Bouteco Hotels (2025)

24/12/2024

On Christmas Eve, our imaginations are taking us to Lapland and the Arctic Circle as we life into relaxation mode…

Octola is a private wilderness retreat set deep in hundreds of acres of Lapland forest in the Arctic Circle. The luxe 12-room lodge was designed in homage to Lapp and Sámi traditions. Make this retreat your base for spying the northern lights, visible here from August through April.

Deep into the fells of the northern edge of Lapland, Inari is the center of Sámi culture in Finland. Learn more about one of Europe’s last nomadic cultures by visiting the Sámi Museum and Nature Centre Siida, or head to Sámi Cultural Center Sajos, seat of the Sámi parliament. The tourist office also organises tours to historical Sámi sites.

Hoping our taste of adventures from Juliet Kinsman’s book of 1,000 sustainable travel tips — The Bucket List Eco Experiences published by Rizzoli — has you in the mood for impact-unlocking adventures in 2025.

Come hear Juliet in conversation with Siddarth Shrikanth on Wednesday 8 January at the Conduit London or tune in online.

23/12/2024

City Life tips from The Bucket List Eco Experiences book published by Rizzoli includes inspiration for Kathmandu in Nepal…

Have a memorable stay at the Dwarika’s Hotel, which pays tribute to the region’s architectural heritage. Built by Dwarika Das Shrestha in the 1970s, this brick building
features a wealth of wooden carvings salvaged by Shrestha from traditional Newari houses in the Kathmandu Valley, which were rapidly disappearing as modern structures were springing up. Shrestha also employed local artisans to create the furniture, floor tiles, linen, and upholstery, all using traditional Nepali techniques

21/12/2024

Ride the rails and hike epic trails —inspiration for slower journeys from The Bucket List: Eco Experiences, a guide to 1,000 sustainable travel tips published by

19/12/2024

Thrilling adventures await in Asia according to The Bucket List: Eco Experiences — Juliet Kinsman’s guide to 1,000 sustainable travel tips.

Here are three:

Hiking to the top of Mt. Rinjani an active volcano in Lombok is a challenging multiday adventure. Local families rely on tourist income to survive, so make sure your money goes directly to them by booking with a company like Green Rinjani that employs guides and porters from nearby villages.

Kayak and snorkel atop remote coral reefs, hike up a volcano, and get involved with a turtle conservation project on a ten-night itinerary with positive-impact adventure company
Much Better Adventures which aims to spread tourism dollars beyond Bali

Rare underwater species, from manta rays to a kaleidoscopic array of coral, make the Raja Ampat Islands compelling for thrill-seeking divers and wildlife adventurers. Located just
off the northwestern tip of New Guinea’s West Papua province, this Indonesian archipelago seems remote, but the journey to get to these 20 villas is worth it. Stay in an overwater abode at Missal fashioned from driftwood and fallen branches, and learn how the Misool Foundation works with private businesses and like-minded partners from the scuba-diving industry to protect the marine environment and communities of Raja Ampat.

18/12/2024

Today we take you to Trancoso in Bahia, Brazil, with tips from The Bucket List: Eco Experiences…

Enjoy a beach holiday with conscience in a rustic-deluxe retreat that feels part of the community. Half of UXUA Casa Hotel & Spa’s reincarnated casitas in the heart of the village of Trancoso date back 500 years, and have been remodeled by local artisans using reclaimed materials. Some of the original families still live here along with a few early hippie “invaders,” artists, and shop owners.

Try your hand (and feet) at capoeira —UXUA’s kick-ass social outreach extends to the significant support of Trancoso’s Capoeira Sul da Bahia. Have a go at this Bahia-born, dance-based martial art that harks back to the four million African slaves brought to work in Brazil. In 2014, UXUA successfully helped gain Unesco recognition for the sport’s cultural status and historical significance.

If you want to connect with locals, play soccer barefoot on Trancoso’s 5-acre historic quadrado (town green) near the pretty white Igreja de São João Batista. Built by Portuguese settlers in 1586, this Jesuit church is Brazil’s second-oldest. Lanterns twinkle from low-slung branches and illuminate a charming scene that’s not much more amped-up than in the 1980s, when electricity first arrived here in Bahia.

17/12/2024

Slovenia tastes good, whatever the season — here are just a couple of tips from the 1,000 activities and addresses in The Bucket List: Eco Experiences*

Eat, drink, and be energised at Vila Planinka, a boutique hotel with Michelin-listed cuisine little more than half an hour’s drive north of the capital, Ljubljana. Just being here is good for you—ask the locals who have for centuries attested to four “energy points” signposted as coordinates with a healing power. Be sure to drink the naturally magnesium-rich waters, which come from the nearby heart-shaped lake.

