Increasingly, we want to know that the places we stay are not just doing no harm, they’re actively doing good: for their natural environment, for wildlife conservation, for staff and local communities. One of the leaders in this field is New Zealand’s magical Te Waonui Forest Retreat, which guests visit on Luxury Gold’s 19-day The Long White Cloud journey.

Designed with sustainability in mind from top to bottom, it’s visitors’ first stay after their entry point of Christchurch; tucked away on the west coast of the country’s South Island, it’s an exclusive and atmospheric base for visiting the Franz Josef Glacier.

To find out more about how this five-star hotel manages to seamlessly combine luxury with sustainability, we spoke with Richard Hayman, one of the architects that originally worked on the forest retreat. 

Green at Heart

Shrouded in dense, unspoiled green forest with snow-capped peaks visible just above, you’ll enjoy a private balcony and terrace here – perfectly for listening to the call of native songbirds. New Zealand, it goes without saying, is a world leader in sustainable tourism; but even on a scene this dense with innovative retreats, this hotel stands out.

“I remember day one when we first found the site, walking through the native bush and seeing these fantastic trees which have never been felled,” says Richard. “I thought, wow, building in this space is a real privilege. So we tried to keep as much of that bush atmosphere as we could.”

Sustainable and stylish

Te Waonui Forest Retreat was designed as “passively” as possible, he explains; that is, every attempt was made to make it low-emission and energy efficient for its entire lifetime. This involves using low-carbon, easily available timber, overhanging and slats keeping heat from the sun out of the building without the need for air-conditioning. “We tried to have very high insulation levels, no energy heat pumps, lots of overshadowing in terms of the building design keeping the sun out,” says Richard. “We were very careful about sourcing non-rainforest hardwoods and timber.”

Inside the building, LED lighting and use of natural light keep things energy-efficient, cleaning is chemical-free and recycling policies are stringent throughout the property. Furniture and fittings make use of local materials, such as New Zealand natural wool carpets, organic cotton and even possum-skin cushioning. Sensor lights automatically shut off when no one’s in the room, while water is saved via flow restrictors in showers. All staff are highly trained in sustainable methods of catering, cleaning and service.

A Truly Luxurious Forest Retreat

That’s not to say you’ll feel like you’re doing a PhD in sustainability; this is a luxe holiday hideaway at heart. As well as those birdsong-filled balconies, there’s a fine dining restaurant open to views of the virgin forest and peaks outside; rooms have luxury bedding and designer furnishings. And there’s plenty of local character: “Look out for Kiwi touches in terms of art and materials,” says Hayman. “The drapes are inspired by our native alpine parrot bird, the Kea ‒ the underside of its wing has bright oranges and reds against a khaki feather. The bar is inspired by coal and by glow worms.”

One of his favourite features are the ethically-sourced bamboo keycards, which can also be used as luggage tags. Clean and green power is also hugely important. “In New Zealand we are lucky enough to have some very clean and green electricity; ours is hydro-, wind- and solar-generated power from our provider Meridian. Where we do have to use natural gas, we’re looking at ways to reduce that or increase efficiency,” says Hayman. And projects are constantly reviewed, and ongoing. One recent movement saw 375 punga ferns planted around the property to restore parts of the native forest.

Incredible Nature on Your Doorstep

This area of New Zealand is special, say the team. It’s wild, it’s irrepressible, and guests are given the privilege of interacting with it all, close up. “Te Waonui Forest Retreat is a great place to remind you of how elemental nature is,” says Hayman. “Our guests can get involved in that to a greater or lesser extent depending on how adventurous they are. Bush walks, kayaking on the lagoon, spotting white herons, climbing, even helicopter flights up to the glacier. it’s a chance to get up close to the most rugged environment in New Zealand.”

Three more Luxury Gold accommodation choices that champion sustainability:

Inkaterra Machu Picchu Pueblo, Peru

Acknowledged by the United Nations as the World’s First ‘Climate Positive’ Hotel Brand, Inkaterra immerses guests in a planet-friendly lifestyle. From solar panels for power to local education initiatives, as well as fittings from local craftspeople, textiles from local Alpaca wool and recycled-fabric slippers, this lodge close to bucket-list site Machu Picchu has an entirely carbon-neutral ethos.

Visit on: Grand South America.

Pilgrimage Village, Hue, Vietnam

 

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This unique stay started as a craftsman’s village, where owner Le Van Truong could help connect expert local makers with visitors to Vietnam and boost the local economy. Now it has traditionally styled houses and pool villas for guests to stay over; and the team has made sustainability top priority, from sensors to shut off any unused lights or electronics to chemical-free cleaning protecting the biodiversity, water waste-reduction techniques in place and 95% of staff employed from the local area.

