The Cotswolds boasts many outstanding hotels, but a favourite among Gloucestershire spa goers and afternoon tea takers has just been named the UK's first climate positive hotel.
Whatley Manor, just over the Wiltshire border in Malmesbury but close to Westonbirt Arboretum and Tetbury, began its journey to carbon zero five years ago in 2019, by addressing its energy efficiency, waste reduction and overall climate-friendly policies.
Instead of merely reaching this goal, the hotel took its pledge a step further by implementing methods and actions that remove more carbon from the atmosphere than it emits, making it the first hotel in the UK to become climate positive.
Hotel owner, Christian Landolt, said: 'At Whatley Manor Hotel, we believe that luxury should not come at the expense of the environment. Becoming the first climate positive hotel in the UK is a testament to the team’s dedication to create a positive impact on the planet while delivering an exceptional guest experience.
'Despite our significant achievements so far, there is still much to do. Our actions do not stop here and we cannot and will not rest on our laurels. We are committed to achieving climate positive status each year to ensure we carry on being responsible for more than our current emissions, respecting nature, people and the planet.'
Businesses achieve climate positive status by reducing as many carbon emissions as possible from their own processes and methods, but also by donating to environmental charities and sustainability projects in other parts of the world, which contribute to the offsetting of any other carbon emissions produced by the company.
Whatley Manor invested in a cookstove project in Kenya that works to provide bio-ethanol fuel cookstoves to low-income households and repurposes existing oil tanks so that 'no Kenyan household has to walk more than 200 metres to collect their renewable fuel source'.
The hotel's general manager, Michele Mella, said: 'Whatley Manor Hotel is proud to lead the way, proving that responsible
luxury is not only possible but essential for the wellbeing of people and our
planet.'
