Want to go green on your next stay in New England? This guide will help you find environmentally friendly green hotels and inns in New England. These lodging properties go the extra mile to protect the environment by conserving water and energy, minimizing waste, recycling, serving fresh local foods and more.
Looking for green hotels in the Green Mountain State? More than 50 inns, B&Bs and hotels in Vermont have been recognized for their green practices. Vermont has really taken the lead in New England in promoting lodging properties with environmentally friendly practices. The Green Hotels in the Green Mountain State program, a collaborative effort involving several state agencies and organizations, sets guidelines for hotels and inns to follow if they'd like to receive a green hotel designation.
Inn by the Sea, located near Portland in Cape Elizabeth, Maine, underwent a multi-million dollar transformation that will allow it to emerge as an eco-friendly luxury beach destination when it reopens in the spring of 2008. Inn by the Sea is the first hotel in Maine to heat with biofuel and the first to be carbon neutral. Highlights of the renovation include many new eco-friendly features such as a solar-heated pool with a salt/chlorine system, air-to-air heat exchangers, dual flush toilets and recycled rubber flooring in the cardio room. The inn's five-acre seaside indigenous garden is certified as a wildlife habitat.
The Lenox Hotel in Boston's Back Bay was green long before green was in vogue. Since 1989, the Saunders Hotel Group, the boutique hotel's owner, has made environmentally friendly practices part of its mission--even in urban settings. Eco-conscious features of this hotel include everything from efficient lighting and waterless urinals to healthy cleaning products and essential oil air fresheners. Guests find tips for green living in their guest rooms and can watch environmental movies on a dedicated Eco Channel. The hotel was named Energy Star Partner of the Year in 2005.
In the fall of 2007, the New Hampshire Sustainable Lodging & Restaurant Program (NHSLRP) announced that the Balsams Resort in Dixville Notch had achieved ISO 14001 certification, which requires a business to conform to a series of international environmental standards. The Balsams was also granted Environmental Champion status in the NHSLRP, which seeks to promote environmentally sustainable practices within New Hampshire's hospitality industry. To earn these honors, the Balsams undertook a variety of changes, including replacing incandescent bulbs with compact fluorescent lights, upgrading appliances, installing low-flow showerheads, encouraging guests to reuse towels and linens and limiting landscape watering to early mornings.
The Red Lion Inn in Stockbridge, Massachusetts, was the winner of the Massachusetts Lodging Association's Good Earthkeeping Award in 2008. The historic inn was recognized for its energy and water conservation efforts, recycling programs, the use of native plants in its landscaping, the use of green cleaning products, plus other environmentally sensitive practices.
This large guesthouse near Harvard Square employs many environmentally friendly practices. Breakfast and snack items are purchased locally; shampoos, soaps and lotions made by eco-friendly companies are available to guests in dispensers to avoid waste; the hotel bulletin board guides guests to sights and events that can be reached on foot or via public transportation. The inn received the EPA's Energy Star Label in 2006.