Say cheese at the top of Sinji Vrh: In a land that is renowned for its excellent small-producer wines, the Slovenians of the Vipava Valley have a knack for creating big flavors with hyperlocal and seasonal ingredients. Cheese lover? Come taste the magic worked with the highest-quality input from dairy farmers at 3,280 ft (1,000 m) at Penzion Sinji Vrh. The views down over the Vipava Valley to the coastline are also worth toasting.

*If you’re pining for fuller-flavoured forays, this beautiful book published by Rizzoli Universe is great for gifting and to guide your gallivanting in 2025 — available from all good bookshops. For more sustainable travel tips, Juliet Kinsman who has taken trips to Slovenia by train, is speaking at the Conduit London Wednesday 8 January.

16/12/2024

Three nature-positive travel tips for VANCOUVER ISLAND, BRITISH COLUMBIA from The Bucket List: Eco Experiences — Traveling the World, Sustaining the Earth, guidebook published by Rizzoli Universe

1 Wonder at Canada’s western wilderness Clayoquot Wilderness Lodge’s prospector-style canvas tents are set within old-growth temperate rainforest, along the banks of Clayoquot Sound: protecting this wilderness is its raison d’être. Explore acres of untouched nature, and hop in a Zodiac for an action-packed marine adventure and the chance to spot bears and otters in the wild.

2 Sample sustainable living at “the Wick”. Flanked by towering evergreens and perched on a rocky outcrop on the pristine coastline of Clayoquo tSound, the exclusive Wickaninnish Inn does justice to its location by revealing a reverence for nature and Indigenous traditions wherever possible.

3 Thanks to Parks Canada, playing a part in cleaning up the nation’s shores and beaches couldn’t be easier! Just sign up for one of its BioBlitz events, taking place at national parks and marine-conservation areas across the country, and learn about local biodiversity from environmental experts and scientists.

15/12/2024

The Bucket List: Eco Experiences* —
over the next week we’re sharing tips from this impact-unlocking coffee-table book

“Are we supporting sustainability if we fly? One of the most significant ways to fund environmental and social initiatives is by roaming from home. Yes, it’s crucial
we reduce our emissions (fly less, eat less meat, prioritise low-carbon activities and transit)—yet benefits come from where we go, how we travel, and who we
support along the way. Travel by train, go slower, buy local, waste less. These recommendations engage travelers with the importance of the interconnected
causes of the climate collapse, and empower the most vulnerable communities in every corner of our world.” — Juliet Kinsman

*Order a copy of this guide to 1,000 sustainable activities and addresses from all good bookshops

08/12/2024

A few of the boutique, eco hotels we’ve loved staying at this year… 💚
Where’s on your list for 2025?

02/11/2024

🚨 Alarm call as world’s trees now on the extinction Red List — see BBC /

42 Acres, Somerset, UK | This wellness sanctuary and working regenerative farm is actually set in a rolling 173 acres of ancient woodland and rewilded meadows. WE MUST SUPPORT BUSINESSES LIKE THIS 🌲🌴🌳🌲🌳

Bouteco loves: The many passionate eco experts invested and involved in their many initiatives. Russell Rigler, horticulture hero, can talk you through the nutritional and ecosystem impact of their biodiverse edible walled garden. If you can get a walk with Martin White, groundskeeping guru, hearing how their eco-engineering beavers are thriving and the plans for wildcat and white stork breeding programme.

02/11/2024

Forestis Dolomites, Brixen, Italy | At 1,800 m up high in South Tyrol, this Dolomites darling was conceived with carbon neutrality — it’s powered solely using renewable energy. And we love the spa for only using plant-based ingredients rich in vitamins and minerals. We’ll toast that with one of their bark-infused cocktails here on the southern slope of the Ploseberg, please / per favore / bitte. As featured in ’s book The Bucket List: Eco Experiences published by Rizzoli.

28/10/2024

✍️ Key take-aways from Juliet Kinsman’s travel writing workshop at Ubud Writers & Readers Festival 2024 at Buahan, Bali.

- Sound human
- Always be curious, always be original
- Specialise and have your own niche
- Avoid clichés and ChatGPT-favoured words like ‘nestled’
- Inform, entertain, even better, educate with sustainability insights
- Share tips for lesser-known places that can convert into positive impact
- Front-load sentences with keywords instead of ’the’ or ‘an’ or ‘my’ eg ‘Turmeric-rich jamu is…’ or ‘Four-hand massages are…’
- Talk to strangers, get first-person quotes, ensure you get their names spelled correctly
- Share stories that shift peoples’ perspective and make people care
- Less is more: say as much as you can in as few words as possible
- Always be honest, but consider whether a criticism or negative observation can be framed in an uplifting or amusing way

Ask: how is sharing your story adding value and what is the point you’re making that deserves to be heard above the noise that’s already out there

Think like a journalist — research, factcheck, and ensure names, brands and addresses are always spelled and formatted exactly correct

“It’s not just about reaching the minds of people it’s about reaching the heart” — Isabel Wilkerson

18/10/2024

Aristi Mountain Resort & Villas, Greece | This 24-room boutique, eco retreat in the Pindus Mountains is a tale of sensitive, sustainable building practices and a love of localism in the Unesco-protected Zagori region in Northern Greece — and exactly the kind of hotel exists to recommend.

