Responsible Sleeps
Even where you sleep can make a difference! These pioneering stays all help to preserve the landscape, biodiversity, ecology, culture or traditional skills of their local area and communities
Words by
Diana Jarvis
Kenya
Sarara, Namunyak Conservancy
Overlooking the slopes of Kenya’s Matthews Mountains lies Sarara Camp in the Namunyak Conservancy.
Together with Sarara Wilderness (a mobile tented camp), it is owned and run by the Indigenous Samburu community, who have lived on these lands for centuries. During stays, you can learn about their traditions while financially supporting healthcare, education and sustainable livestock programmes.
Money also goes towards the conservation of animals in the conservancy, including elephants, giraffes and the critically
endangered Grévy’s zebra. (Photos: Sarara)
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Mountain Lodges of Peru, various locations
With the popularity of Machu Picchu and the Inca Trail leading to excessive overtourism, Mountain Lodges of Peru have set up the Yanapana NGO in order to draw visitors to the many neighbouring Andean communities that have yet to benefit from this influx.
Woven items from this area are of the highest quality and fetch a steep price at market, but much of that money had not been returning to the community. This project allows traditional skills like weaving and dyeing to be kept alive and shared for generations to come. (Photos: Senderos)
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Shandrani Beachcomber Resort and Spa
Since 2004, the Fondation Espoir Développement at Beachcomber has run a Youth Employability Project that supports young people at risk of dropping out of school and trains them for a career in the hospitality industry.
Over the past 20 years, more than 1,900 young people have been trained and given practical experience in cooking, catering, accommodation and entertainment. Many of them go on to secure jobs in tourism. The resort also runs an animal welfare programme for stray dogs born in the surrounding sugarcane fields, who lose their natural habitat during the cutting season.
The animals are cared for and eventually adopted by loving owners
nearby or even in Europe and South Africa. (Photos: Beachcomber Resorts & Hotels)
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Corcovado Wilderness Lodge, Osa Peninsula
Corcovado National Park is one of the most ecologically rich areas on earth, with 2.5% of the world’s biodiversity found within its 424 sq km of protected forest.
At Corcovado Wilderness Lodge, accommodation is crafted from natural fibres and wood, blending in with the surrounding trees and ancient rainforest canopy.
Through the lodge’s citizen science programmes, you can get involved in beach clean-ups, whale monitoring, and even help with the ongoing research of species such as jaguars and pumas.
Additionally, the lodge’s Every Stay Does Good programme means that each visit supports positive change: helping 187,000 young people through the We Well-being programme and planting over 196,000 trees in deforested areas. (Photos: LATA Travel)
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Broughton Sanctuary,
Deep in the rolling hills of the Yorkshire Dales, you’ll find one of England’s most ambitious tree-planting and rewilding projects.
Broughton Sanctuary spans 1,215 hectares and combines historic Broughton Hall with 20 self-catering holiday homes and a wellbeing retreat centre. The project, in collaboration with the White Rose Forest, has seen the planting of 330,000 native trees.
You can explore the landscape on the 30km Odyssey Trail, which takes in a variety of diverse habitats, from meadow pastures to ancient woodlands, moorlands and freshwater areas, all while looking out for curlews, barn owls, kestrels and the endangered wall butterfly. (Photos: Broughton Sanctuary)
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Buahan, a Banyan Tree Escape
Fireflies – little flashes of yellow light dancing in the night sky – are an enchanting sight to behold as dusk descends.
The dwindling population around Buahan, a Banyan Tree Escape in northern Ubud, led to a collaboration with local sustainability expert Wayan Wardika to conserve these little light-giving bugs, setting up a project to work with the local community on conservation.
As a result, organic farming practices on the resort’s on-site farm and rice field were implemented and local groups were educated on the insect’s life cycles. Firefly numbers have already increased. (Photos: Buahan Tree Escape)
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Luwawa Forest Lodge
Set in the Viphya Highlands of Northern Malawi, Luwawa Forest Lodge lies on the edge of the Luwawa Environmental Protection Zone.
