From
The good hotel guide
Top green retreats
Mawgan Porth, Cornwall
This large, modern hotel, beside a wide, sandy beach, won the Cornish Tourist Board’s sustainable tourism award in 2005. Guests are asked to recycle newspapers, cans and plastic bottles and parents are given a free “real nappy kit”. Low-energy lighting has been installed. There are play areas for children, a spa, baby-sitters and nannies.
01637 860555, www.bedruthan.com; from £160
THE AUSTWICK TRADDOCK
Austwick, North Yorkshire
Bruce and Jane Reynolds’s informally run Georgian house is in an unspoilt village in the Yorkshire Dales National Park. Food in the candlelit, stone-walled restaurant has been certified 100% organic by the Soil Association (it was organic restaurant of the year in 2006). There are also organic wines to sip with dishes such as haunch of wild venison. Children are welcomed, as are well-behaved pets. Wonderful walks.
01524 251224, www.austwick traddock.co.uk; from £160
THE CHILGROVE WHITE HORSE
Chilgrove, West Sussex
At their wisteria-clad, 18th-century coaching inn, surrounded by wooded countryside at the foot of the South Downs, Charles and Carin Burton have an environmental policy that includes recycled paper, low-energy lights, a sewage system that irrigates the garden and organic and Fair Trade ingredients. Try chef Chris Richards’s Chilgrove egg en cocotte with wild mushrooms and truffle oil, followed by Rother Valley organic rack of lamb. The large bar has an open fire and stocks nearly 600 wines. The bedrooms are unpretentious and comfortable.
01243 535219, www.whitehorsechilgrove.co.uk; B&B from £95
STRATTONS
Swaffham, Norfolk
Filled with original paintings and sculptures, and noted for exotic themed bedrooms, Strattons has won many awards for its owners, Vanessa and Les Scott, thanks to environmental initiatives such as local sourcing of organic food, support of local suppliers and good waste management.
01760 723845, www.strattons hotel.com; from £230; 10% discount if you arrive by public transport
THE PLACE
Camber Sands, East Sussex
This smart yet family-friendly brasserie with 18 rooms, near Rye, sources supplies from well-managed and sustainable fisheries and uses local organic produce. Specialities include wild rabbit stew and bouillabaisse.
01797 225057, www.theplace cambersands.co.uk; from £99
INNSACRE FARMHOUSE
Shipton Gorge, near Bridport, Dorset
A charming 17th-century farmhouse with beamed ceilings and antique furniture. Sydney and Jayne Davies have planted more than 3,000 trees to sustain broadleaf indigenous species and have dispensed with all rubbish collection this year. A three-course, no-choice dinner using mainly local organic produce is served by arrangement at 8pm.
01308 456137, www.innsacre.com; from £128
MILDEN HALL
Milden, near Lavenham, Suffolk
Juliet and Christopher Hawkins have converted their listed 16th-century farmhouse into an ecofriendly three-bedroom B&B. Bantams and pigs on their 500-acre farm provide eggs and sausages for breakfast and there is also home-grown fruit. Bicycles available for guests.
01787 247235, www.thehall-milden.co.uk; B&B from £60
ARGYLL HOTEL
Isle of Iona, Argyll
A short walk from the jetty where the ferry from Mull docks, this small hotel, originally a row of 19th-century houses, is run along rigorous ecological lines. Vegetables and herbs are grown organically in the hotel garden. Vegans are catered for.
01681 700334, www.argyllhoteliona.co.uk; from £79
HAZELWOOD HOUSE
Loddiswell, South Devon
Furnished simply, with antiques and paintings, this Victorian house in a lovely valley takes visitors back to a gentler era. Not at all chichi, but the water comes from the house’s own underground source, local growers provide the food and the cooking is of a high standard. There are concerts and seminars, and you can even get married in its little chapel.
01548 821232, www.hazelwoodhouse.com; from £141
Selected by Adam Raphael, joint editor of The Good Hotel Guide. Unless otherwise stated, prices are for double rooms and include dinner and breakfast
