Chew On This / August 2009
Around The World
Gaia Hotel: An Eco-hotel Discovery
by Jeffrey Weissler
After a nice weekend in sunny California it was time for a quick drive north to Oregon via Interstate 5. On previous trips up and down the mega-lane Canada-to-Mexico expressway I had passed signs for the Gaia Hotel. As a growing eco-phile my curiosity was peaked. Unfortunately the timing hadn’t made for an overnight—until this particular trip.
The Gaia Hotel in Anderson, California (just south of Redding) met my expectations and more. My friend and I relaxed with a nicely satisfying late dinner at the Woodside Grill, located on the hotel property. Good portions, reasonable prices, organic ingredients, and tasty dishes were found throughout the menu.
When it came to the wine list, they need to talk to the ConsciousWine Guy!
I liked the hotel amenities and the available information in print, on walls, and on the TV regarding what an eco-hotel actually is.
Favorite things I noticed and appreciated:
- Low-flow toilets
- Sensible landscaping choices for a seriously low water environment
- Recycled grey water for landscaping
- No sign of styrofoam
- Solar-heated saline pool
This hotel seems to be showing what’s possible with attention to environmental sustainability. Even though there was room for improvement, it made for a great nights’ sleep and a good feeling of supporting a good thing.
My visit to Anderson included hearing that the first Gaia Hotel opened in 2006 near Napa Valley, and it wouldn’t be long before my next visit there.
For this trip I was needing to keep my per-night sleeping price tag under three figures. The Gaia Napa Valley Hotel & Spa was located on Route 12 in American Canyon, about 20 minutes from the city of Napa, and another 15+ from the land of the wineries. Priced around $80 for a summer weeknight, this seemed super-reasonable and was an eco-hotel to boot!
A few things I liked in particular:
- The sign in the lobby that explained the environmentally friendly construction
- The bed… linens, pillows, comfy factor… way high
- Nice temperature control system in the rooms
- More than one spiritual reading option in the bedside drawer\
- Refillable shampoo, conditioner & soap containers on the bathroom counter, and in the shower
- Chemical free landscaping and all hotel cleaning done with environmentally friendly products
A total side note: an awesome resource to check out called The Better World Shopping Guide provides insight in making conscious choices in many categories of purchasing.
The room was clean, spacious, and of standard look for the price range, so the comfort and eco-principles made it a bargain. This time I stayed five nights and I would stay again. I had two meals at their restaurant both filled with interesting flavors, nice presentation and left me happy.
The trickiest part there was not eating in Napa when I’m so near Napa.
Sideline: ZuZu in Napa on Main Street rocks! The menu is full of delicious tapas, and they’ve got a solid selection of Napa and Spanish wines by the glass. I’ve often met winery owners, winemakers, and vineyard managers eating at the bar.
Back to the hotel… They have a spa that was highly seductive, I was just preoccupied with being a wine guy, so I can’t speak from experience… yet.
The Gaia Napa Valley Hotel and Spa is Gold LEED Certified. The first hotel to receive the Gold Award. ConsciousWine is about choices for palate and planet, and these two Gaia Hotels offered a really good night’s sleep and support for bigger picture sustainability along the way.
Time to start up ConsciousLodgings™.
Check it out yourself, and let us know what you think!
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