In partnership with the Luwawa Trust, it opened an Environmental Education Centre here in 2022, which runs programmes for schools and local communities. It provides pupils with seedlings so they can learn about the indigenous trees and how to nourish them.
Once the seedlings are ready to be planted, the trust buys them back, providing an income and an incentive to care for the forest. The lodge’s staff come from these local communities, and you can learn about the local ecosystem during your stay. (Photos: Luwawa Forest Lodge)
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Denis Island
Slipping into the azure waters off the beaches of this private island today, you wouldn’t know that in the mid-1800s, Denis Island was denuded of its indigenous vegetation to make way for coconut plantations.
Habitat restoration, coupled with the removal of non-native predators like rats, cats and myna birds, has allowed native birds like the paradise flycatcher and magpie robin to flourish. The island is also part of a newly designated Marine Protected Area and plays a critical role in hawksbill and green turtle conservation. (Photos: Loren Bedeli )
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St Lucia
Jade Mountain
As a pioneer in sustainable luxury, Jade Mountain has set a bold standard, proving that high-end travel and environmental stewardship can go hand in hand.
The sumptuously designed buildings blend seamlessly with the landscape, with open-air, electricity-free sanctuaries minimising energy consumption and maximising natural ventilation, removing the need for air conditioning.
Perched above a UNESCO-listed marine reserve and Anse Chastanet reef, on-site activities, including coral transplantation work, support marine ecosystem conservation and biodiversity protection.
Nearby Emerald Farm supplies the resort’s restaurants with organic produce, eliminating food miles and employing regenerative farming techniques that enrich the soil. The resort’s Eat Them to Beat Them campaign even transforms the ecological challenge of invasive lionfish into a gourmet dining experience, highlighting the importance of sustainable seafood choices. (Photos: Jade Mountain)
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Caiman, Pantanal
After fires ripped through parts of the Pantanal (Brazil’s seasonal wetlands) in 2024, much of the land at Caiman, a private ecological refuge, was decimated.
During walks with field guides, visitors plant ‘seed bombs’ of native trees, such as manduvi, pink trumpet and ximbuva, while at the same time learning about their traditional medicinal properties and how they help to provide food and shelter for jaguars and ocelots. (Photos: Layla Motta / Felipe Castellari)
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Scotland, UK
Kabn, Loch Fyne
This luxury, solar-powered off-grid retreat on the banks of Scotland’s Loch Fyne has a philosophy rooted in the belief that true sustainability is when humanity flourishes in balance with Earth’s delicate ecosystems.
Come here for a full immersion in wild nature, thanks to its loch swims, walks, morning yoga and cosy wood-burning stoves. The retreat also supports Seawilding, a grassroots, community-led organisation that is dedicated to rewilding Scotland’s West Coast sea lochs by restoring native oysters, which are important ecosystem engineers, as well as the area’s seagrass. (Photos: KABN)
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The Headland Hotel
Perched on rocky outcrops of the UK’s Cornish coast, The Headland Hotel has enviable views across sandy Fistral Beach and the lively seaside town of nearby Newquay.
It offers paid summer placements for 14- to 15-year-olds at £8 per hour and it also co-founded the Cornwall Hospitality Collective, which visits schools and colleges, educating students about hospitality careers. (Photos: The Headland Hotel)
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Populus, Denver
Deep in the heart of downtown Denver is where you’ll find the USA’s first carbon-positive hotel.
The hotel’s construction utilised fly-ash concrete, which reduced its carbon
footprint by 30% compared with standard concrete. An on-site biodigester composts all food waste, which is then sent to the regenerative farms that produce the foods served on-site. And the One Night One Tree programme, a partnership with the National Forest Foundation, ensures that one tree is planted for every overnight stay. Guests can also purchase additional trees, and the goal is to plant 55,000 trees in 2025. (Photos / videos: Populus / 4Blades Digital)
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Near Blantyre, Malawi
Fisherman’s Rest
The ethos at Fisherman’s Rest is very much one of immersion – not just in the surrounding 200-hectare forest but also in the local community.
Guests are invited to experience and learn about its programmes and projects, which have all been funded by overnight stays. These include the installation of 2,500 water points for the local community as well as the building of four schools and ten kitchens, which now feed nearly 2,000 school children daily. The lodge has also participated in the restoration and reforestation of 54 sq km of land.
