2011 round up – EcoSalon

The Top Places & Spaces of 2011

Fiona Flores Watson — Sat, 31 Dec 2011 20:17:52 +0000

A look back at all the amazing places and spaces we can go to worldwide.

It’s time to look back at some of the fabulous, luxe, glamped out and gorgeous havens, hotels and resorts we’ve covered in Places & Spaces this year. Be it for for their standard-bearing eco-consciousness and innovative energy-saving, or inimitable style and originality (or, indeed all four), these hotels all merited mentioning. And now they bear ranking as our favorites.

Top LEED Certified (Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design)

CityFlatsHotel, Holland, Michigan

This LEED Gold-certified hotel has eco-friendly features such as extra-thick insulating curtains, large windows for natural lighting, recycled materials and intelligent occupancy systems to save on heating, cooling and illumination when you’re not there.

Bardessono, Yountville, California
Made from recycled materials and using only renewable energy sources, this is one of only two LEED Platinum certified hotels in the world. Temperature control includes simple but effective blinds, while the rooms are large and the food renowned. Free wine tastings – as you’d expect from a hotel in Napa Valley.

Crosby Street, New York
A converted warehouse in SoHo, this was one of New York’s first LEED Gold certified hotels, with sustainable power, recycled materials, a vegetable garden and chicken coop on the roof.

Orchard Garden, San Francisco
Non-toxic paint and recycled building materials and carpets are some of the features which led to this Union Square hotel being the third LEED-certified hotel in the US.

Top Roughing It

Canvas Hotel, Norway
On an island in a lake, this yurt hotel is aimed at cyclists. After a day on two wheels, ease your aching muscles in a sauna, or portable bathtubs – pick your preferred soaking spot; wild swimming inevitable.

Treehotel, Sweden
Glamping at its most original, this hotel in a Swedish forest has a UFO, a bird’s nest and a mirrored cube where you sleep. To get to the washing facilities, you have to go down steps, or across a bridge or walkway, which just adds to the sense of adventure. Don’t look down.

Tubohotel, Tepoztlan, Mexico
Cast-off concrete tubes offer a truly one-off experience, in this Mexican camp of cozy circular units. Mind your head.

Top Luxe

The Scarlet, Cornwall, UK
In a super-eco building (solar power – yes, in England; water recycling; and green-roof insulation), this beachfront hotel combines a spa using local, natural ingredients; outdoor hot tub with sea view; and funky-chic interiors. The best of contemporary English style – and hopefully some fine English weather.

Alila Villas Uluwatu, Bali
Overlooking the sea, this resort has huge villas made of local materials, naturally ventilated with private pools and cabañas – as well as water recycling, filtration and conservation. The ultimate in genuine eco-luxury.

Hidden Hotel, Paris
Get a dose of French chic at this discreet boutique hotel near the Arc de Triomphe, furnished in wood, linen, cotton and stone. Feel the textural heaven.

For Foodies Only

Rosalie Bay, Dominica, Caribbean
Colonial-style beachfront resort where the chef tends his own organic garden and produces contemporary-Caribbean finger-licking-good dishes, with an accent on seafood (conch ravioli). Eco features include wind power and water filtration; the spa uses local natural products and the garden’s bursting with Frangipani and Hibiscus.

Banjaran Hot Springs Retreat, Malaysia
Tropical fruit and vegetables grown in this lakeside resort’s own organic garden are used in the spa restaurant’s concoctions, while the wine bar is in a limestone cave. With naturally-heated water, the villas feature private geothermal pools; spa treatments use home-grown organic fruit; and you can zen out in meditation, crystal and sauna caves (don’t worry, no bats).

Top Beachy Locales

Six Senses Ninh Van Bay, Vietnam

Accessible only by boat, this resort in the South China Sea has a spa offering “Slow Life” treatments, and organic meals cooked in traditional clay pots. Villas (some thatched) – either on the beach, over the water, on the mountain or in the jungle – have their own plunge pool and terrace or sundeck. Rainwater collection, responsible fish sourcing, local community projects and a herb and vegetable garden show the resort’s green credentials. Tempted to sabotage that boat and get stuck here?

Eco Beach, Australia
This resort in northwestern Australia tells you to forget your shoes – stay in wood-framed tents with decks, or plusher villas, all steps away from the beach. With solar panels, an organic vegetable garden, and chickens. Beach bunnies will be in heaven.

