There’s apparently a global competition for the “world’s best sustainable hotel.” Its’ one of the categories of the World Boutique Hotels Awards. Last month, a ceremony honoring the finalists and winners was held in London, UK, at the Montcalm Hotel, Marble Arch.
So, who won the World’s Best Sustainable Hotel award? It was Zeavola Resort, located on the shores of Laem Ton beach on Koh Phi Phi in Thailand.
“We operate on an island and we need to live sustainably, close to nature and to the environment,” Zeavola Resort General Manager Florian Hallermann said at the event. “For us it is not an option to operate otherwise. But, it is important we work smartly and cherish our natural resources and at the same time deliver a five-star barefoot luxury experience to guests.”
It’s a great, humble way to accept the award, but Zeavola Resort is clearly doing something different than thousands of island hotels across the world. You don’t get named the “world’s best sustainable hotel” for being average.
Let’s quickly dig into what is so sustainable about this hotel. A press release sent to Important Media about the announcement noted that Zeavola Resort has “a water reserve system which includes four deep wells and a reverse osmosis plant to minimise unnecessary water consumption at the resort.”
Furthermore, the resort helps to restoring coral reefs. In addition to winning the World’s Best Sustainable Hotel award, Zeavola Resort recently won the the PADI Green Star Award “for outstanding contribution to the environment through the resort’s project Coral Freedom.”
This is a project focussed on reversing the devastating effects of coral bleaching, a consequence of high carbon footprints and increasing global warming, and have so far seen over 10,000 coral fragments replanted around Phi Phi that were regenerated in Zeavola’s coral nursery.
In addition to the above, Zeavola Resort is part of the Green Fins project, “which is coordinated by the United Nations Environmental Programme as part of a global effort to increase public awareness, and resort management practices that will benefit the conservation of coral reefs and reduce unsustainable tourism practices.”
Of course, the resort also looks absolutely wonderful. I wouldn’t mind spending a week there. 😀
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All images via Zeavola Resort