<http://schema.org/articleBody>
"Eco-friendly Luxury Hotels\nWhether you're in search of an urban adventure or a tropical getaway, satisfy your wanderlust in eco-friendly style with AD's guide to green luxury hotels\nWith its 400,000-plus square miles of mountains, forests, pampas, glaciers, lakes, rivers, and waterfalls, Patagonia is synonymous with eco-adventure. This rustic-mod 40-room hotel and spa\u2014designed by Chilean architects Caz\u00FA Zegers (a past winner of Buenos Aires's architecture biennale), Roberto Benavente, and Rodrigo Ferrer\u2014sits on the shores of Lake Sarmiento at the entrance to Torres del Paine National Park and the UNESCO Biosphere Reserve, its gentle curves evoking the windswept dunes that surround it. 011-56-2-370-5301; tierrapatagonia.com\nGreen Cred: Tierra boasts low-energy LED lighting, high-grade insulation, and a layout that does away with the need for air-conditioning in summer and requires little if any heating in winter. But here, green also means local: Zegers sourced all exterior materials from nearby, including the stone used at the building's base and the Lenga wood paneling (from a sustainable rain forest, of course). Much of the furniture and materials used inside, in interiors by designers Alexandra Edwards and Carolina Delpiano, also have local provenance. And as part of the reforestation efforts following January 2012's Patagonia fire, the hotel plants a tree for every guest.\nThis \"lodge\" rises from a palm oasis surrounded by the sunbaked earth near the Makgadikgadi Salt Pans, the largest system of salt flats in the world. Designed by fifth-generation bush-guide Ralph Bousfield and stylish safari expert Catherine Raphaely, the camp's six custom-made white canvas tents blend seamlessly into the otherworldly landscape. (Each tent has its own bathroom, with hot and cold running water.) Handcrafted furniture by Botswana artisans complements antiques\u2014vintage maps, Persian rugs\u2014from Bousfield's own collection. 011-27-11-447-1605; unchartedafrica.com\nGreen Cred: Beyond the extraordinary access it provides to the wilderness\u2014as well as the resident meerkats and brown hyenas\u2014San takes seriously the environmentalist axiom to leave no trace behind. At the end of every dry season, the whole place is packed up, with barely a footprint remaining. In season, Bousfield insists that jeeps drive in each other's tracks, to reduce land disruption, and solar panels provide enough energy to power almost the entire site. As for the tents, they were built with only sustainable Zimbabwean teak, harvested in accordance with guidelines from the Forest Stewardship Council.\nThis private-island hideaway in the Indian Ocean eschews the rustic-chic aesthetic of so many equatorial escapes. Instead, its 50 villas\u201414 of which are built over the water, many with their own pools\u2014exhibit a thoroughly modern sense of style. Referencing the wooden construction of the traditional Maldivian boats called dhoni, SCDA Architects of Singapore\u2014the firm behind the Armani Residences in Marassi Egypt, the W Bali, and Shanghai's Mandarin Oriental\u2014created sleek, clean-lined pavilions that are almost as visually arresting as the aquamarine waters that surround them. 011-960-682-1234; maldives.hadahaa.park.hyatt.com\nGreen Cred: Hadahaa was designed to be as environmentally unobtrusive as possible, leaving both the local vegetation and the surrounding coral reef untouched. Its water, energy, and waste management practices, as well as its construction and ongoing commitment to the local community, have earned it Silver EarthCheck Certification and the 2012 Green Good Design Award. There's even a marine biologist on staff, who works to uphold the resort's EarthCheck status.\nSonoma County: Land of wine, cheese, and, now, a smartly designed eco-conscious boutique hotel. With an undulating roofline inspired by the rolling hills of the surrounding wine valleys, h2 opened as a little green sibling to nearby Hotel Healdsburg, with just 36 rooms and suites. There is, however, a creekside pool and an intimate restaurant, Spoonbar, where the new head chef\u2014late of Napa's French Laundry\u2014turns out local-market-driven contemporary American fare. Works from local artists, commissioned in collaboration with Oakland's Swarm Gallery, adorn the property. 011-707-431-2202; h2hotel.com\nGreen Cred: H2 earned its LEED (Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design) Gold certification last year, winning points during construction for its use of Forest Stewardship Council\u2013approved and toxin-free materials and its recycling of 85 percent of construction debris. Other green gems include: a living roof to filter rainwater and insulate, solar panels to heat the pool and provide hot water, and complimentary bikes for riding between wineries, not to mention the bamboo floors and organic cotton linens. All told, the h2 uses nearly a third less energy than would be expected for a hotel of its size.\nThis scuba divers' mecca brings Maldives-style luxe to the Con Dao archipelago, a series of 16 islands about 150 miles off Vietnam's coast. Sitting on the archipelago's largest island, the resort's 50 villas, each with a private infinity pool, possess a mod look that wouldn't be out of place in Palm Springs\u2014all light wood, sliding glass window walls, and dramatically cantilevered rooflines. Two restaurants, a signature spa, and butler service complete the retreat, which was designed by AW2, the Paris-based architecture firm also behind the country's Nam Hai resort. 011-84-64-383-1222; sixsenses.com/SixSensesConDao/\nGreen Cred: Six Senses' company mission is to make all its properties carbon neutral by 2020, and Con Dao, having won the 2011 Green Good Design Award, is well on its way. The building materials came from local sustainable sources, and the pavilions have been sited to maximize airflow and reduce reliance on air-conditioning. Such careful positioning also left the environment largely untouched\u2014a requirement given that the vast majority of the island is a national park, including its 50 square miles of marine reserve.