These eco-friendly hotels and resorts in North America are pushing design boundaries and using the latest sustainable technology with reusable energy, and locally sourced materials. And they make a huge impact in their local communities.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Click on the links below to learn more about each property’s sustainable initiatives and book directly for your next getaway outside suburbia!<\/p>\n\n\n\n
YELLOWSTONE LODGES<\/p>\n<\/div><\/div>\n\n\n\n
Located inside the nation’s first National Park, Yellowstone National Park Lodges are operated by Xanterra. The company believes in a “Softer Footprint\u201d and through extensive composting and recycling programs diverted 63% of their waste from landfill disposal. The guest lodges at Canyon is the largest sustainable design and construction project in the history of the National Park Service. All the restaurants and cafes in Yellowstone National Park strive to source ingredients from nearby farms, ranches, breweries, and distilleries.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
See our experience at the Yellowstone National Park Lodg<\/em><\/strong>es<\/strong><\/em><\/a><\/p>\n\n\n\n Nestled in a peaceful Napa Valley canyon, this sustainable resort in California offers 50 freestanding lodges set amidst lush foliage. As part of the Auberge Collection, the resort offers sustainable luxury with eco-friendly initiatives like water and energy conservation, a wastewater treatment system, recycling, biodegradable cleaning products, and all-natural bath amenities. Guests can bike through wine country, hike on private trails, and meet the ranch animals, including chickens and goats and enjoy local food from the organic garden.<\/p>\n\n\n\n The Glass Fire (a wildfire that originated in the nearby Glass Mountain Road in Deer Park, Napa County, and extended into Sonoma County) destroyed Calistoga Ranch, but the resort plans to rebuild and has made it a priority to take care of its displaced employees. We hope to visit when they are back up again!<\/p>\n\n\n\n One of only seven LEED Platinum Certified hotels in the United States, and one of only 28 worldwide, a few features of Bardessono are: reducing carbon footprint by the use of organic linens and cleaning supplies, which go through recycling and compost programs; usage of an underground geothermal system that heats and cools the guest rooms, spa and domestic hot water supply; 200 square feet of glass in each room, which reduces daytime lighting requirements and so much more.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Owned by a New Mexico-based Heritage Hotels & Resorts, this rustic chic five-star eco-lodge sits just outside downtown Taos. Rooms are made with local materials like stone, compressed earth, and timber and opens to gardens and ponds fed by conserved rainwater and purified wastewater. The resort is heated and cooled with geothermal energy and solar panels. Inside their dome-shaped greenhouse guests can learn about water management. And their eco-conscious spa offers treatments inspired by Native American healing rituals.<\/p>\n\n\n\n FOGO ISLAND<\/p>\n<\/div><\/div>\n\n\n\n The award winning Fogo Island Inn sits on an island, off an island, at one of the very corners of the Earth. Every one of our 29 one-of-a-kind guest rooms and suites has dramatic floor-to-ceiling windows that open onto the wildest and most powerful ocean on the planet. It is built on the principles of sustainability and respect for nature and culture. Rainwater from the roof is collected into two cisterns in the basement and subsequently filtered for use in toilets, laundry, and kitchen appliances. The outbuilding adjacent to the main Inn contains the Inn\u2019s wood-fired boilers, as well as solar thermal panels on the roof which supply hot water for the in-floor radiant heating and the laundry and kitchen equipment. <\/p>\n\n\n\n Located in the Great Bear Rainforest, at Nimmo Bay Resort you are surrounded by forests, waters of British Columbia’s wild west coast. You can spot humpback and orca whales while cruising the local waters, see bear cubs learning to forage along the shoreline. Explore an abundance of wilderness and wildlife from land, sea and sky while enjoying clean air and foraged food.<\/p>\n\n\n\n OCEAN CLUB RESORTS<\/p>\n<\/div><\/div>\n\n\n\n Located directly along the world-renowned Grace Bay Beach, sits this sustainable resort, one of the first properties to be Green Globe Certified in the Turks & Caicos Islands. The two all-suite properties provide the ideal open-air setting and direct beach access for guests to enjoy without going overbudget. The resorts have passed a series of rigorous eco-friendly tests and audits that measured their efforts. A few of the new eco-forward initiatives launched by Ocean Club Resorts include: placing cloth reusable shopping bags in each suite; replacing plastic straws with paper and Styrofoam containers with paper boxes; use of LED lighting, encouraging guests in each suite to reduce water and energy use waste during their stay.