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ECO Chic: Great British Green Hotels
Sunday, 01 Jun, 2010
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Coworth Park
Great Britain is known as the Isle of Contrasts; this brand has been attributed to the contradiction between the country’s image as very traditional and yet extremely quirky. It is also a country that has been fiercely industrialised while simultaneously banking on the appeal of the rolling hills of its countryside and city parks as recreational spaces. Writes Marisah Smith
With a greater need for sustainable development, the British hotel and B&B has not only re-invented itself in the style and cuisine stakes, but also sustainability. We look at four very different properties this week that are environmentally mindful and chic with not a hint of Fawlty Towers in sight.
UNITED KINGDOM, ASCOT Coworth Park
The eighth member of The Dorchester Collection, a stable that houses properties like The Dorchester in London and the Beverly Hills Hotel, one would expect no less than absolute luxury from this hotel. Located in 240 acres of parkland, the property boasts 70 bedrooms, polo fields, three restaurants under the watchful eye of Michelin-starred chef John Campbell and an eco spa.
Simplicity and quality in a tribute to British craftsmanship inspired the décor, resulting in understated elegance. Coworth Park will have their very own underground energy centre with the main boiler running on carbon neutral fuel in the form of willows being grown on the grounds. Chilled water running through a system of underground pipes aids in cooling the property. A number of other projects exist including a kitchen garden with organic produce and rain water being drained into the lake for irrigating the polo fields and willow plantation.
Scarlet Hotel
UNITED KINGDOM, CORNWALL The Scarlet Hotel
A newly built, luxury eco hotel that boasts membership of Design Hotels and a beautiful view over the Cornwall ocean. This 37 bedroom hotel was built to the highest environmental standards with clean, modern lines reflected in the exterior and interiors creating a sense of luxurious serenity.
The team is dedicated to sustainable tourism practices and work according to the mantra reduce, reuse and recycle. The Scarlet uses solar panels to heat the indoor swimming pool, a natural ventilation system is used instead of air conditioning units, ‘Ecotricity’ supplies the hotel’s energy to ensure that it comes from a renewable source and a biomass boiler fired by sustainable wood chips heat the hotel.
Nightly rate from £225 ($338) per room per night on a bed and breakfast basis.
Strattons Hotel
UNITED KINGDOM, NORFOLK Strattons Hotel
From renovated, historic country house and new design hotel, to the British institution that is the family owned, traditional boutique hotel. The design of the web-site of Strattons Hotel speaks of the modernised traditional with regency stripes and what could only be a Cheshire cat. Art, design and comfort are at a premium with an eclectic theme for each room along with a dedication to sustainable development. Strattons was the first hotel in the UK to win the Queen’s Award for Outstanding Environmental Performance.
The corporate social responsibility statement of the hotel results in the landfill waste of the property being managed at 2% or slightly lower over the past five years, 200,000 litres of waste water being harvested for re-use in 2008 and working with tourism partners like Norfolk Tourism, the Norfolk Wildlife Trust and the Swaffham Tourism Association amongst others to optimise the benefits of tourism to the local communities and to deliver an authentic regional tourism experience to visitors.
Ash Close, Swaffham, Norfolk, Guests who arrive with public transportation will receive a 10% discount on the nightly rate.
Le Manoir aux Quat’ Saisons
UNITED KINGDOM, OXFORD Le Manoir aux Quat’ Saisons
An iconic British hotel, Le Manoir aux Quat Saisons, is an intimate 5-star hotel and member of the prestigious Relais & Chateaux organisation. It has been hosting guests to one of the finest culinary experiences at the table of chef and patron Raymond Blanc since 1984 with it being awarded two Michelin stars a mere year after opening.
Le Manoir is surrounded by lawns, orchards as well as vegetable and herb gardens that provide the kitchen with 10% of their total fresh and seasonal produce and was also fully certified as organic in 2000. Enjoy the ‘From Garden to Plate’ cookery course at Le Manoir which focuses on organic cooking and food waste management. Raymond Blanc’s pioneering role in the promotion of organic produce was lauded by the Condé Nast Traveller, “Le Manoir paved the organic path in Oxfordshire long before most converts could walk. Blanc began his venture before ‘organic’ and ‘sustainable’ were terms people had heard of, let alone buzz words.”
Church Road, Great Milton, Nightly rate from £460 pounds ($690) per room per night on a bed and breakfast basis, enquire about culinary packages.
Marisah Smith
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