\nThe Hotel Imperial it's not, but this new member of the Design Hotels consortium is the first green hotel in Vienna to approach the grande dame's luster. Designed by award-winning local architects BWM Group and Michael Manzenreiter, the building's distinctive noirish look was inspired by the Viennese secessionist movement. The deep recesses of its distinctive oval windows become Biedermeier-style divans in each of the 31 rooms, the custom-made furniture and textiles reference the Vienna Workshop, and the chrome-nickel-and-marble bathrooms draw on Deco-era glamour. 011-43-1-532-22-50; hoteltopazz.com\nGreen Cred: In creating the hotel, the design team abided by the strictest green standards, incorporating such energy-saving materials as triple-paned tinted windows and LED lamps. The eco savvy continues at the restaurant, Bloom\u2014in Topazz's sister property, Hotel Lam\u00E9e, just across the strasse\u2014where the menu celebrates regional cuisine, organic ingredients, and eco-friendly wines.\nIndia's high-design boutique hotel brand expands to the country's latest high-tech capital with an adventurous design that feels like the future. Sporting exterior architecture\u2014including shimmering perforated-metal cladding\u2014by New York's Skidmore, Owings &amp;amp; Merrill, the 270-room haute spot's sumptuous, jewel-toned interiors represent a truly international coalition of aesthetic impresarios, including London's Conran &amp;amp; Partners and Australia's Chhada Siembieda. Frenchman Jean-Fran\u00E7ois Lesage created an entire suite that celebrates the signature hand embroidery of his Paris atelier (which also services Chanel's couture collections), and bespoke pieces throughout showcase the best of subcontinental design today. 011-91-40-4499-0000; theparkhotels.com\nGreen Cred: The Park Hyderabad received LEED Gold status in 2011 for its energy savings, water efficiency, reduced carbon emissions, and use of recycled materials. The building's sexy metal screens reduce light pollution and lets in enough sun to reduce guests' reliance on electric illumination. Those keeping it green while on the go will find charging points for electric cars and dedicated parking for bicycles.\nWhen designing this 20-suite retreat in the Tasmanian wilds, Robert Morris-Nunn, a past winner of the country's National Environmental Architecture Award, sought to create forms that reinterpreted the natural landscape even as their low profiles quietly disappeared into it. The curve of the UFO-like main building's roof\u2014made of local-wood beams covered with a silvery high-tech material called Polymea\u2014reflects the slope of the distant Hazard mountains, while the suite pavilions' lines mirror waves breaking on the nearby beach. Inside, quiet earth tones and natural woods pull from the palette of the forest surrounding the hotel. 011-61-3-6256-7888; saffire-freycinet.com\nGreen Cred: Clustering its buildings on a small percentage of its acreage, the hotel brought in some 30,000 native plants to restore the site, a former campground that had suffered extensive damage. It then increased its eco-operations by composting, recycling, limiting light pollution, collecting and conserving rainwater\u2014part of an effort to \"drought-proof\" the entire area\u2014and using energy-efficient windows, insulation, lighting, and air-conditioning. Local farms and purveyors provide the kitchen with much of what its own on-site garden can't produce.**\nKohn Pedersen Fox designed the exterior and Adam Tihany the interior of this urban resort\u2014boutique by Vegas standards at 392 rooms\u2014which rises 47 stories above the Strip. Part of the recently opened City Center complex, the resort joins shops, casinos, and other sinful diversions, all designed by an impressive roster of names (Norman Foster, Rafael Vi\u00F1oly, and Daniel Libeskind among them). For the Mandarin's part, its sleek glass exterior belies more sensual amenities within: Tihany's subtle Asian accents, star French chef Pierre Gagnaire's inventive cuisine, and the spa's pampering treatments, to name just three. 702-590-8888; mandarinoriental.com\nGreen Cred: Vegas may be an unlikely place for a green oasis, but City Center has earned six LEED Gold certifications, including one for the Mandarin, which has proven to be 34 percent more energy-efficient than required and to use almost half as much water as would be expected. The windowed fa\u00E7ade, made of sustainable materials, cuts down on heat absorption even as it lets in natural light. Inside, the hotel earned high marks for its use of CFL bulbs and toxin-free furnishings. The hotel's sushi bar, meanwhile, only serves sustainably caught fish.\nThe latest eco-chic arrival on Easter Island\u2014the enigmatic atoll 2,000 miles off the Chilean coast\u2014captures the unique architecture and culture of the local Rapa Nui population. Set near the island's only town and based on the layout of a traditional ceremonial village, the 75-room hotel's curving, grass-roofed pavilions offer ocean views through floor-to-ceiling windows. The lounges, reading room, and lobby are modeled on Rapa Nui homes, which look like upside-down canoes, while one of the three restaurants resembles a snail. Chilean interior designer Paula Guti\u00E9rrez introduced Polynesian prints, custom furniture, and pops of bright color to complement the abundance of natural materials. 011-56-2-957-0300; hangaroa.cl\nGreen Cred: Endemic materials form the hotel's pavilions both inside and out: Cypress branches provide structure; the sinks are sculpted of volcanic rock; the walls, floors, and the soaking tubs are crafted of clay. Hangaroa reduces its impact on a sensitive and remote ecosystem by using LED lights, recycling water, and serving organic and locally sourced food. Plus, more than 75 percent of the staff is Rapa Nui, demonstrating the hotel's commitment to the well-being of not only the land, but also its people."^^<http://www.w3.org/2001/XMLSchema#string>
<http://www.architecturaldigest.com/gallery/luxury-eco-friendly-hotels-slideshow>