<\/p>\n\n\n\n This premier luxury boutique resort, completed a large-scale sustainable energy project to generate clean, reliable power for the hotel in Anguilla. The new solar panels system powers 70 percent of the resort and represents the largest sustainable project in Anguilla for a boutique resort. The project also offsets the costs of all energy-intensive operations at the resort \u2013 such as water production, air conditioning, water heaters, and more. Featuring 800 photovoltaic (PV) solar panels, the 370 kilowatts (KWh) solar installation offsets a portion of Frangipani Beach Resort\u2019s energy demand, taking up approximately a quarter of an acre of the hotel\u2019s main entrance. In addition, two solar canopies (designed to withstand hurricane-force winds) were added over the resort\u2019s parking structure, converting sunlight into electricity. <\/p>\n\n\n\n HARBOUR VILLAGE<\/p>\n<\/div><\/div>\n\n\n\n A secluded tropical destination resort set on the only private beach in Bonaire, Harbour Village leads the way in creating a sustainable environment for guests. One of the only resorts in the world to do so, Harbour Village is advancing coral preservation through a two-tiered approach that combines traditional coral transplantation with an Electrified Reef, proven to increase reef regeneration. The resort\u2019s coral nursery, which includes 10 coral trees, allows guests to participate in the care and replanting of coral. The island of Bonaire is home to a protected marine park, has been protected since the 1970s, and the resort has held strongly to the notion of doing beyond their part in making sure the pristine beach and underwater life that first attracted the family who owns and operates Harbour Village to the island continues to be protected in all ways possible. <\/p>\n\n\n\n Blue Waters Resort and Spa is the first sustainable resort in Antigua and Barbuda to lead the way to a cleaner, plastic-free future. The resort is constantly exploring ways to reduce its environmental footprint, and involved in initiatives such as using energy saving equipment, solar energy to power the walkways and garden lights around the property, composting seaweed, planting freshly grown herbs and produce on-site, and using the Resort\u2019s own water treatment plant of recycled water to irrigate its lush gardens.<\/p>\n\n\n\n This barefoot luxury offers sustainable living and an unforgettable private island experience in Petit St. Vincent. The resort works on the Reef regeneration and coral restoration project, in partnership with the Philip Stephenson Foundation and CLEAR Caribbean, using fragments of Elkhorn coral collected from around the island. They have worked on removing poisonous local Manchineel trees and replacing them with banana, almond, papaya and citrus trees. A Farm-to-fork philosophy is forefront at the in-house restaurant that serves fruits, vegetables and herbs that are grown in the organic chef garden. A state-of-the-art reverse osmosis desalination plant processes ocean water to supply safe freshwater from every tap. <\/p>\n\n\n\n LAPA RIOS<\/p>\n<\/div><\/div>\n\n\n\n Since its inception, sustainability, conservation and community development have been a core value at Lapa Rios. The resort strives to use tourism as a means to acquire and protect the surrounding endangered rainforest. Listed in the National Geographic Unique Lodges, they utilize renewable materials for sustainable and low-impact construction; promote the use of locally-sourced biodegradable products and organic foods; employ exclusively local staff; educate the local community, and their guests, about sustainability, cultural and environmental matters.<\/p>\n\n\n\n As part of its commitment to being one of the most eco-friendly beachfront hotels in Costa Rica, Hotel Punta Islita supports an array of local environmental and community initiatives. Their hospitality mantra is: Located on the main square facing a park, Hotel Plaza Col\u00f3n is one most beautiful, boutique and luxury hotels in Granada. A top sustainable hotel in Nicaragua! It is certified by the Rainforest Alliance and is committed to employing locals, planting trees, using locally-sourced goods, conserving water and energy resources, and using biodegradable products. The hotel is socially conscious and part of the ECO-School program, which provides environmental education to teachers and students.<\/p>\n\n\n\n The nine luxury casitas of the Jicaro Island Lodge are just a short boat ride from the colonial town of Granada. Once you get there you are rewarded with spectacular views of the Mombacho Volcano across the lake and an experience like no other! It one of the best luxury & sustainable resorts in Nicaragua. Located on a private island in the Granada Isletas of Lake Nicaragua, it is a member of the exclusive National Geographic Unique Lodges of the World.