Sustainability is becoming more than a buzzword to the savvy traveler. More so than ever before, people are seeking ways to see the world while minimizing their impact on it.
Fortunately, California is home to some of the world’s most incredible sustainable resorts, all situated right here in our own backyard.
Stretched along its 800 miles of coastline, elevated in its mountain ranges, and nestled deep in its deserts, you’ll find incredible weekend destinations offering breathtaking views and unparalleled experiences—all with best-in-class sustainability practices at their core.
When it’s time to enjoy some well-deserved downtime and relaxation, you’ll find it at one of the five best sustainable resorts and retreats California has to offer.
Post Ranch Inn
There’s something special about Big Sur. And, situated on its cliffs 1200 feet above the Pacific Ocean, Post Ranch Inn perfectly captures its essence.
With architecture that embraces the coast’s natural beauty, this award-winning resort blends rustic elegance, comfort, and privacy with panoramic ocean and mountain views.
Whether you decide to stay at the resort or venture out to explore nearby Monterey and Camel, Post Ranch Inn is a picturesque place to reconnect with yourself and with nature.
Location
Big Sur
Unique Features and Amenities
In addition to its pools, spa, and yoga programming, Post Ranch Inn offers a unique selection of amenities and activities for guests, including:
- Falconry
- Guided nature walks
- Forest meditation
- Sound journey meditation
- Edible tours of the Chef’s garden
- Guided art walks
Guests are also welcome to make use of the resort’s on-site Lexus fleet.
Dining
Named the winner of Wine Spectator’s prestigious Grand Award, Post Ranch Inn’s Sierra Mar restaurant offers an incredible array of dishes made with locally foraged ingredients as well as those grown in the Chef’s garden.
Sustainability Practices
From environmental education programs for staff and guests to charitable support and environmentally-conscious operations, Post Ranch Inn has taken unprecedented steps to be a steward of the environment.
A long-time leader in responsible tourism, the resort was built using bio-structure architecture boasting natural materials like glass, wood, stone, and passive solar heat as well as sod roofs that blend into the landscape and reduce heat loss.
Bardessono
The resort also made the intentional choice to avoid cutting down trees when developing the property and to preserve the fragile rootballs of nearby redwood and oak trees on its 90 protected acres of open space.
Located in downtown Yountville, Bardessono is what wine country dreams are made of. Modern and charming, this luxurious hotel truly embodies the spirit of mindful living.
Intentionally built to act as a “digital detox,” Bardessono’s design philosophy revolves around privacy, grounding, and nature, boasting living walls, artwork, sculptures, and wood-and-steel buildings.
Location
Napa Valley
Unique Features and Amenities
In addition to its quaint, intimate spa and rooftop pool, Bardessono is also a dog-friendly hotel. And, on the first Tuesday of the month, the hotel hosts the DogBar, a happy hour event for both you and your furry companion.
Dining
Chef Jim Leiken and wine director Anani Lawson ensure that the dining experience at Lucy Restaurant and Bar, Bardessono’s signature restaurant, upholds Napa Valley’s renowned farm-to-table culinary spirit. Its garden-inspired menu is focused on healthy, nutritious meals made from fresh local ingredients.
Sustainability
Bardessono is one of the only seven domestic hotels to have achieved LEED Platinum Certification, an accreditation it received for its commitment to green building practices. The hotel was built using 100,000 square feet of salvaged wood and its roofs are covered in solar panels as a sustainable energy source.
Two Bunch Palms
The hotel has even taken its sustainability practices one step further, offering guests the opportunity to plant their own herbs in Bardessono’s Guest Garden.
If you’re looking to relax your body and mind, this is the place for you. Two Bunch Palms is a wellness retreat, through and through.
But, unlike your typical wellness retreat, Two Bunch Palms foregoes the clichéd approach of sipping cucumber water in mud masks and implores you to instead define—and revel in—what wellness means for you.
Location
Desert Hot Springs
Unique Features and Amenities
An oasis that seemingly shouldn’t exist in an otherwise barren desert, a settler found the site—marked by two palm groves—in 1857 and established it as a place to rest and find water.
That spirit lives on there today.
Its most unique and notable feature is its sunken pool, set within a lush and intimate oasis and filled with mineral water that flows in from its 600-year-old spring. Low in sulfur and rich in lithium, the water in this pool is renowned for its therapeutic and mood-enhancing properties.
