Andaz Peninsula Papagayo: ecological, but stylish
1)LOCAL
We will try not to repeat this word too much, lest we end up as a character from Portlandia or as the owners of a Williamsburg kilometer 0 restaurant, but it is inevitable. An eco hotel must give back to the community the privilege of being allowed to settle in it . This translates into giving work (well paid) to the neighbors and/or helping to solve deficiencies. The Andaz Peninsula Papagayo of Costa Rica, which could follow this decalogue point by point, draws on local staff and helps children from the towns in the area have transportation to go to school.
2) SLOW AND CLOSE FOOD
In an eco-hotel we will be told many times that the meat comes from a farm owned by some neighbors of the cook and that the vegetables are collected in a garden that, with care, they cultivate. If we have breakfast in Central America, we want gallopinto; if we do it in Marrakech, crèpes (and the brave ones take harira) . There is no need to expect them to serve quickly, no shifts or rush . But at PHEE, there has to be a certain aesthetic on the plate and at the table. The natural as such is a necessary but not sufficient condition.
life is better slow
3)MORE WOOD!
Local and natural materials. Again the little word of yore... If we are in Kenya, we want cane and more wood. If we are in Costa Rica, we expect laurel and cedar and bamboo woods. In all cases, in a PHEE we require good organic cotton sheets and, please, white. Experiments with soda or at home of each.
Local and natural materials
4) RESPECTFUL DIALOGUE WITH NATURE
You can dialogue in many ways, and the most interesting dialogues are the ones that confront opinions. For this reason, a PHEE does not have to be afraid of having avant-garde architecture, like the one Naked Stables has designed in China, the Ecorkhotel in Alentejo or the one Ronald Zürcher has thought of for the Papagayo. An eco hotel is not a cabin. It can be, but it doesn't have to. . Let's not confuse dialogue with submission
Ecorkhotel: eco design in the Alentejo
5) COSMETIC AMENITIES
tricky topic. The theory says that they should be made with ingredients from organic farming and, if possible, local. The theory is very good as a foundation, but… and if they are bad? What if the packaging is hideous, like white with clumsy little flowers? In those cases, the PHEE eats part of the theory and chooses good eco brands even if they are made in the polluted center of Manhattan. Ecology is very important, but the fact that a shampoo makes your hair look bad is even more so.
The Andaz Peninsula Papagayo in Costa Rica
6) LAW AND ORDER
The ecological is expensive and laborious, therefore, it is ideal that it has support . In places like Costa Rica's Andaz Papagayo Peninsula, the government imposes strict rules: 1) The design must be approved (not Mangadelmarmenorismo!). 2) The maximum height cannot exceed 14 meters (Shanghai there is only one). 3) The materials must be indigenous. 4) Only 30 percent natural surface coverage. 5) Waste management is the responsibility of the hotel. And now, to make something stylish out of it.
Ronald Zürcher's design for the Papagayo
7) SPACE. MUCH
Contemporary luxury involves having space and controlling noise. One room per hectare , as required in certain areas such as the Papagayo Peninsula is luxury. A fountain of gold is not luxury.
space please
8) BUGIES: ONE OF THE ICONS OF ALL PHEE
We already know that it is very large, so electric golf carts or bicycles are used to explore it. Or you walk, but cars, the farther the better . Cars are not allowed in the Botanique Hotel&Spa in Brazil. Also, they are not photogenic either.
Lewa Safari Camp in Kenya
9) A RESTRICT 'NO' TO...
Shampoos with parabens, towels washed and renewed every day, tobacco in any area or lights on Vegas mode or servility in the service. That last point is non-negotiable.
10) COMMON SENSE
In hot weather you don't have to turn on the heating at night: perhaps a hot water bottle, like the ones used in places like Kenya's Lewa Safari Camp, will suffice. If you keep the windows open, the air conditioner should be able to turn itself off. You don't have to use three hundred bottles of water a day : at the Explora Rapa Nui on Easter Island they give away a metal bottle that you can refill throughout your stay. The orientation of the building saves a lot of energy. My high school math teacher always told me: "Vázquez, he doesn't use common sense, the least common of senses." Hoteliers, "do not use common sense."
The luxury of the essentials at Hotel Explora