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Just off the east coast of Nicaragua, Little Corn Island is in the middle of the blue Caribbean Sea home to Little Corn Island Beach and Bungalow’s beach front boutique hotel and resort. They are committed to being an Eco-Friendly resort destination by utilizing sound conservation and earth friendly, green practices and employing only locals for their kitchen and hotel staff.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Set within the center of La Antigua, this hotel is built around the ruins of a 16th-century Dominican monastery, Casa Santo Domingo is truly a unique hotel. La Antigua was the capital of Guatemala until an earthquake destroyed much of the city in 1773. The hotel has several museums for guests to explore that feature pre-Columbian artifact, indigenous handicrafts, or contemporary artwork. The accommodations here are charming and comfortable.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Built on a hillside, Casa Palop\u00f3 has preserved its intimate atmosphere from its past as a private residence. Its decoration is warm, with a mix of intense colors, woodwork, crafted objects and fabrics and spaces designed to live in. You can enjoy an unbroken view of Lake Atitlan and the three volcanoes overlooking the stunning infinity pool, or terraces. This sustainable resort in Guatemala is involved in many local projects to ensure the growth, education and development of the community, especially through painting and art.<\/p>\n\n\n\n FAIRMONT MAYAKOBA<\/p>\n<\/div><\/div>\n\n\n\n Located in Mayakoba in the heart of Riviera Maya, along the Mesoamerican Reef which is home to over 500 fish species, the largest known aggregation of whale sharks, mangroves, seagrass, and coral reefs Fairmont Mayakoba is the first property of its kind in the region. They work to preserve and promote the indigenous wildlife and culture and guest can even take part in the property\u2019s commitment to sustainability, through the Coral Reef Reforestation Program.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Xcaret is the first and only hotel in the Americas<\/em> to have been awarded the EarthCheck Certification for Planning and Design. In addition to a design that required nine years of geological, environmental and water studies to assure preservation of the existing ecosystem, the hotel has taken other operational measures to reduce its carbon footprint, be energy efficient, use water responsibly and adequately manage waste. Some of the sustainable practices at Hotel Xcaret include: the use of straws made from avocado seeds and serves only purified water in reusable glass bottles, continuous contribution to Experiencias Xcaret Animal Welfare and Endangered Species Conservation Programs, including Sea Turtle Conservation, Coral Reproduction, Stingray Research, and Scarlet Macaw Conservation.<\/p>\n\n\n\n *Photos belong to the properties listed<\/p>\n\n\n\n Note:<\/strong>\u00a0This post may contain affiliate links, partnership or sponsored content. If you purchase an item via one of these links, we may receive a small commission at no extra charge to you. But as always images and opinions are our own. For more information on our affiliates and privacy policy at Outside Suburbia see here<\/a>.<\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\n CONNECT WITH US<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\nCalistoga Ranch<\/a>, California<\/strong><\/h3>\n\n\n\n
Bardessono<\/a><\/strong>, Napa Valley<\/h3>\n\n\n\n
El Monte Sagrado Resort<\/a>, New Mexico<\/strong><\/h3>\n\n\n\n
CANADA<\/strong><\/h2>\n\n\n\n
Fogo Island Inn<\/strong><\/a>, Newfoundland and Labrador<\/strong><\/h3>\n\n\n\n
Nimmo Bay Resort<\/a>, British Columbia<\/strong><\/h3>\n\n\n\n
CARIBBEAN <\/strong><\/h2>\n\n\n\n
Ocean Club Resorts<\/a>, Turks & Caicos<\/strong><\/h3>\n\n\n\n
Frangipani Beach Resort<\/a>, Anguilla<\/strong><\/h3>\n\n\n\n
Harbour Village<\/a>, Bonaire<\/strong><\/h3>\n\n\n\n
Blue Waters Resort & Spa<\/strong><\/a>, Antigua<\/strong><\/h3>\n\n\n\n
Petit St Vincent<\/strong><\/a>, St. Vincent & The Grenadines<\/strong><\/h3>\n\n\n\n
CENTRAL AMERICA<\/strong><\/h2>\n\n\n\n
Lapa Rios<\/a>, Costa Rica<\/strong><\/h3>\n\n\n\n
Hotel Punta Islita<\/a>, Guanacaste, Costa Rica<\/strong><\/h3>\n\n\n\n
Planet-Friendly, People-Positive. The hotel has many eco-friendly features and amenities, including strict recycling policy, wastewater management and holds many awards, including a four-leaf rating from the Costa Rican tourism board\u2019s Certification in Sustainable Tourism (CST) program. <\/p>\n\n\n\nHotel Plaza Col\u00f3n<\/a>, Nicaragua<\/strong><\/h3>\n\n\n\n
Jicaro Island Lodge<\/a>, Nicaragua<\/strong><\/h3>\n\n\n\n
Little Corn Island<\/a>, Nicaragua<\/strong><\/h3>\n\n\n\n
Casa Santo Domingo<\/a>, Gautemala<\/strong><\/h3>\n\n\n\n
Casa Palop\u00f3<\/a>, Guatemala<\/strong> <\/h3>\n\n\n\n
MEXICO<\/strong><\/h2>\n\n\n\n
Fairmont Mayakoba<\/a>, Mexico<\/strong><\/h3>\n\n\n\n
Hotel Xcaret Mexico <\/a><\/strong><\/h3>\n\n\n\n