Terranea Resort, Rancho Palos Verdes, CA

This family-friendly resort just outside Los Angeles, in sprawling ranch style, overlooks the Pacific Ocean – unusually, pets are also welcome. The eco-golf course has special wetland plants used for filtering water. Just close enough to the madness of Hollywood – but not too close.

Bay of Fires, Tasmania

This intimate beach-side lodge, with just 10 simple guest rooms where all meals are included, was built using local materials, and boasts solar power and water recycling. You can only get there by boat, helicopter or 4WD. What it lacks in plushness, it more than makes up for with unrestricted 360-degree views over the coastal wilderness. A 21st-century escape (bet there’s no mobile coverage).

Top All Around
For their environmental high score, their originality and their style.

Gaia Hotel & Reserve, Costa Rica
In a nature reserve on the Pacific coast, this luxury adult-only resort with spa gets you close to nature like nowhere else – monkeys play in the rainforest just outside your window; suites have balconies, terraces or private pools. Water-saving measures and biological waste treatment, with natural ventilation and cooling. For nature-loving, luxe spa babies.

Places & Spaces is a travel guide that will inspire you to carve out a vacation on your calendar. All of the gorgeous locations and accommodations in our guide share our concern for the environment. From tent glamping to lavish built environments, fair warning, you’ll feel compelled to pack your suitcase.

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The 10 Stories That Defined Shelter in 2011

K. Emily Bond — Mon, 19 Dec 2011 15:59:03 +0000

A look back at what made Shelter feel like home this year.

Shelter is a section where we deal with varied topics like interior and exterior design, architecture, art and truly pretty things. But there’s also a philosophy behind it. In our eyes, shelter is a refuge and a place to store more than your stuff – it’s your home.

It needn’t always be perfect like a box store catalog. Home is a messy, motley forum in which we debate, luxuriate, walk around naked and burp out loud. It’s a sanctuary for our memories and a think tank for our ideas. It’s a special place, and here are ten stories that set Shelter at EcoSalon apart from the rest in 2011.

Cleaning and Detoxing, The Green Way

One of our first orders of housekeeping business this year was identifying contaminants and other toxins in our houses that are making us sick. Then we got our hands dirty with greener ways to clean it.

(Un)Decorating

The release of Christiane Lemieux’s book Undecorate: The No-Rules Approach to Interior Design inspired us to reconsider the art of not decorating, which we did in a three part series. We went with our instincts here, here and here again, which you then tweeted, “liked” and Stumbled a thousand times over.

Slow Furniture, Artisanship and DIY

Per the Chinese calendar, this was the year of the burrowing rabbit. For us, it was also the year of the new artisan, the down-to-earth do-it-yourselfer and slow furniture maker.

Home-studding

We knew you wouldn’t be able to resist these guy gardeners, a.k.a. manscapers. They showed us the fun side of homesteading, unlike a certain lot who shall remain nameless.

Nostalgia for Nostalgia’s Sake

We pondered beautiful staircases, admired the A-frame, and studied the tragic beauty of Detroit’s abandonment problem. Above all, however, we longed for a simpler time: when yesteryear’s Brangelina were a pair of sweethearts named Eames who starred in America’s first truly contemporary design movement.

Terrariums!

This year you couldn’t toss a stone (or read a design blog) without crashing into the glass walls of a terrarium. We spoke with our favorite terrarium makers, Twig in Brooklyn. We later lusted for more.

Art That Made Us Blink

Curator, blogger and EcoSalon columnist Dominique Pacheco premiered her weekly feature, heARTbeat this year and wowed us with her stunning and at times provocative finds, exploring the intersection of eco and art. From confronting images of smoking children to Miru Kim’s nudes, heARTbeat was as much about the gritty as it was the pretty.

We Reused, and Reused Again

We gave you twelve reasons to never throw another cup away again, and if you were still short of ideas a dozen more ways to repurpose a glass bottle. Any questions?

We Changed Your Urban Outlook

We lent some perspective on cities way more expensive than your own (Oslo, anyone?) and some astrological data to consider for your next move.

We Globe Trotted

Our series Places & Spaces took us all over the globe, most memorably beaming us up into a tree house in Sweden.

In all, 2011 was an inspiring year to be home curled up next to EcoSalon on a screen of your choosing.

We’ll strive to do the same in 2012.

2011 in Review: How Small Spaces Trumped McMansions

Images: Nurse Kate

The post The 10 Stories That Defined Shelter in 2011 appeared first on EcoSalon.