Our sustainability efforts

Working together to secure a brighter future for our most precious habitats

More than just a room service

The travel club for hotel lovers is – we're very proud to say – now a certified B Corporation. Certified 'B Corps' are companies verified by B Lab to meet high standards of social and environmental performance, transparency and accountability – and reassessed every three years, so it's no mere box-ticking. Nor is it a 'job well done' moment, rather an ongoing process of creating the best possible future for Mr & Mrs Smith, its customers, its community of hotels, its employees and the environment as a whole. We'll always strive to seek out and shine a spotlight on those making pioneering efforts in environmentally conscious hospitality. We'll continue to support our inspirational conservation partners. We'll keep doing our best, in essence. But there's plenty more to come…

Our goals and commitments

Obviously, we don’t own the properties in our collection, so we must first be ever firmer with our curation standards when it comes to sustainability efforts. We are offsetting all travel by our staff, our reviewers and any other content-creating friends working on our behalf by splitting donations between the World Land Trust and the Blue Marine Foundation. We've also committed to updating and expanding all relevant environmental and community credentials for each hotel in our collection to allow you to make more informed choices. We'll be scrapping any plastic used in our membership program and in our gift cards by the end of 2022. Members are now able to contribute directly to our sustainability partners when booking a stay – or at any time. And in the spirit of true partnership, we’re keen to facilitate meaningful relationships between our pioneering properties and these committed conservation charities. 

Grounds for hope

The World Land Trust was founded in 1989 to protect our natural ecosystems across the world. Its Buy An Acre project – where £100 donations directly purchase an acre of land for a lifetime of protection – was set up in the face of rampant habitat loss and has so far secured more than 2.4 million acres of threatened territory and funded 82 reserves in 20 countries.

A sea change

Founded by the makers of the eye-opening 2009 documentary The End of the Line, the Blue Marine Foundation’s primary aim is to ensure the protection of at least 30 per cent of the ocean by 2030. Its pioneering work has already succeeded in creating two of the world’s largest marine reserves (in the Indian and Pacific Oceans) as well as the largest fully protected marine reserve in the Atlantic.

Eco-friendly hotel criteria

Down-to-Earth

An exemplary eco-friendly hotel, be it rural, urban, old or new, will inform, share, show and guide where necessary, and there should be transparency – but nobody wants a lecture.

Community-spirited

Does this hotel give something back? Does it employ local staff and support local projects? Ethical awareness, conservation of all kinds and respect for the larger regional community count.

Innovative

Buildings that are not just carbon-neutral or low-impact but which lead the way architecturally; pioneering use of new technology or a showcase for traditional methods; trailblazers in the eco-hotel sphere.

Inspiring

Marvelling at a landscape sound in the knowledge that you're not also polluting it; meeting people who have benefited from community projects – a hotel that can make these moments happen is to be celebrated.

A pledge from our CEO

Eco-friendly hotels

Eco-friendly hotels