Travel Picks: Top 10 hotels with a heart
Posted By Admin on May 30, 2011
LONDON May 27 (Reuters Life!) – If you like the idea of a
luxurious holiday while salving your conscience, you might be
enticed by eco-chic getaways, hotels twinned with community
projects or those which support shelters for children and
animals. Boutique hotels expert Mr amp; Mrs Smith
(www.mrandmrssmith.com) provides a list of its top 10 hotels
with a heart. Reuters has not endorsed this list:
1. Community help: Hotel de la Paix, Siem Reap, Cambodia.
Sleek Siem Reap stay Hocirc;tel de la Paix within easy reach of
majestic Angkor Wat, is actively involved in the local community
through a multi-tiered charity and social scheme. Hocirc;tel de la
Paix supports the Life amp; Hope Academy Sewing School, teaching
disadvantaged women basic seamstress skills, and funds the Green
Gecko Orphanage. Guests can share the love by not only
sponsoring, but visiting these projects, or donating
life-enhancing items, such as toys for children, school
equipment, sacks of rice, water wells or even a pair of pigs.
2. Eco-chic: Azura, Benguerra Island, Mozambique
Located in a national marine park, Mozambique eco-escape
Azura is a covetable collection of 16 thatched villas
overlooking the Indian Ocean. Its also Mozambiques first
carbon-neutral hotel, and is committed to sustainable and
responsible fishing, as well as building projects to help the
local community. The Rainbow Fund was used to build the islands
school, and there are plans for a clinic. Azura also sponsors
the islands football team, and provides English lessons as part
of its Khani Kwedho, or Our Home programme. A non-compulsory
charge of US$10 a room a night goes towards the Rainbow Fund.
3. Animal encounters: Anantara Golden Triangle Resort, Chiang
Rai, Thailand
Chiang Rai boutique retreat Anantara Golden Triangle Restort
amp; Spa plays host to the northern branch of the Thai Elephant
Conservation Centre (TECC), a park for both wild and
domesticated pachyderms. Guests can take elephant-driving
classes from a local mahout, go on eye-opening jaunts through
the jungle, and even join in at bath time (dont wear your best
beach kit). Its sister resort, Anantara Phuket Villas in Phuket,
turns its focus to the sea, supporting the Mai Khao Marine
Turtle Foundation, which protects sea turtles that lay their
eggs on the beach. The hotel donates $1 a room a night, and
participates in the turtle-releasing festival in February, when
babes are ceremoniously released at Mai Khao Beach.
4. Carbon-neutral: Urbn Hotels Shanghai, Shanghai, China
Chinas first carbon-neutral stay, Urbn Hotels Shanghai
wears its eco cred with pride. Fashioned from reclaimed
materials, including hardwoods, house bricks and even antique
leather suitcases, this cutting-edge urban retreat uses
energy-efficient technologies and organic cleaning products. It
further keeps its carbon footprint in check by planting trees
through The Million Tree Project. On-site eatery Downstairs with
David Laris has jumped on the bandwagon, using largely organic
food, free-range meats and sustainable practices – even the
waiters are kitted out in patchwork aprons made from recycled
fabric.
5. Strays: Bon Ton Restaurant amp; Resort, Langkawi, Malaysia
Set on a former coconut plantation near Pantai Cenang beach,
luxe Langkawi getaway Bon Ton Restaurant amp; Resort isnt just an
island refuge for world-weary travellers. Bon Tons owner
Narelle McMurtrie also runs a private animal shelter next-door
called the Langkawi Animal Shelter and Sanctuary (or LASSie for
short). It has a no-kill policy and instead acts to rehabilitate
injured and sick animals before returning them to their natural
environment where possible. Narelle uses profits from Bon Ton to
fund work at the centre, and its not unusual to get a visit
from resident cats or dogs during your stay.
6. Mountain highs: Kasbah du Toubkal, Atlas Mountains, Morocco
Perched in the Atlas Mountains at the base of Jbel Toubkel,
North Africas highest peak, Moroccan boutique hotel Kasbah du
Toubkal is regarded as one of the worlds best eco-lodges. The
crumbling kasbah was restored in the mid-1990s by British
brothers Mike and Chris McHugo using environmentally friendly
building materials that had to be ferried in on mules and
constructed without electricity. Today, this breath-taking
mountain retreat is managed by local Berber couple Hajj Maurice
and Hajja Arkia, and employs staff from surrounding villages.
Five percent of each bill is donated to community projects,
helping with grassroots tasks such as rubbish removal, health
services and education.
7. Nurturing the future: Alila Villas Uluwatu, Bali, Indonesia
Through its Gift to Share programme, romantic Bali retreat
Alila Villas Uluwatu supports the Bali Life Foundation, an
orphanage in Jimbaran, South Bali, that was established by
Australian expat Brad Little and his wife Siska. Children here
not only receive shelter and support, but also lessons in
English, IT, farming and cooking. Alila Villas provides all of
the foundations basic food needs each month, assists with
recycling and sustainability projects and employs some of the
older children in its kitchens. This contemporary clifftop
retreat was also the first hotel in Indonesia to attain the
highest level of certification for Environmentally Sustainable
Development (ESD).
8. Green living: Kiaroa Eco Luxury Resort, Bahia, Brazil
Continued…
Comments