Sustainable Travel, everything you need to know

The beauty of biodiversity holds us when we think about traveling, and is something that has us as travelers. When traveling, we always think about the most sustainable options and there is a multitude of environmentally friendly options to consider, to travel better and lower our ecological footprint.

While luxury consumption is traditionally associated with ostentation and extravagance, the growth of ecological awareness is reshaping new consumers' expectations and redefining the luxury market. The Sustainable Fashion Blueprint Report study indicates that around 57% of consumers admit that sustainability – in addition, to cutting, price, and style – is one of the criteria they value in brands when buying fashion. Luxury brands embrace this cause, adapting and incorporating this concern into their strategies.

Sustainable luxury – also dubbed smart luxury, green luxury, or new luxury – comprises the environmentally friendly and socially responsible business practices that the new millennial customer expects from a brand. We live in the experience economy. People would instead be involved in experiences, in other countries and cultures, then owning products. The luxury tourist is more aware of the environmental impact and five or six-star hotels, which offer elegant and ecological stays, are in greater demand.

Sustainable Locations in Portugal

L’AND Vineyards – Montemor, Alentejo

It is located in Montemor-o-Novo, in the heart of Alentejo. L'And Vineyards is an exclusive retreat with just 22 rooms, fully integrated into the environment. It combines modern architecture with nature. The atmosphere is one of sober luxury, natural beauty, and tranquility. The interior decoration of the public spaces, namely the winery, the restaurant, and the hotel L’AND Vineyards Resort, is in charge of Márcio Kogan with original pieces, translating into a decoration of sober luxury and simplicity in detail. It also includes artwork by Michael Biberstein.

Imani Country House – Évora, Alentejo

Imani Country House is located in Guadalupe, a 15-minute drive from Évora, and is surrounded by centuries-old gardens. Its priority is preservation and respect for nature. At Imani — which means "believe" in Swahili — no pesticides or chemicals are used, the hot water is preheated by solar panels and the firewood comes from forest clearings. The straw roof tiles of the houses were reused during the restoration of the farm and the eaves and chimneys were kept in their original form as well as the old stone benches that were scattered around the property. In winter, the fireplaces in the suites are lit before the guest's arrival, so that he is welcomed by a cozy warmth. In summer, highlights are the property's two swimming pools and garden hammocks.

Casas Na Areia - Comporta, Portugal

It is designed from the existing materialities in terms of possibilities of inhabiting. The program proposes the restoration of each of the masonry volumes for individual rooms, one of the wooden volumes for two bedrooms, and another for the living areas. The distribution is made by the street, through the sand that connects all the buildings. This matter, treated, extends to the interior of the social areas looking for a natural comfort of the existing condition.

The continuity of material as strong as the sand on the floor makes the interior spaces on a different scale and the inhabiting takes on a poetics of its own type of intended use.

Cabanas No Rio - Comporta, Portugal

Nelson Garrido

The anchorage is medieval and built-in wood. Its identity remains beyond the material resistance of its construction. An identity that allows to change, to replace keeping all values ​​in present. The project builds two spaces; one for living with the support of a kitchen integrated into a piece of furniture made of the same material as the walls and another for sleeping with the support of a bathroom and a shower.

The construction is entirely in reused wood, subject to the time that will continue to transform it. The very archetypal forms are designed by the accommodation of functions in these minimal areas and by the variation of the slope of the ceilings that tension the spaces according to their function.

Sublime Comporta - Grândola, Portugal

Rooms, suites, and villas are spread over several buildings, contributing to the hotel's feeling of exclusivity. In addition to the villas, the rooms are distributed between the Main House - where the Spa with indoor heated pool is located - and the “Guest Suites” located in another building.

In terms of sustainability, the hotel invests daily in a sustainable and sustainable way, trying to raise awareness of Comporta and Portugal. In addition to an organic garden, built on the principles of permaculture, providing unique sensory and gastronomic experiences. Sublime Comporta includes a biological pool (one of the largest in Europe). Here the water is treated exclusively with aquatic plants, excluding the use of chemical products.

São Lourenço do Barrocal - Monsaraz, Portugal

​​​​​São Lourenço do Barrocal is a rural retreat, sensitive to the vastness of the land that welcomes it and the family legacy that is in its origin, with an old Alentejo hill rejuvenated as an unpretentious luxury hotel, in the heart of vineyards, oaks, and century-old olive trees in the landscape of Monsaraz, Portugal.

São Lourenço do Barrocal comprises a cellar for the creation of exclusive brand wines, a farm-to-table restaurant that privileges the ingredients and simplicity of Alentejo cuisine, a shop selling contemporary Portuguese handicraft products, and regional delicacies originating from its own homestead and a spa by the Austrian brand of organic cosmetics Susanne Kaufmann. It also has an outdoor swimming pool, gardens, orchards, an organic vegetable garden (to be opened soon), stables with a riding arena, and a wide range of activities.