Stay there on: Inspiring Indochina.

Sails in the Desert, Ayers Rock, Australia

 

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This desert oasis in Uluru has an entire solar field that produces 45% of its energy, not to mention a waste minimisation programme to avoid sending waste to landfill, and an ongoing mission to raise awareness of wildlife conservation among its guests. A certified Advanced Ecotourism property, Sails in the Desert partners with the indigenous Anangu community on storytelling experiences and champions Aboriginal art in its onsite gallery, as well as training the next generation to increase the indigenous presence in the tourism industry.

Spend the night on: Inspiring Australia.

In the high-end dining scene, sustainability is now more than a buzzword: it’s a layer of design and operations built into the fabric of a new dining venue, with budding restaurateurs and top chefs alike keen to limit waste and make the most of what’s local and seasonal to them. In fact, the world’s cutting-edge hospitality moguls know that making a restaurant greener can be huge fun, finding innovative ways to channel sustainable power sources, or out-of-the-box ways to use food waste in everything from biofuel to sauces and cordials. 

Sustainable fine dining is one of the most progressive categories of all, with luxury consumers eager to spend on lavish dinners they can feel good about.

Fyn, Cape Town

Photo credit: @fynrestaurantcpt on Instagram

South African pioneer Fyn won this year’s Flor de Caña Award for sustainability in the World’s 50 Best Restaurants awards. With a name inspired by the country’s national fynbos flower (pronounced “Fayn”), Peter Tempelhoff’s restaurant employs hyper-local ingredients and uses Japanese techniques to make delicate creations; the team pays close attention to foraged local wonders like kelp, sea lettuce and dune spinach, as well as partnering with the country’s most ethical producers and fishermen for meat and fish. 

More than half of the menu is vegetarian or vegan-friendly, and staff are trained in foraging and careful water management to avoid waste. There’s a social enterprise element, too: they work with a Cape Town initiative to train up young chefs from disadvantaged backgrounds.

Experience South Africa in gourmet style on Luxury Gold’s 9-Day Spectacular South Africa journey

nôl, Tokyo

Photo credit: @nol.jp on Instagram

This moodily-lit, chef’s table style restaurant was awarded the Michelin Green Star this year, taking Tokyo’s Green Star restaurants to 11 ‒ the most sustainable fine dining restaurants in a single city. Chef Tatsuya Noda refers to the dining room as a “kitchen space”, creating dishes passed down through his family, such as his grandmother’s home pickles and his mother’s roasted rice, for just a small group of diners. 

Noda’s “Garbage Soup” was singled out by Michelin as an exceptional waste-preventing dish; another low-waste initiative includes creating dishes from sturgeon fish, which are usually discarded after their caviar is removed.

Immerse yourself in Japan’s time-honored traditions on Luxury Gold’s 11-Day Majestic Japan journey.

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Apricity, London

Photo credit: @apricityrestaurant on Instagram

Vegans will feel right at home at this soothing, light-filled space in London’s Mayfair, with veg-stacked dishes like butterhead lettuce with cultured miso aioli and crispy kale and celeriac orzotto with confit chestnut gracing the a la carte menu. 

Awarded a Michelin Green Star in 2023, Chantelle Nicholson and team have also won Innovator of the Year at the National Restaurant Awards and a Grosvenor Sustainability Award for its circular economy values. Pared-back, distressed walls are pepped up with hanging plants and trendily upcycled furniture and fixtures: recycled tiles and chairs made from old Coca-Cola bottles, saving them from going to landfill.

London’s calling on Luxury Gold’s 10-Day British Royale journey 

Toyo Eatery, Philippines

Winner of the Flor de Caña sustainability award 2023 in the 50 Best Restaurants in Asia, this Manila restaurant does everything it can to champion Filipino people and their produce. Shockingly for a Filipino eatery, there’s no beef on the menu ‒ owners Jordy and May Navarra deemed cattle farming methods too harmful to the environment, and, though they serve other meats, there’s an entirely vegan tasting menu option. 

Every ingredient here is local, organic and traceable ‒ think black rice, coconut, banana and taro ‒ making sure local workers benefit from the supply chain; and the team has bought forest and farmland with an aim to become zero-waste by 2025, growing their own produce using any food waste as compost. 

