grown produce, including poultry from nearby farms and locally caught fish. They also recycle, provide charging stations for electric cars, and rely on Iceland’s first electric plane for their “Flightseeing” excursions.

A hidden gem in Ojochal, Hotel Three Sixty rests between sweeping ocean views along the South Pacific Coast of Costa Rica and a verdant rainforest paradise. 

With their sunrise and sunset villas, infinity pool, and spa, Hotel Three Sixty is where you go to decompress and soak in the view. But if you’re looking for adventures, you can surf, go whale watching, hike at Marino Ballena National Park, or visit Nauyaca Waterfalls.

The hotel uses renewable energy (solar and wind) and is working towards carbon neutrality. They engage in regenerative measures, like planting trees to preserve the habitat, with each direct booking resulting in a tree planted through One Tree Planted. They use organic, locally sourced food, eco-friendly products, rainwater collection for irrigation, and other sustainable measures.

On California’s central coast sits the city of San Luis Obispo (SLO) and Hotel Cerro. With hills providing panoramic views, the area is prime for hiking. If you want to surf, the coastal location also means access to nearby beaches and dunes. With horseback riding, ziplining, and winery tours on offer as well, it’s hard to get bored here.

 SLO is one of California’s most sustainable cities, with a goal of being carbon neutral by 2035, and Hotel Cerro was built to meet the future of higher standards for sustainability. They are LEED Silver certified and meet California’s energy efficiency standards. Among their sustainability efforts are LED lighting with occupancy sensors, low water usage systems in washrooms, no single-use plastics, complimentary bike access, and local organic foods. 

Charles Darwin came to the Galapagos Islands to study the region’s incredible diversity, and it helped him develop his culture-shifting theory of natural selection. Ecoventura guests get a chance to see what inspired him first-hand. A UNESCO World Heritage Site, the islands have incredible wildlife diversity, like colorful finches and nearly 200 year-old turtles with endearingly mundane names like Jonathan. Visiting the Galapagos means traveling carefully, and sometimes that means staying off-island. That’s where Ecoventura’s yachts excel.

Ecoventura’s luxury yachts hold 20 guests each and are designed to be sustainable by using hybrid energy, including solar power and wind turbines. They are the first carbon neutral operators in the Galapagos. They have eliminated single-use plastic bottles, and use high-tech recycling machines that enable them to keep all waste generated on their yachts from going to landfills. They are also a founding partner of the The Galápagos Biodiversity & Education for Sustainability Fund (GBESF), which focuses on conservation of endemic species, because an island adventure shouldn’t destroy the thing you came to see.