The hotel business is not inherently eco-friendly. Let’s get that out of the way right off the bat. Large hotels especially have a huge environmental footprint, and travel to and from those hotels is also a major source of greenhouse gas emissions and waste. All that said, there are hotels and resorts going the extra mile to make their operations a bit greener.
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Below are some of the best eco-friendly 5-star hotels in the USA, all of which incorporate sustainable practices into their operations while ensuring all guests (eco-conscious or not) enjoy a memorable stay. Before we jump in though, here’s a quick primer on why these hotels made the cut, and why I’ve added other hotels that don’t have the 5-star rating.
How hotels made the Leaf Score list
There are thousands of hotels in the USA, but few (just 87 for 2021) of these are 5-star luxury hotels, as rated by the Forbes (Mobil) Travel Guide. Fewer still are the hotels that have demonstrated green amenities and LEED certification.
Some hotels don’t yet have formally recognized eco-friendly certifications but are walking the walk when it comes to going green, while others do the bare minimum, such as installing a single EV charger to try to get that green checkmark on hotel review sites.
What I’m most impressed by are hotels with policies and procedures aimed at reducing waste, conserving energy and water, using locally sourced sustainable building materials and products, and making it easier for guests to go green too.
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This list isn’t exhaustive, but I’ve tried to include options across the US and with a range of aesthetics and locales, urban, rural, and mountainside, to satisfy as many appetites for luxury as possible. If you know of another eco-friendly 5-star hotel in the USA, please get in touch!
Quick note: I haven’t included nightly prices because rates are so fluid right now, given travel restrictions and such. Instead, I’ve used a cost rating system where Affordable, Mid-Price, and Luxury roughly approximate to less than $200 per night as a starting price, $200-$450 per night, and $450 and above per night.
Montage Deer Valley, Utah
Highlights: The very first resort in Utah to earn LEED Certification with some serious sustainability features and practices in place.
Price Range: Mid-Price
Rating: 5-Star (Forbes)
Montage Deer Valley was the first resort in Utah to earn LEED Certification (Silver) and opened in 2010 as a mixed-use hotel and residential project. The resort incorporated significant sustainability features and practices to help minimize waste, preserve open space, and use renewable energy sources. Montage Deer Valley committed to divert a whipping 82% of generated construction waste from local landfills, and to use both regional and recycled materials. The hotel and residences include energy and water efficient equipment and fixtures, and have green housekeeping, purchasing and landscaping policies.
As for the location, Montage Deer Valley is a gorgeous mountain craftsman resort less than five minutes from Park City’s Main Street, and just a 40-minute drive from Salt Lake City International Airport (SLC). It offers all-season indoor and outdoor activities include ski-in, ski-out access to Deer Valley Resort, named America’s #1 ski resort by Ski magazine for 2008- 2011.
There are 154 deluxe guestrooms, and more than 66 suites and private residences ranging from one to four bedrooms. You can make use of a variety of 24-hour services, excellent dining options, a gourmet gastro-pub with bowling lanes, billiards, darts and nostalgic arcade games, and a 35,000 square foot alpine-inspired spa, as well as outdoor pool and whirlpools.
This family-friendly ski resort is a great choice for adults, teens, and little kids and even offers complementary s’mores on the Vista Terrace from 4 to 5 p.m. daily (including housemade marshmallows in flavors like strawberry, mint and caramel and gluten-free graham crackers).
Salamander Resort & Spa, Virginia
Highlights: 200 acres of the enormous property have been assigned to conservation easement in addition to a wide range of other sustainable practices.
Price Range: Luxury
Rating: 5-Star (Forbes)
Awarded Silver LEED certification in 2014, the Salamander Resort & Spa, Virginia, is a luxury 168-room resort that boasts 340 acres, including 200 assigned to conservation easement. The resort has planted 2,000 trees at least, built cutting-edge water and wastewater facilities for the Town of Middleburg, and runs a green housekeeping program. Renowned for its two restaurants and banquet operations, the resort has an innovative on-site Culinary Garden that provides fresh herbs, fruits, and vegetables for its entire food and beverage programming.
