For many, sustainability is just another marketing fad employed by those desperate to remain relevant in a changing world, or, put differently, to ‘greenwash’ away their shortsightedness.
For us, sustainability is a way of living, as it goes to the core of everything we do. Our understanding of sustainability is not a mere mention of how seriously we take our natural environment; it is our overall approach to how business should be conducted.
It starts with the way we chose the properties we promote and the way we build, or renovate our own hotels and resorts. Our motto is that our hotels are ‘handpicked’; and this is literally the case! We reach out for properties that blend into their environments and promote our sense of aesthetics, with a minimal footprint. We invest in energy-saving technology that allows us to reduce our environmental impact while saving costs for the long run; and when we renovate (which we do a lot), we use a material that is eco-friendly, even if that means we have to pay the price!
It then moves on to our operations: we strive to minimize the waste we produce – but for that, we rely on our guests to offer us a helping hand! We urge our guests to save water and reuse towels as they would normally do at their own homes. We dare ask them that, as we are confident that being in one of our properties feels like being home. We are also obsessed with recycling! We do a lot of it – even in some of the renovations we underwent we used material that would have been otherwise discarded… and on top of that, it actually looks pretty cool!
Last, but surely not least, it is about the relationships we establish: it is the communities in the destinations hosting our properties, and the local population, including our local suppliers, with whom we work hand-in-hand. We try to source locally as much as we can, both because we respect the locals and wish to contribute to their welfare, but also because this way we can guarantee the best quality products for our guests. We also see in our staff people who work with us, not for us. Knowing that these relationships can morph into lasting ones, is both rewarding and reassuring regarding the continuity and consistency of our offer to our valued guests.
As further testimony of our commitment to sustainability, we are actively investing in strategic partnerships with a diverse range of like-minded partners that have sustainability as their mission.