April 20, 2007 — By Heleigh Bostwick for ENN
With eco-tourism on the rise, eco-hotels are fast becoming the darling of the travel and hospitality industry. These days however, staying at an eco-hotel doesn't necessarily mean vacationing in a tree house in the Costa Rican jungle, although that is definitely an option.
The majority of eco-hotels fall into one of several categories; hotels and resorts that conserve ecologically significant habitats, "green" hotels that reduce, recycle, minimize waste, and conserve water, sustainable hotels that harvest food from gardens on the hotel property or obtain part or all of their power from renewable energy, hotels that encourage community involvement such as guests participating in trail clearing, and hotels that offer some form of environmental education to their guests.
As such, eco-hotels are a diverse bunch. Sophisticated urban hotels like Intercontinental The Willard Washington, D.C. focus on energy conservation whereas The Rosario Resort & Spa on Orcas Island in Washington state offers a wildly popular "green" vacation package where guests can "take a hike, clear a trail, and enjoy a vacation" and in return ....