There is a focus on making the most of local resources, too, by working with farmers to promote groundwater recharge and better farming practices so that food security is assured for locals and guests alike. It has also installed over 5,000 fuel-efficient stoves, which helps safeguard forests from deforestation. (Photos: Joel Baxter Fisherman’s Rest)
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Tortuga Lodge
Calypso music was introduced to Costa Rica by Jamaican immigrants in the late 19th century.
However, by the early 21st century, it was in danger of dying out locally. Tortuga Lodge sponsored the last solo traditional calypso musician in Tortuguero, Marlo Cabezas, to start a band and a music school. Funded by monthly donations from guest fees, Escuela de Música Caribeña educates local children in conga drums, bongo drums, guitar, ukulele, banjo and quijongo (a traditional Indigenous bow-like instrument), and lodge visitors are encouraged to try their hand at them, too.
The lodge itself is constructed from lumber taken from small tree farms dedicated to reforestation. Much of the electricity and heat is solar powered, while local water is purified for use. The majority of staff employed here are also local residents. (Photos: Senderos)
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Casa di Langa
Set among expansive working vineyards and a growing truffle forest, operations at this boutique retreat in the foothills of the Italian Alps are in tune with the natural environment.
All company vehicles are also fully electric, and complimentary charging is available for guests. (Photos: Casa di Langa)
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Mvuu Camp and Lodge
Perfectly located in Malawi’s Liwonde National Park, Mvuu Lodge overlooks the wildlife-filled Namagogodo lagoon.
Come for bush walks and elephant spotting and you’ll also be supporting a business rooted in the local community and landscape. The camp is 100% solar-powered, and its water is purified and recycled using reed-bed filtration. A zero-waste approach in the kitchen includes food grown in the organic garden, while the use of a composting system creates nutrient-rich soil.
Elsewhere, its Root to Fruit initiative has seen the planting of more than 500,000 trees, helping restore native ecosystems. Its Children in the Wilderness education programme has also supported more than 2,500 young people in finding employment in tourism. (Photos: Central African Wildness Safaris)
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Aberdeenshire, Scotland
Cairngorm Bothies
Deep in the forests of the Cairngorms National Park, these off-grid, luxury glamping cabins tick all the right boxes when it comes to sustainable best practices.
Staff encourage wildlife to flourish by planting native broadleaved trees such as alder, silver birch and sessile oak, providing food sources for birds and red squirrels. They also monitor damselflies for the British Dragonfly Society. (Photos: Cairngorm Bothies)
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Kenya
Mugie Conservancy
With its acacia tree-dotted open savannah, scrubby bush and olive tree forests stretching to the foothills of the Larogi plateau, Mugie Conservancy in northern Kenya is home to several endangered species.
You can visit this wildlife-rich landscape and contribute to its conservation with overnight stays at Governors’ Mugie House and see some of these species drinking from the on-site waterhole. (Photos: Niels Van Gijn)
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Spotlight on…Ecuador
Mashpi Lodge,
Mashpi Private Reserve
As a result of conservation efforts around Mashpi Lodge in Ecuador’s Chocó cloud forest, a new species of magnolia was found.
Visitors can even buy the perfume to take home, with all proceeds going back into conservation and research for the area. (Photos: Mashpi Lodge)
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Near Quito
Chilcabamba Mountain Lodge
Chilcabamba, a lodge set high in the páramo of the Ecuadorean Andes, takes a strong community-first approach.
This circularity is also mirrored across the lodge: organic waste is composted; wastewater is cleaned via a biodigester; biodegradable soap, shampoo and cleaning products are all used; and in the garden, staff nurture the native plants of the páramo. (Photos: LATA Travels)
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Quito
Illa Experience Hotel
Do you fancy learning to make traditional Ecuadorian toquilla hats, ponchos or jewellery with a local artisan?
Last year, this initiative provided more than £6,000 in support for the community, enabling artisans to sustain their craft and preserve Ecuador’s heritage while passing along skills to visitors. (Photos: Illa Experience Hotel)
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