At the vegan luxury resort PlantLife, in the works for Koh Phangan island in Thailand, faux leather for furniture will be derived from the fibers of pineapple leaves. Pillows will be filled with soft bamboo fiber rather than feathers. Chairs will be upholstered with fabric made from soybeans.
PlantLife, whose owners are raising money through a crowdfunding campaign, is part of a new wave of vegetarian hospitality that goes well beyond the expectation of black bean burgers and quinoa bowls. It embraces design from furnishings, flooring and toiletries to cleaning products and power sources.
“A standard hotel room is littered with cruelty,” co-founder Joanna Hellier says. “We want to show that vegan alternatives equal the quality of their outdated, inhumane counterparts.”
PlantLife aims to use products from sustainable materials and eliminate waste, so toiletries and cleaning supplies are sourced from local, plant-based and chemical-free suppliers, Hellier says. Solar energy will power the 23 villas.
With a similar aesthetic, Hilton London Bankside earlier this year opened an all-vegan suite, with bedroom, bath and living room free of leather, wool, feathers and other animal products. Pillows are filled with buckwheat hulls or millet husks. The floors are made of bamboo, the curtains from soybean material. Rates for a mid-June stay range from £474 to £769 (US$617 TO US$1,000) per night.
Of course, there’s variety in how hoteliers interpret the vegan experience. Some erase any trace of an animal product, while others are more focused on being more broadly environmentally friendly.
“Our mattresses might be made with wool, but the important thing about our linens, mattresses and furniture is that they are eco-friendly and handmade,” says director Megan Albets, who with her partner Joel Llurda opened the seven-room Casa Albets in the Catalan city of Lleida almost two years ago. The facility is heated with a biomass boiler using locally sourced wood pellets, but partners plan to switch to solar panels.
One of the newest lodges on the scene is the 34-room Vegan Lodge in Turkey’s resort city of Antalya, which opened in March. Complementing the rooms free of animal traces are traditional trappings of a resort: gym, yoga room and two pools. “You don’t have to compromise comfort,” says owner Emre Dilek. “A holiday can be sustainable – without harming any species or part of nature.”