Whether you’re ready to book your next vacation (or business trip) or simply looking for inspiration, we rounded up the best sustainable hotel booking websites we could find. They aren’t all perfect, but with good intentions and criteria, these sites are the best way to find sustainable stays (and contrary to popular belief, sustainable does not equal extra cost).
The demand (and supply) for sustainable accommodation and green hotels is growing, but we’re not where we need to be yet. You might see a third-party sustainability certification or sustainable badge on a hotel’s website, but sustainable practices are not always regulated in the hospitality industry, so it can be tough to cut through the greenwashing.
The simplest guidance we can give you is to prioritize the following three things when considering where to book: footprint, culture and community.
Also, an important factor to remember is that sustainability practices go way beyond just environmental impact and carbon footprint.If you think about your environmental footprint, respect local culture and their everyday life; and always support local communities, your sustainability journey will be off to a great start.
The easiest way is to start small, supporting the family-owned and locally staffed properties to have the most positive impact. Certifications help, but the most important thing is to seek sustainable hotels that are making every effort to do the best they can, prioritizing people and planet over profit, keeping global warming and climate change top of mind.
Small-to-medium sites
Kiwano
More than a hotel booking site, Kiwano is committed to improving the hotel industry through education, resource sharing and storytelling. Before a hotel can even be considered on the site, Kiwano gets to know the founders, their mission, values and social impact before recommending it as a sustainable property.
Their in-depth leaf rating system is legit and if hotels are simply recycling and eliminating plastic bottles and single-use plastics, they don’t even make the cut. For this reason, the portfolio is small, but intentional, making it one of our favorite, well-rounded sustainable hotel booking websites.
Select Green Hotels
Small, but selective, Select Green Hotels is a sleek site that focuses on boutique properties that appeal to conscious and design loving travelers. With just under 100 hotels, each is hand selected by the team. Hotels are assessed according to an eight point sustainability criteria scale. The different criteria cover community, conservation, energy, food, waste management, materials, wellness and water consumption and are noted accordingly.
Socialbnb
Launched in 2018, Socialbnb began as a college project among two German friends who were inspired by a trip to Cambodia. It’s a booking platform, yet also connects global travelers to ecological and social projects around the world. Many of the projects offer accommodations that can be booked directly on the online platform.
The social enterprise’s long term goal is to create a source of funding for local projects that are committed to local people. In addition, they hope to enable a unique and authentic experience for travelers. Driven by impact and committed to transparency, their team is small and shares exactly how your bookings make a difference in their Impact Report.
Good.travel
Conceived by the Good Group (the hotel group who owns the Good Hotel in London and Guatemala), Good.travel is a booking platform for sustainable travel options. They select hotels based on three purpose categories: Sustainability and the Environment, Community Impact and Diversity Inclusion.
The easy-to-navigate site has over 500 hotels in Europe and Latin America. For every booking, they donate a percentage to the Good Training Program, a bespoke hospitality training course for the unemployed or homeless.
Green Pearls
With a global portfolio, Green Pearls is one of the few sustainable hotel booking websites that also features restaurant recommendations. For eco-friendly hotels and vacation rentals, they have an extensive vetting process to review sustainability efforts.
In order to qualify, members must fulfil criteria by at least 80% to be listed. The four-part ‘Green Pearls’ scoring scale includes environmental protection, local and authentic experiences, cultural commitment and giving back..
Larger portfolios, (but not 100% sustainable)
Bookdifferent.com
A social enterprise founded in the Netherlands in 2012, Bookdifferent.com, states they are committed to helping consumers cut through greenwashing to make sustainable travel choices. They feature hotels with ecolabel certifications and then rate them through their staygreencheck, which allocates up to four green hearts per property.
When you search for a hotel, the most sustainable places show up on top, based on how many green hearts they have. These hearts represent the staygreencheck best practices criteria: Management , Fair & Social, Culture friendly and Nature & Environment.