The resort was designed so that the 168 spacious rooms and suites blend into their natural environment, and there’s a plethora of outdoor treatment terraces and a spa courtyard as part of the 23,000-sq. ft. spa. Enjoy unique recreational adventures such as the Salamander Tree Top Zip Tour by Empower and a full-service Equestrian Center with a 22-stall stable and riding arena.
The Salamander Resort & Spa is an hour from Washington, D.C., and 20 miles from Washington Dulles International Airport.
The Ranch at Rock Creek, Montana
Highlights: One of few resorts that strives for a closed-loop sustainability system that’s been kept at the forefront of practice since its conception.
Price Range: Luxury
Rating: 5-Star (Forbes)
Sustainability has been on the agenda since the Ranch at Rock Creek was first dreamed into being. The resort strives for a closed-loop sustainability system and has maintained it’s 5-star Forbes rating for more than 7 years while taking bold steps to reduce its environmental impact.
The glamorous 6,600 acre ranch lies in picturesque meadows between the Pintler and Sapphire mountain ranges in Southwestern Montana, offering luxury amid wide open spaces. At the center is the Granite Lodge, a two-story stone and timber beauty with a 5-star hotel dining room, nine guest rooms, spa, huge hearth and game tables.
This is a great spot for trail riding or single-track mountain biking, as well as birding and hiking. The Silver Dollar Saloon offers a four-lane bowling alley, karaoke and a 14-foot HD TV showing spaghetti Westerns. There’s also a 3D archery course, paintball matches, and clay shooting, as well as a pool and on-site spa. Best of all, the Ranch at Rock Creek offers an all-inclusive experience.
Sustainability initiatives include eliminating single-use plastics by 2019, working with local partners to improve fish habitats, programs such as Year of the Bird and golden eagle rescue, and a Master Naturalist program designed to support conservation. The Ranch is moving toward all LED or solar lights and already uses solar lights for walkways. It has also promoted carpooling and walking to work to decrease vehicle traffic (and even built a mile-long walkway between staff-housing and the ranch). And for guests, every room includes a personal Ranch cruiser or mountain bike to help you get around the property in an eco-friendly way!
The Ranch at Rock Creek offers refillable, glass water bottles, biodegradable straws, and refillable, multi-use bottles for shampoo and conditioner. They also offer guests use of high-end espresso machines and coffee makers instead of disposable pods, and provide milk and cream in glass, reusable bottles.
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Another great initiative at the Ranch is their on-site childcare, The Nest, for the children of employees. Recognizing that women made up more than half of the Ranch staff, the business brought in affordable and flexible childcare in 2019, with Ranch employees paying $25 per day for the first child and $15 per day for the second, with the remainder of the costs of the program covered by The Ranch as an employee benefit.
There’s an on-site apiarist and beehives, with honey used in the Ranch kitchens and bar, and a significant majority of produce, meat, and fish is sourced locally, as is the beer. Kitchen scraps are composted and the compost is sent to local farms, including farms that the Ranch uses for culinary supplies, supporting that closed-loop system.
The Little Nell, Aspen
Highlights: The Little Nell prioritizes reclaimed materials, recycled and salvaged fixtures and fittings, and donating furniture that’s served its purpose to Habitat for Humanity.
Price Range: Mid-Price
Rating: 5-Star (Forbes)
The Little Nell is a 5-star hotel perfectly situated at the bottom of the mountain, offering excellent access to the slopes and the streets of Aspen. With guest rooms and junior suites renovated in 2017 and six luxury suites redesigned in 2014 by Holly Hunt (yes, that Holly Hunt), The Little Nell is a sublime and sustainable find in a former mining town.
Fireplaces, overstuffed furniture, spa-like bathrooms, vaulted ceilings, and mountainside views, make for a comfortable stay, along with the on-site gym, outdoor pool, and jacuzzi. Even prior to the most recent renovations, The Little Nell was reducing, reusing, and recycling. Their 2009 sustainability initiatives included reclaimed materials, recycled and salvaged fixtures and fittings, and, in turn, donating furniture to Habitat for Humanity.
