Vietnam is well known for its beautiful beaches, wildlife, and tropical weather. It is the perfect vacation spot for a relaxing sun-soaked experience. To preserve the beauty of Vietnam, read on to learn about the top eco hotels in Vietnam for your next visit.
The inflow of tourism in Vietnam has brought great economical benefits, but has exacerbated environmental pollution and reduced biodiversity numbers. Vietnam is home to both rich natural life and marine life, supporting an estimated 3,260 km of coral reef life, and over 15,000 faunal species. Although a trip to Vietnam may sound like the ideal getaway, tourists should practice ecotourism and research sustainable options for their accommodation. Here are our recommendations for the top eco hotels in Vietnam.
Topas Ecolodge
Perched over the mesmerising natural views of Hoang Lien National Park, Topa Ecolodge is decorated with chic and vintage bungalows. Overlooking the traditional views of rice paddies, the ecolodge strives to preserve the natural and beautiful environment.
Topas Ecolodge prioritises both the environment and well-being of the local community. They focus on producing long-lasting sustainable benefits for the ecosystem and community. Since the early stages of the Ecolodge’s development, the team ensured sustainable design and operations. Working alongside Denmark’s development cooperation, under their Ministry of Foreign Affairs (DANIDA), many tourists seek out the Ecolodge for a sustainable tourism experience.
To validate its title as an Ecolodge, Topas focuses on three principles; protecting its natural environment, supporting the local community, and raising awareness for the local educational system.
Community Contribution
Topas Ecolodge actively seeks to commit to the local community and villages. To provide more job opportunities for the local workforce, the ecolodge employs up to 100 people from surrounding villages. While working at Topas Ecolodge, employees are supplied with two houses on-site for accommodation. By locating the houses on-site, it provides both safety and convenience when staff travel to and from remote villages during late hours. The on-site houses are equipped with vegetation and crops for the staff to cook meals.
While providing local workers with convenience and sufficient resources, the eco-aware lodge also cares about opportunities for growth. Staff members are constantly encouraged to expand their skill sets through further training. Often, local workforce enter the team with limited education, but are provided with further education for future success.
To give back to the local community, Topas Ecolodge shares its recycled resources and materials locally, distributing food waste to neighbouring farms. Livestock consume the repurposed waste, and metal cans or paper bags are used by the community. In addition, all food and beverages purchased by Ecolodge are sourced from locally-produced shops and markets. This way, they are able to support local farm businesses while ensuring the freshness of meat and vegetables.
Environmental Care
Despite facing challenges from local environmental conditions, Ecolodge stays aware to ensure sustainable operations. The business initially utilised solar electricity to operate, but due to unreliable sourcing, it now relies on hydropower. In order to consume the least possible amount of energy, guests are encouraged to minimise electricity use during their stay. This is done by equipping the lodges with minimal electronic devices and energy-saving light bulbs.
Another environmentally-aware practice the business engages in is glass recycling. All glass waste produced is crushed by a glass crushing machine. It is crushed as fine as sand, and collected for later use to mix concrete for construction work.
Six Senses Con Dao
Inspired by traditional Vietnamese fishing villages, Six Senses Con Dao is lauded for its unique nature and mindfulness towards sustainability. Rated by the National Geographic as one of the world’s top eco hotels, Six Senses Con Dao is passionate about supporting the environment. Last year, the hotel managed to reduce electricity by up to 114 Kw/h and 2.32 cubic meters of water per stay. Throughout the year, the hotel hosts and participates in several environmentally aware projects to sustain the local ecosystem. Six Senses’ strenuous sustainable efforts has landed itself the title for the No. 1 Resort Hotel in Southeast Asia, recognized for its sustainability and warm hospitality.
Sea Turtle Incubation and Research
In cooperation with Con Dao National Park, the Six Senses has worked to restore its beaches to optimise egg laying for their green sea turtles. Turtle hatching can have a high mortality rate, and baby turtles often have trouble finding their way into the water. Through this project, a safe incubation enclosure provides protection for eggs, allowing safe hatching away from predators. Guests are encouraged to participate in observing and learning about this ethical hatchling release, and if lucky enough, you may even witness a mother sea turtle laying her eggs.
Another goal of the project is to involve more marine scientists in turtle-saving research projects. The local community and guests are also offered training programmes on sea turtle conservation with a goal to raise more awareness for Con Dao’s marine life.
sixsenses.com
Organic Farming and Composting
All food waste produced in the kitchen of the resort is used to make compost for the garden. In the organic garden, the resort grows an extensive array of more than 30 kinds of fruits, herbs, and vegetables. The crops are watered with recycled treated wastewater and used in the kitchen to make delicious Vietnamese cuisine.
