Crosslinked – the sustainable hotel of the future

How does the future look like? We think, sustainability will play a big role in it. We asked guest blogger and editor Sina Hindersmann to describe for your imagination for the sustainable hotel of the future:

Today, many hotels put the strongest emphasis on sustainability – whether using solar panels on the roofs or recycled paper in the kitchen and bathroom. In this way they meet the requirements of the tourists who want to travel with a clear conscience in the luggage. And there are more and more of them like the surveys of the Forschungsgemeinschaft Urlaub und Reisen show. This makes it more exciting to find out how is the sustainable hotel of the future.

A look at the initiatives of the Green Pearls Partners shows that there are already many resource-efficient, environment-friendly and socially compatible measures of hotels worldwide. What happens if we use all synergies? The result would be a kind of linked village which could be designed as follows:

The sustainable hotel of the future is visually integrated into its respective surrounding. Like the Keemala Beyond Enchanting in Thailand: The unique buildings made from natural materials blend in with the surrounding landscape, the individual rooms tell the story of traditional Thai tribes and underline the authentic experience.

 

It is also possible to find natural materials in the interior design. The Creativhotel Luise in Erlangen shows us how this concept could look like. It is considered to be a pioneer of the sustainable hotel business because of its climate-neutral CO2 footprint, solid wood furnitures, wallpapers made of recycled paper and, last but not least, its “renewable hotel room“ of straw, wood and natural rubber.

 

The linked hotel of the future also offers mainly regional and seasonal meals from its own agriculture like the Biohotel Mohren at Lake Constance. Its guests can even enjoy organic beef from the own Aberdeen Angus Breed. Local bio businesses supply other foods like baked goods, eggs and poultry. The Hotel Die Forelle in Austria shares a similar focus; additionally, it disposes catering waste in a common biogas plant and exploits it to generate electricity.

 

In the barrier-free area, its guests have the possibility to help planting and harvesting fruits, vegetables or herbs and manufacture country-specific products like cheese, bread, olive oils or teas by themselves. So that big and small people know something important about the way a product goes from farm to fork.

For example the 4 Rivers Floating Lodge in Cambodia gives exotic insights in the local practices, fishing techniques and natural remedies of the inhabitants.

It is evident that in the future, the local population, including people with disabilities, will be part of the hotel network. The Sol Beach House Benoa in Indonesia for example only employs local residents. And in the Green City Hotel Vauban in Freiburg inclusion is of primary importance.

For recreation there is a wellness area with varied offers like individual health advice. A good example is the Vita by Gloria Cure & Care in Turkey belonging to Gloria Verde Resort. As one of the few health centres worldwide it offers a combination of Spa and different treatments like Thalasso therapies and training seminars.

In the hotel of the future they only use certified natural cosmetics. The Hotel Outside in South Tyrol, which even designed its own line of cosmetics could serve as a model.

In addition they will have e-bikes and e-cars like the Hotel Speicher at Ziegelsee. The Gradonna ****s Mountain Resort Châlets & Hotel in Austria goes one step further: It is built like a car-free village where all can be reached by walking.

 

Naturally, electricity is generated by renewable energies. The Bachgut – das Resort am Berg in Austria, for example, thanks to its solar panels and its own drinking water plant is energy self-sufficient all year long.

And how do you imagine the sustainable hotel of the future?