Leaderboard Banner

2014 Top Ten Green Spa Awards

by Organic Spa Magazine

It is our great pleasure to honor these outstanding spas for their inspired and passionate commitment to environmentally friendly practices. Many maintain a level of luxury that can make it a challenge, and we applaud their sustainability initiatives, green building practices, and top-notch eco spa treatments.

- The Editors

The Allison

Newberg, Oregon

Located in the heart of Oregon’s Willamette Valley (45 minutes from downtown Portland), the idyllic 85-room LEED Gold-certified resort features solar-powered hot water and electricity, green sedum eco-roofing, waste and recycle management, green cleaning and laundry practices. The Oregon Wine Country property also reduces its carbon footprint with candles recycled from wine bottles, cloth napkins and recycled paper products. theallison.com

Andaz Maui

Wailea, Hawaii

The setting is a Hawaiian island paradise, and the owners want to keep it that way. They rely on solar technology to power hot water—along with low-flow plumbing—throughout the resort. Food and ingredients used in spa treatments are organically grown and sourced through local farmers—The Spa Apothecary incorporates local herbs, plants and fruits for custom treatments. Cleaning products are eco-certified, and glassware comes from recycled wine bottles. maui.andaz.hyatt.com

The Broadmoor

Colorado Springs, Colorado

This historic family-style resort, set in the mountains of Colorado Springs, is totally modern when it comes to energy conservation, with an energy management system that controls light, heat and cooling throughout the property. Gas usage is cut significantly by a waste heat recovery unit for laundry systems, the pool features a backwash system to reduce water waste and composting and recycling initiatives are everywhere. broadmoor.com

Devil's Thumb Ranch

Tabernash, Colorado

The owners of this pristine property, set on 6,000 acres two hours from Denver, are so committed to sustainable practices, they won an award from the EPA for Environmentally Sensitive Remodeling and Expansion when they renovated 10 years ago. Buildings are geothermally heated and built with reclaimed wood from beetlekill or recycled barns. The ranch sources from local organic farmers and ranchers, has its own water filtration and purification system, recycles and relies on low-phosphorus cleaning products. devilsthumbranch.com

Mohonk Mountain House

New Paltz, New York

Sustainability and eco-stewardship are in the bones of this grand historic hotel, an environmental conservator since it opened in upstate New York in 1869. The 30,000-square-foot energy-efficient Spa was built from local stone and timber, and features a geothermal heating and cooling system and a 2,000-square-foot “green” roof with a planting bed that grows indigenous plants, attracts birds and butterflies, provides green insulation and helps manage rainwater runoff. The spa features pure, natural plant-based lines for its renowned treatments. mohonk.com

Montage Deer Valley

Park City, Utah

This Silver LEED-certified hotel and spa is the first in Utah to earn that certification. Montage Deer Valley is a true steward of the spectacular mountain environment in Utah, with an Environmental Impact Committee that develops green programs and a director of sustainability, who manages company-wide initiatives. montagedeervalley.com

The Umstead

Cary, North Carolina

The elegant 150-room Umstead, located in North Carolina’s Raleigh-Durham Research Triangle, relies on a 15-member in-house Sustainability Team to monitor green progress. The owners’ mission statement centers on environmental stewardship: There is an electric vehicle charging station on-property, water-saving initiatives saved one million gallons last year, recycling is up 15 percent. The property’s five-star restaurant, Heron’s, sources 60 to 80 percent of ingredients locally and sent 28,000 pounds to compost last year. theumstead.com

Salamander Resort & Spa

Middleburg, Virginia

Set in the heart of Virginia horse country, 45 minutes from Washington, DC, the recently opened resort has found the sweet spot between luxury, sustainability and wellness. On track to LEED certification, Salamander has placed 200 out of 340 acres in a nature conservancy, celebrates the surrounding area (with 30 vineyards within 30 minutes of the resort) by sourcing locally for the state-of-the-art spa and kitchen (featuring vegan entrees). salamanderresort.com

Solage Calistoga

Calistoga, California

A member of the Green Hotel Association, Solage was one of the first resorts in Napa Valley to put sustainable practices into policy. An electric car-charging station, recycling, solar rooftop panels to conserve energy, staff bicycles, salt-water filtration in the geothermal and swimming pools, irrigation through reclaimed water are just a few green initiatives embraced by this luxuriously charming resort. solagecalistoga.com

Vivanta by Taj - Mahikeri, Coorg

Karnataka, India

Such care was taken in building this stunning rainforest property that the site was surveyed to ensure that every tree was left untouched during construction. Building techniques are based on those of local indigenous people, who were employed in the build, and used bricks from displaced soil and local granite left unpolished to keep it eco-friendly. The property sources from a natural water basin, lighting is LED, food is farmed locally with beekeepers on property and it is a natural aviary. vivantabytaj.com

You may also like