Top 6 eco-friendly hotels in the world

For a long time, sustainability and business travel were thought of as seemingly conflicting terms. How could business travel be sustainable when it implied air travel, luxury hotels, and private-hire cars? Why should it be sustainable, people asked themselves, when it brings so much to the economy?

As time wore on, sustainability finally took on a major seat at the table, and businesses around the world started taking these issues more seriously. They began to identify that every aspect of their business, including travel, could in fact help contribute to our achieving of these goals.

There are countless ways to travel in a more environmentally-friendly way. From offsetting your carbon footprint to traveling by train, the options are endless. However, people often overlook hotels. Choosing the right, sustainable hotels can really be a gamechanger in lowering the environmental impact of business travel.

How to identify hotels with sustainable practices

There are many things to look out for when booking an eco-friendly hotel. It boils down to asking yourself "what green initiatives has the hotel implemented?". Here are a few things to think about before booking a hotel:

Have they made an effort to get rid of single-use plastics? Getting rid of those small shampoo bottles we all love to take home, or bottled water, are great examples.

Has the hotel been built in harmony with its natural surroundings? Think about whether the construction and building materials are harmful to that specific ecosystem or not.

Does the hotel use renewable energy, at least in part?

Has the hotel deployed the use of technologies like motion sensors to turn the lights or air conditioning off in guest rooms when no one is inside them?

Does the hotel support local communities? Do they employ locals? Do they source food from the neighboring area?

These are just a few of the many ways hotels can be sustainable. For a more in-depth look, check out our dedicated article here.

TravelPerk's top 6 most sustainable hotels

If you're looking to travel more sustainably on your next business trip, why not start with the hotel? We looked through our extensive inventory and identified 6 of the most sustainable hotels we've got—and highlighted what makes them so awesome.

1. NH Hotels

The NH Hotels put responsible environmental, social, and economic behavior at the heart of what they do. They launched a series of energy efficiency projects where they replaced equipment like light bulbs, minibars, and heating with alternatives that consume less energy. They installed water recovery and reutilization systems to reduce water consumption. They implemented a new ethos to work primarily with responsible suppliers who recycle and reuse materials within the responsible consumption of resources. These initiatives, among many others, set the NH Hotels up as truly green hotels.