Boasting over 1 million properties, the site features many hotel chains with little to no green hearts, so while you can search filters to find the most sustainable options, you do need to do a little more digging to find out what the green cred actually is.
Ecobnb
Founded by Simone Riccardi, the Italian-based Ecobnb.com is a marketplace for eco friendly accommodations. Featuring an assortment of lodgings, they span rural retreats, B&Bs in historical villages, treehouses, bio hotels, ice-igloos and carbon neutral chalets and mountain retreats.
Each property must meet at least five of their 10 environmental requirements to be listed. Requirements include things such as organic food (are they zero waste?), green building, renewable energy, easy access via public transportation and recovery and reuse of rainwater.
Ecohotels
Founded in 2020 as an alternative to the large online booking platforms like Expedia and Booking.com, EcoHotels.com is Copenhagen-based. Originally, it focused on eco-certified hotels with certifications acknowledged by the Global Sustainable Tourism Council (GSTC).
However, it has transitioned its model to feature ALL hotels, third party certifications or not, which can be misleading if you weren’t aware of the change. This is a very important factor to consider when making your travel plans.
With over 100,000 hotels listed from around the world, all certifications are listed but you’ll have to filter if you want to see those properties. We always recommend supporting the smaller, locally-owned hotels over the big chains, certified or not, as some hotels may be incredibly sustainable but simply can’t afford the certification process. This is a very important factor to consider and does require you to dig a little deeper when making your travel plans.
Best sites for rural accommodations
Billed as ‘spaces with soul,’ Kip Hideaways is a UK-based membership site that curates a portfolio that spans the British Isles. With everything from designer houses to eco cabins, gorgeous cottages and boutique shepherd huts, every type of accommodation is unique, locally-owned and swoonworthy.
Not necessarily focused on green certifications, Kip Hideaways still prioritizes eco conscious features, walkability, availability of electric vehicle charging and has some excellent options for glamping, treehouse stays and unique sleeps.
Escapada Rural
Since 2007, Escapada Rural has been powering bookings for rural accommodations in Spain and Portugal. B&Bs called ‘casas rurales,’ or rural houses, are the norm on the Iberian peninsula.
With over 16,000 rural lodgings listed, the site strengthens local economies for many of these small, family-owned and operated businesses in areas off the beaten path.
Fairbnb.coop
Self-proclaimed as community powered tourism, the European-based Fairbnb.coop has a unique model. They give both travellers and locals the opportunity to support social and ecological projects for the local communities.
On their platform, 50% of the platform booking fee is used to fund a community project in the area you visit. Considered an ethical version of Airbnb, fairbnb.coop is definitely worth a look when searching for accommodations that give back to the community you’re visiting!
Nekatur
Specific to Spain’s Basque Country, Nekatur is a leading site for rural apartments, b&bs and farmhouses. A tourism association working to promote rural tourism, Nekatur isn’t a flashy site, but emphasizes and supports the role of women the importance of supporting rural farmhouses.
Best sites for sustainable luxury
Cayuga Collection
Owned by Andrea Bonilla and Hans Pfister, Cayuga Sustainable Hospitality manages a collection of seven independently-owned sustainable luxury hotels in different regions of Central America.
The collection employs more than 450 local staff and protects more than 1,500 acres of rainforest. With a 100% commitment to sustainable luxury, Cayuga Collection has been leading the way for a more sustainable travel industry since 1999.
Oliver’s Travels (Sustainable Villa Collection)
On Oliver’s Travels, you can find just about any type of holiday rental. The UK-based booking platform has many lovely options, but note that not ALL are sustainable. To find those, make sure you filter for the Sustainable Villa Collection.
In order to qualify for the collection, they have specific criteria. They include support of local community; renewable and green energy, like solar panels; the ability to get to the property by train; accessibility to public transport, or if not, the offering of bicycles; onsite recycling and gardens; and protection of local culture and heritage.
If you know of other great sustainable hotel booking websites that aren’t listed here, please let us know!
MICHELLE ARELLANO MARTIN