The Little Nell also focused on using low-VOC paint, water-based stains, and formaldehyde-free glues, and reducing energy consumption through the installation of LED lighting and occupancy sensors in rooms as well as thermostat setbacks and an integrated heating system. Water conservation was also top of mind, with low-flow fixtures and dual flush toilets.
The Little Nell estimates that the hotel has cut CO2 emissions by 300 tons a year by replacing their boilers, and their largest suite is powered by a 5,000-watt solar panel system. There are two electric car charging stations, locally sourced food, a food composting program started in 2017, and biodegradable, compostable straws. Complementary bikes and reusable water bottles are available for guests, and linen and laundry service is every three days as standard instead of daily.
Rooms and corridors have Green Label and Green Label Plus carpeting tested for its minimal impact on indoor air quality. Carpet padding is 100% recycled and recyclable and meets LEED requirements for indoor air quality. There’s also furniture made with kiln-dried sustainably and locally sourced hardwood, with 70% of wood substrates from recycled wood, and metal components made from recycled steel. Even leather upholstered furniture is made with leather finished without solvents and drapery is free from toxic chemical flame retardants.
Oh, and the hotel has a 20,000-bottle wine collection, a master sommelier, and several other on-staff sommeliers to help you pick a perfect pairing while you relax in eco-friendly opulence.
Four Seasons Hotel New York, Downtown
Highlights: The Four Seasons Hotel has been hard at work reducing the hotel’s carbon footprint and impact on the planet through initiatives like their Energy Curtailment Program and more.
Price Range: Luxury
Rating: 5-Star (Forbes)
The Four Seasons Hotel New York, Downtown, is Silver LEED certified and has implemented a range of sustainability and green initiatives. These are designed to reduce the hotel’s carbon footprint and overall impact on the planet and include an Energy Curtailment Program that allows the hotel to reduce how much power it draws from the city’s electric grid during peak usage, to help reduce strain on the system.
The hotel is also transitioning all lighting to LED in common and back-of-house spaces and is also looking to enhance water conservation efforts in all rooms and suites. Other impressive initiatives include a goal of going completely plastic-free. The hotel replaced all plastic water bottles early in 2020, converted to non-plastic straws in 2018 and biodegradable key cards in 2019, uses only recyclable paper retail and to-go bags, and packs guest-request items such as toothbrushes, razors and Q-tips in paper only. It is also transitioning to biodegradable options for take-away containers, coffee lids and other one-time use containers. The hotel also has coasters and turndown mats made from recycled tire rubber!
This 82-story hotel is a block from the World Trade Center and has incredible views of the city from every room. It is highly walkable, with eateries in every direction, although the hotel’s restaurant, CUT is the first New York City iteration offering chef Wolfgang Puck’s classic steak house fare.
The Lower Manhattan hotel also boasts a 75-foot long heated pool and a fitness center with personal coaches. There’s also a spa with seven rooms offering a variety of services. And the hotel is even family-friendly with a variety of kid-sized amenities including bathrobes, as well as children’s menus, milk and cookies at turndown, and welcome gifts. And for the adults, the minibar is filled with hyper-local food and drinks from the neighborhood.
Aria Las Vegas – Las Vegas, Nevada
Highlights: Designed with water and energy efficiency in mind, The Aria Loss Vegas presents an eco-minded hotel opportunity at an affordable rate.
Price Range: Affordable
Rating: 5-star (Forbes) (for the Sky Suites)
Looking to travel responsibly, enjoy 5-star luxury, and stay within a tight budget? The Aria Las Vegas offers an eco-minded stay at an affordable price right in the Strip’s CityCenter!
Sure, the Aria is a sprawling complex that includes 16 restaurants, more than 4,000 rooms, a spa with 62 treatment rooms and three pools, and a 150,000 square foot casino, but it has no fewer than six LEED Gold certifications and earned Nevada’s first 5 Green Keys rating. Why? Because the Aria was designed to be highly efficient with water and energy and was built using sustainably sourced wood. Guests can play with a variety of high-tech features in rooms to control lighting and temperature and the whole space feels indulgent while being super affordable.