To minimise packaging waste, guests have the opportunity to visit a mushroom hut through a chef-led tour. During this experience, they can harvest fresh mushrooms which are used for preparing a signature dish.
Drinking Water
To reduce plastic waste, the eco hotel provides water in a reusable glass bottle. Both their sparkling and still water is remineralised and produced from an on-site reverse osmosis plant. By adhering to their plastic-free regulation, Six Senses saves an estimated 10,000 plastic bottles every month.
Solar Heating
Energy consumption in the hospitality industry is a big problem with the number of guests being accommodated daily. To combat this issue, Six Senses takes advantage of Vietnam’s enduring sunlight and uses solar energy. Solar panels are installed to heat its water supply.
sixsenses.com
Mango Bay Resort
Located far away from the bustling city life, Mango Bay Resort delivers a peaceful and stress-free experience. Fill your vacation with delicious tropical cocktails made from local fruits and enjoy authentic Vietnamese cuisine by the beach. Mango Bay is ready to provide a comfortable getaway to wind down and focus on yourself.
While the name sounds carefree and relaxed, Mango Bay is serious in its dedication to being an eco hotel. The hotel’s long term goal of being a sustainable resort and earning the title as custodians of Phu Quoc Island’s precious nature. The eco hotel ensures sustainability through energy and water conservation, recycling waste, supporting the community, and preserving the natural land.
Energy and Water Conservation
In order to use as little energy and water as possible, the resort relies on natural air ventilation. With the absence of air conditioning, there are fans that consume less electricity to aid air circulation. Another way energy is reduced is by using solar power to heat water and natural lighting during the day. In darker hours, energy efficient appliances such as low wattage light bulbs light up the rooms for a dim and calming ambience.
In terms of water conservation, all bathroom facilities are low water consumption toilets to minimise water usage throughout the resort. Used water is also recycled and filtered through a reed bed system, producing treated water later used to grow the local gardens and tree nurseries.
Waste Recycling
Being Phu Quoc island’s first eco hotel, Mango Bay strives to limit waste production at its resort. While hotels are infamous for the heaps of packaging waste produced, Mango Bay reduces packaging emissions through bulk purchases from local markets. By resorting to nearby local markets, they also eliminate any potential air pollution incurred from importing. If any food waste is created, it is used as compost and for livestock in local farms.
Community Support
As important as preserving the local environment is, supporting the local community is one of Mango Bay’s many sustainability goals. More than 80% of the staff at Mango Bay are hired locally, providing more job opportunities in Phu Quoc Island. It also helps local businesses’ performance by purchasing over 85% of its utilities from local suppliers. Not only do they open up more career opportunities, but they also provide free English language lessons to all staff.
Mu Cang Chai Eco Lodge
Staying at the Mu Cang Chai Eco Lodge is not only an unforgettable experience, but also a positive contribution to nature preservation and wildlife conservation. The eco lodge is surrounded by tranquility and luscious green scenery. As beautiful as the local wildlife is, the sustainable resort does its best to protect the environment and the beautiful nature Vietnam has to offer. Its aim is to deliver genuine nature immersive experiences that support wildlife conservation and create economic opportunities for local communities.
Community Support
Mu Cang Chai promises an authentic Vietnamese experience, and fulfills this while helping the local communities. By supplying training and work opportunities to the local workforce, they contribute to the local economy’s progression and provide a much more authentic guest experience. Furthermore, their menu offers an extensive range of Vietnamese dishes, all cooked with locally grown and raised ingredients such as grilled fish, vegetables, or smoked wild boar.
Considering the abundance of nature life around the eco hotel, the resort ensures safety for interactions between humans and wildlife. Staff members receive training to understand potential threats in nature and have a chance to deepen their knowledge on problem solving.
Environment Sustainability
Throughout the resort, there is a strict policy to reduce, reuse, and recycle all materials whenever possible. To reduce gas emissions from transportation, the team strategically plans routes and tour itineraries to minimise commute distances and frequency. In addition, all guests are encouraged to take public transportation or the resort’s collective transfer services. By doing so, guests can experience the local transportation experience and even get the chance to make new friends during their rides.
Commuting on the waters around the island requires boats which could be damaging to the marine environment. To combat this, Mu Cang Chai equips their boats with electric engines with rechargeable batteries that use clean hydro-power energy. While batteries still have a significant impact on the environment, the eco lodge is able to reduce battery usage and rely on natural hydro power.
Featured banner image: mangobay.com
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