Whether you want a peaceful retreat in the heart of wine country, a city getaway or a vacation by the water, these seven green hotels in Northern California will give you a comfortable night’s sleep at a property that’s dedicated to helping the planet.
h2hotel
When building the gold LEED certified h2hotel in downtown Healdsburg in northern Sonoma County on the site of a former gas station, the team worked with local community groups to help clean and protect Foss Creek, which runs behind the hotel. As far as green hotels in northern California go, this is one of the leaders.
From the ground up, the 36-room hotel was designed with sustainability in mind. Known for its rolling green roof, it’s covered with native plants that help filter and capture rainwater and provide insulation.
Solar panels are used to heat the water for the pool and the rooms, and if you want to explore downtown Healdsburg without a car, bikes are provided for guests free of charge.
The lobby has a lounge area filled with books and games, and the rooms have an eco-luxe minimalist feel with decor in soothing soft greens, whites and wood tones.
Throughout the hotel, you can find artwork made by local artists using recycled or sustainably sourced materials. Ned Kahn’s “Spoonfall” sculpture at the entrance is made from 2,000 espresso spoons that move in a mesmerizing pattern as water from the rain gathering system drips over them. Stephen Galloway’s “Canopy Dreams” is a series of pieces throughout the hotel that highlight native trees, notably the live oaks.
Spoonbar, the onsite restaurant, uses sustainably sourced ingredients from local growers whenever possible in their seasonably changing menu and it makes for dishes that are not only delicious, but help give you a true flavor of the area.
Edgewood Tahoe
The 154-room Edgewood Tahoe, right on the edge of Lake Tahoe in Stateline, Nevada, is a combo of stylish luxury and traditional alpine lodge complete with a spa, lakeside pool and hot tub, as well as three restaurants where the chefs prioritize local and sustainably-sourced ingredients.
The silver LEED-certified property works to make sure Edgewood Creek, which runs through the grounds, stays clean and clear to allow native fish to use it to spawn. Instead of using chillers to cool the water used on the property, lake water is used to cool it, and the water is then safely returned to the lake.
Edgewood Tahoe also helps treat and remove half a million pounds of sediment from the lake, helping keep Tahoe blue. Partially used soaps are donated to Clean the World, other bath products are in refillable containers, and the hotel doesn’t use single-use plastics.
To get a full appreciation and understanding of the property’s sustainability initiatives, the hotel hosts free, guided sustainability tours through the grounds every Tuesday in the summer.
Portola Hotel & Spa
Portola Hotel & Spa in Monterey is near Old Fisherman’s Wharf, downtown, and next door to the convention center, making it a popular spot for business travelers and families looking to explore this historic coastal city.
As you walk into the 379-room hotel, you’ll notice the tall ficus trees throughout the bustling lobby. The room was built around the trees in the 1970s, and they’ve never been watered— water that runs down the hill next to the hotel waters them!
The hotel is silver LEED Certified with appliances and fixtures designed to consume as little water and energy as possible.
Recyclable and compostable material from guest rooms is sorted and processed separate from the trash, and the hotel has done such a good job with this program that they’ve been used as an example of what to do right for other area hotels.
1 Hotel San Francisco
1 Hotel San Francisco opened in 2022 along the city’s famed Embarcadero. It’s an urban retreat that wraps you in a feeling of soothing sophistication with creamy neutral tones accented with natural wood, stone and plants throughout.
The hotel extends the brand’s dedication to sustainability and wellness with design that incorporates salvaged wood in the 7,000 square foot lobby and real moss that grows along the door frames of the guest rooms.
Water refilling stations are on every floor, a rooftop garden and beehive help supply the restaurant, the minibar is plastic-free and they even have a way for guests to leave a piece of clothing to be donated to a local charity.
Their commitment to the planet continues in the indoor-outdoor restaurant Terrene. It serves tasty dishes made with local ingredients whenever possible. The same is true for the cocktail menu that features drinks made with ingredients from within 50 miles, like the Fog City Vesper, made with St. George Botanivore gin and Hanger 1 fennel vodka.
We could keep going, which only confirms how much we love the 1 Hotel brand and definitely think this is one of the most green hotels in Northern California.
Bernardus Lodge
Bernardus Lodge in Carmel Valley is the epitome of wine country elegance, with features like fireplaces and two-person soaking tubs in each of the spacious 73 guestrooms. While you’re there, you can play bocce ball, tennis and croquet, take a complimentary yoga class, or go for a guided hike.
Don’t forget to wander through the organic garden and orchard on the 28-acre property where you’ll see veggies and herbs that end up in the dishes at the Lucia Restaurant & Bar. You can also sign up to take a guided tour with the chef to find out more about the love and care that goes into the produce.
There are plenty of native flowers and plants that the resort’s thousands of bees love, and their honey is collected and used in both the restaurant and the spa during the year. Many of the plants through the sprawling grounds of the resort, including the croquet lawn, are watered with reclaimed water from the property itself.
All-natural bath and body products are used in the rooms and in the spa, and they recycle their kitchen grease into biofuel and compost their kitchen scraps.
Farmhouse Inn
Farmhouse Inn is a boutique inn that is nestled in the woods in Sonoma County’s Russian River Valley. All about rustic refinement, the property features daily local wine tastings set amidst lush gardens.
Owned by Joe and Catherine Bartolomei, a brother-sister team of fifth generation Sonoma County farmers, they source a lot of the seasonal produce and protein for the Michelin-starred Restaurant at Farmhouse Inn and the more relaxed Farmstand restaurant from their own farm.
Kitchen scraps go to compost or to feed the inn’s 80 chickens. What they can’t produce themselves, they get from area farms and ranches whenever possible.
Many of the 25 rooms on the ten-acre property boast jetted tubs and steam showers and each has refillable, organic and locally-sourced bath products. In the spa, they use a number of specially designed soaks, scrubs, and lotions made by local purveyors McEvoy Ranch and Sumbody with organic, natural ingredients.
The hotel has their own still and sparkling water filtration system and guests are provided with glass bottles to use while at the hotel. They also have three electric car chargers and all things considered, this is one of our favorite green hotels for a cozy retreat in Northern California.
Stanford Inn & Resort
Stanford Inn & Resort is tucked up on a hillside meadow overlooking Mendocino Bay along California’s iconic Highway 1 north of San Francisco. It was opened by married couple Jeff and Joan Stanford, who opened it in the 1980s to be a place where they and guests could live mindfully and celebrate the energy of the earth.
The rooms at the laid-back, eco-resort have a cozy, cabin vibe with redwood and pine-paneled walls and ceilings and wood-burning fireplaces. Certified organic gardens can be found on much of the resort’s ten acres, and the chef uses them to help stock the kitchen at the hotel’s plant-based Ravens Restaurant. They have electric car charging stations, leftover food is composted and they recycle all the materials that they can.
They also run an Environmental Leadership Field School for college students on the property, where they learn about organic farming and sustainable food production. For guests, there are seasonal packages centered around healthy living, nutrition and wellness, and they have partnered with the nearby Catch A Canoe & Bicycles Too, to offer guests tours of Big River in locally handcrafted redwood outrigger canoes.
KRISTIN CONARD
