caught fish and organic vegetables are served in the resorts’ restaurants.
• All hotel guests are required to carbon-offset their trip. The hotel does the calculation and adds it to the final bill. The money goes to The Converging World, a charity that generates clean energy in developing countries.
• The furniture is made from recycled teak, bamboo, and coconut wood
• Suppliers are requested to reduce the amount of packaging they use or change to more environmentally friendly material.
The Shivdasanis plan to make their original Soneva Fushi resort carbon neutral by 2008 and carbon-emission free by 2010. To eliminate the use of fossil fuels, they’re installing wind turbines and solar technology. The plan is to implement these technologies in more of their resorts.
And on a more personal level, when Eva and Sonu travel back to Europe from the Maldives, she carries boxes of old batteries to be recycled.
For more about Six Senses, see www.sixsenses.com. 0
Mia Ljungberg is a noted travel writer and Organic Style’s resident eco-travel expert.
Opened in November 2007, Six Senses Hideaway Yao Noi is located on beautiful Koh Yao Noi, an island in Phang Nga Bay off Phuket in southern Thailand, known for its breathtaking scenery. Phang Nga Bay, about 400 square kilometres, received national park status in 1981. Over 80 percent of the park is covered by the Andaman Sea, with more than 42 large and small islands.
Six Senses Hideaway Yao Noi was designed to reflect the warmth and welcoming spirit of a plantation estate—with a commitment to preserving the environment of the paradise in which it’s set. Perched on a hilltop, the resort offers magnificent views of the surrounding sea and the neighboring monolithic limestone islands.
The resort’s many amenities start when you arrive: You are welcomed by your own private butler, who will look after you throughout your stay. There are 56 villas, each with open-style bathrooms, and some
with their own spa room. Each villa has its own 18-square-meter pool and sundeck, affording total privacy. Your butler can arrange for private poolside dining: champagne breakfast, picnic, or evening barbecue with a personal chef and waiter.
The resort’s main house includes a pool with two sunken bars and seating areas, as well as a library, a glassed-in two-level wine cellar, and an open-plan bar. Meal options include a buffet in the casual living room, and an open cold-kitchen and patisserie, where guests are welcome to help themselves. There’s also a more formal dining room.
The Six Senses Spa provides a relaxing, revitalizing experience, with well-trained therapists offering a range of holistic wellness and pampering treatments. Be sure to ask about the 4-hour experience that includes an herbal foot soak, steam and body scrub, facial treatment, traditional Thai massage, healing water treatment, and herbal tea.
References:
Archives