We also think you’ll like: Why South Africa is the ultimate setting for a gourmet road trip

Aponiente, Cadiz, Spain

Seafood lovers should sail, paddle or swim to this waterside spot in southwestern Spain, where chef Ángel León is on a mission to showcase the marine ingredients we don’t typically see on a Michelin-level plate. Abundantly available fish like mackerel and hake crop up on his menus, but also sea urchin, tuna milt, deep sea algae and sardine scales ‒ plus inventive moments like “sea bacon” made from thinly sliced sea bass. It’s an approach that’s earned him three Michelin stars and the 2022 Flor de Caña award for sustainable fine dining. Set inside an old tidal mill with a newer, wow-factor building attached, this is a real sensory experience.

Taste Spanish passion on Luxury Gold’s 13-Day Spain & Portugal in Style journey 

Locavore, Bali

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Simple, polished wooden tables, a charcoal-grey bar and a high, barn-like ceiling set the scene for Locavore, a champion of Indonesian produce and cooking. Set in the island’s spiritual old capital, Ubud, it was named both Asia’s Most Sustainable Restaurant and Indonesia’s best restaurant overall in 2019. It’s a showcase for all things Balinese: 95% of ingredients are sourced within the island, from coffee to beef and salt, while crockery and ceramics are all made locally by artisans. They have a vegetarian and non-vegetarian tasting menu, with quirky and intriguing dish names like “Who says lobsters don’t like chocolate?” Dishes might include prawn ceviche with plenty of garden herbs and spices, or roasted bone marrow in a pandan broth.

Saint Peter, Sydney

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Another fish fanatic, Josh Niland, is the brains behind this Sydney destination restaurant; his brand of sustainable fine dining is using available and plentiful fish (working carefully with local fishermen) and the shelf life of each fish to serve them at the perfect time, minimizing waste.  Like Spain’s Ángel León, Niland makes use of the offal or less-loved parts of the fish, from crispy skin crackers to fish-liver pates, with bones used to make stock and “fish-eye chips” just one signature snack. The trendy, modern restaurant has exposed brick walls and a long marble counter, with plenty of exciting Australian wines on the menu.

Dine down-under on Luxury Gold’s 13-Day Inspiring Australia journey

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Amber, Hong Kong

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Michelin green-starred since 2022, as well coming out on top in 2022’s Food Made Good sustainability awards, Amber is a Hong Kong institution. You’ll find it in the city’s Mandarin Oriental hotel, a striking white-and-pine dining room with fluid-looking gold light fixtures and dainty ceramics. All seafood here is sourced sustainably, with fair-trade policies on tea, coffee, chocolate and vanilla; meanwhile only ethical egg and meat producers are used, and no dairy products are featured on the menu, to eliminate any carbon emitted by dairy production. There’s also a strict 35:65 ratio of animal products to plant-based products when it comes to ingredients.

Tèrra, Copenhagen

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Named for mother earth, this high-end Italian in Denmark’s capital was awarded a Michelin green star in 2021. A zero-waste kitchen, its menu is largely based on seasonal vegetables and fruit, topped up with seasonal and ethically-sourced meat and fish here and there. Dishes might include “Celeriac and mussels”, with the root vegetable forming an oyster-like shell, creative bite-sized snacks made from offcuts, kombucha or cookies made from coffee grounds, and foraged flavors like sea kale and violets. A pared-back dining room of stone walls and simple seating puts the focus on the dishes, served New-Nordic style, like little works of art.

Experience Danish Fine Dining on Luxury Gold’s 12-Day Timeless Scandinavia journey

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Restaurante Manu, Curitiba, Brazil

Photo credit: @manubuffara on Instagram

This exciting destination venue in the southern Brazilian state of Paraná won the most sustainable restaurant award at Latin America’s 50 Best Restaurants awards earlier this year. An impressive 80% of its suppliers come from within a 300km radius, while the chefs actively connect with family farming businesses and smallholdings to support the local community. They’re obsessed with biodiversity, nurturing local species and even keeping their own beehives; curious combinations might include seared fish with bacon and caramel, or lamb with seafood and custard apple.  Even more feelgood? The team feeds the homeless, distributing 400 healthy meals per week to unhoused residents in Curitiba.

Experience Brazilian cuisine on Luxury Gold’s 12-Day Classic South America journey 

Harbor House Inn, California

Perched on the wild California coastline of Mendocino, Harbor House is a beacon of sustainable American cooking. Chef Matthew Kammerer was awarded a Michelin green star in 2020, while the restaurant holds a rarefied two stars from the foodie guide; 90% of his ingredients come from local sources, including their own cattle ranch and kitchen garden. Porcini mushrooms are foraged from nearby woodland and lichen from the clifftops, and the building itself is 100% powered by sustainable energy, including solar and geothermal. Little details make it charming: fryer oil is turned into candles for the tables, for example. Even more soul-soothing is the wild sea view from the classic wood-paneled dining room.