Bouteco loves: The stone and wood used to create the hotel have been locally sourced, and the property ticks with heat pumps, and LED bulbs, ensuring a low impact on nature down to filtering all wastewater, striving to be kind and gentle to the land in every way.

05/10/2024

Join Bouteco in Bali, Monday 28 October 💫
Juliet Kinsman is hosting a Sustainability Storytelling workshop with Elevation Barn by day at their Jungle House

Or join Juliet for dinner with bamboo visionaries John Hardy, Green School founder, and his Sustainable Designer daughter Elora Hardy, founder of UBUKU at the iconic Bambu Indah, near Ubud

DM for more information and to book your place 🎍🌱

03/10/2024

Let’s change the climate story. We’ve been sharing stories to inspire impact at a lot of conferences this year — truth is, climate solution news never differs dramatically from what we already know: we need to do more, and act faster.

Key learnings:

1 Regulations and reporting are coming — are you ready?
The reporting of climate and sustainability performance may not be mandated for you yet — but it will be but as the EU’s Corporate Sustainability Reporting Directive kicks in along with similar laws worldwide, rest assured, tools abound, reporting frameworks are getting better and the know-how is out there if you look.

2 We can’t manage what we don’t measure. Data collection is crucial.
As we’ve said over and over in our work with Weeva — and we’re excited Travalyst has acquired the sustainability management system as the non-profit marks their five-year anniversary with big plans to centralise the collection and distribution of sustainability data for key areas of travel and tourism with a current focus on accommodation, while long term they’ll look at rail, activities and destinations.”

3 Protecting and regenerating nature is among the most powerful climate solutions
No surprises there, hey? Keep booking and recommending nature-positive experiences and funding rewinding projects! To bring this into a business context, and give nature a seat at high-level decision-making tables, check out the Taskforce on Nature-related Financial Disclosures.

4 A fossil fuel phase-out is a top priority
All hail hotels transitioning from a dirty grid to renewable electricity — a big salute to the UK this week, too, where the last coal-fired power plant in Britain’s 142-year history closed for good.

5 We need True Cost Accounting
Where the hidden social and environmental impacts of economic activities are calculated — as proposed by Julie Cheetham in conversation with Juliet Kinsman at the Regenerative Travel Summit.

Tourism comprises 12% of the global economy and yet is only on the official UN agenda FOR THE FIRST TIME at this year’s COP29 Azerbaijan. Crazy, hey?

Our industry has such potential for impact — let’s keep thinking forward.

12/09/2024

The Pavilions Himalayas Nepal — this is just one story from the dozens of meetings we’ve had this week with hoteliers passionate about positive impact.

THIS IS WHY WE LOVE HUMAN-LED HOSPITALITY and sharing solutions-led stories from luxury travel.

Thank you to everyone this week inspiring Juliet Kinsman with stories of how their hotels are making an actual difference.

And this is why we created to celebrate the heroes.

10/09/2024

We’re sending Positive Impact Postcards inspired by stories of sustainability from the passionate impact-led luxury travel businesses

Today’s quote “The ocean will hold you when you disconnect and you reconnect what truly matters without speaking” — Dive Butler

Thank you Claudia and Alexis of Dive Butler for reminding us the healing power of water — we love being members of the Conscious Travel Foundation together and sharing ways in which luxury travel can work magic in allowing men who might otherwise not be in touch with their feelings or consciences be vulnerable and learn to care more about nature

23/08/2024

💚🌱 We loved authoring the Mandarin Oriental’s Sustainability Report for 2023, published summer 2024*

Some of the learnings from this report*, which you can read at http://mandarinoriental.com/sustainability

*Compiled by the Sustainability Department, Iris Lam, Florence Kwan, Angelica Klein, supported by Chris Orlikowski, Winnie Chiu, Alice Wu and authored by Juliet Kinsman of Bouteco, with contributions from Imogen Lepere and Lysanne Currie, design is by Concrete Creative: Mandarin Oriental Hotel Group has 38 hotels and nine residences in 24 countries and territories around the globe.

Bouteco Hotels

24/12/2024

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