By Richard Hammond

Jon Proctor is a new kind of hotel inspector. He doesn’t count the milk sachets above the mini-bar nor care whether the curtains match the carpet.What will impress him is a low-energy dimmer switch in the hotel lobby and a water-saving device fixed to the shower. Jon is the technical director of The Green Tourism Business Scheme, a programme that assesses tourism businesses on their eco-credentials.

I joined him on an inspection of a 280-room hotel in the West End of London. For three hours, we inspected air-conditioning units and recycling bins and quizzed staff on their hotel’s green policies.

Jon’s job reflects changing times in green hospitality - nowadays you’re just as likely to find a hotel in a city centre that recycles its waste as you are at a rural eco retreat.

Since 1999, the scheme has vetted more than 1,400 tourism businesses in England and Scotland, awarding its bronze, silver or gold awards to a range of accommodation, from family-run B&Bs to large multinational hotels.

I asked Jon which was the greenest hotel he has inspected. Without hesitation he said Strattons, the family-run boutique hotel in Swaffham in Norfolk. The hotel has fitted water-saving devices in its bathrooms, it recycles almost all of its waste and serves only local, seasonal or organic food in its restaurant. A double room costs from £150 with breakfast www.strattonshotel.com).

Strattons has set the standard, but Jon said that all the Gold award winners do something impressive for the planet. One of the latest is Brignall Mill, an 18th-century watermill near Barnard Castle bordering the Yorkshire Dales. The owners have installed a micro-hydroelectric scheme, a heat pump, solar panels and woodburners. A week’s self-catering (for up to six) costs from £260 www.brignallmill.co.uk).

Many other places keen to demonstrate their green credentials are queuing up to be inspected. One hopeful is Rosehill Cottages, Cornwall, which opened in January. Its ten wooden lodges are made from timber sourced from Forestry Stewardship Council woodland and each lodge has a log burner and a grass roof to keep the lodges warm in winter and cool in summer. A week’s self-catering at one of the in a two-bedroom lodges costs from £540 www.rosehilllodges.com).

In other countries hotels are signing up to similar eco labels. The Hotel Ferienart Resort and Spa in Saas Fee, Switzerland is the first five-star hotel to receive a “European eco label for tourism”.

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Source: Times Online

Tags: accommodation, change, country house hotel, environment, green tourism

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