In fact, science suggests that soaking in hot springs provides the body with valuable nutrients needed to:
- Rid toxins through increased sweating
- Increase blood circulation
- Relieve pressure, pain, and stress
- Improve your PH level
- Help repair tissue damage
- Stimulate your metabolism
- Balance your body’s natural systems
Two Bunch Palms also features its own on-site spa as well as yoga classes and workshops like indigo dyeing and hand-thrown ceramics.
Dining
The Restaurant at Two Bunch Palms focuses on vegetable-forward, So-Cal-inspired foods. The menu changes seasonally and offers a variety of options from vegan and vegetarian dishes to hearty and comforting meat dishes.
Sustainability
Given that Two Bunch Palms was built around a rare hot spring in the middle of a desert, its primary sustainability focus is the conversation of water. It has done so by replacing grassy areas with drought-resistant flora and fauna that requires minimal irrigation as part of its 30-year propagation plan.
Powered by a four-acre solar field, Two Bunch Palms is also carbon-neutral for electricity meaning it actually produces a surplus of electricity which it contributes back into the electrical grid for use elsewhere.
Cavallo Point Lodge
Named after the wild stallions that gathered in this sheltered haven by the bay centuries ago, Cavallo Point has long been a place of serenity and contentment. Situated at the foot of the Golden Gate Bridge, the lodge resides within the Golden Gate National Recreation Area’s 75,000 square acres of parkland.
With its green-focused ethos, this lodge embodies San Francisco’s status as a global leader in sustainability.
Location
Sausalito
Unique Features and Amenities
With a focus on “green luxury,” Cavallo Point offers an array of spa services at its Healing Arts Center & Spa which integrates the finest healing practices from all around the globe.
The lodge also offers complimentary yoga classes and guided property walks but it also acts as a jumping-off point from which you can hike, bike, sail, and tour your way around San Francisco Bay.
Dining
If you’re looking for some of the finest dining San Francisco has to offer, you’ll find it at Cavallo Point’s restaurant, Murray Circle, which highlights the freshest local ingredients with refined modern NorCal cuisine anchored to its Marin roots.
Murray Circle provides diners with the choice between a serene indoor space where you can warm up next to fireplaces or a historic porch for soaking up sun while taking in sweeping views of the city skyline, San Francisco Bay, and the Golden Gate Bridge.
Sustainability
Cavallo Point operates under the philosophy that what’s good for the earth is also good for business. And, in that spirit, it’s committed to taking as little as possible from the environment and giving back as much as it can.
For its initiatives supporting environmental sustainability, stewardship, and preservation, Cavallo Point has been awarded LEED Gold Certification from the US Green Building Council and received numerous awards including Travel + Leisure’s Global Vision Award for Sustainability and the World Legacy Award from National Geographic.
Beyond its LEED Certification, Cavallo Point is a member of Beyond Green, a diverse portfolio of lodgings around the world that believe that traveling well, and with intention, can be a powerful force for renewing our planet and enhancing the lives of all its people.
Edgewood Tahoe Resort
Set on the beach next to Lake Tahoe’s glassy waters, nestled among towering Jeffrey pine trees against a backdrop of the Sierra Range, you’ll find Edgewood Tahoe Resort.
Channeling the spirit of the historic Grand Lodges of the American West, this alpine escape is a full-service luxury resort that reflects pays homage to its surroundings and history.
It’s a showcase of artisanship and imagination which has been painstakingly designed to pay homage to Tahoe’s majestic environment.
Location
Lake Tahoe
Unique Features and Amenities
The Lodge at Edgewood Tahoe features an 8,500-square-foot space and a heated lakeside pool.
But, most notably, it boasts a highly-acclaimed 18-hole championship golf course for use during the warmer months as well as easy access to world-class skiing in the winter.
Dining
With its three unique restaurants, each distinguished by an elite team of nationally-recognized chefs, The Edgewood Tahoe Resort is becoming renowned as a top-tier gastro destination.
At the resort, you can enjoy:
- The Bistro: The pinnacle of casual contemporary dining, The Bistro offers American seasonal fare made from fresh, locally sourced ingredients and exotic specialty proteins and immaculately paired with carefully selected wines and cocktails.
- Brooks’ Bar and Deck: An incredible gastropub situated along the golf course, Brooks’ Bar and Deck serves up gourmet comfort food and pub-inspired fared in a space built by famed architect Frank Gehry.
- Edgewood Restaurant: If your palate calls for fine dining, this epicurean amphitheater serves adventurous flavors and dishes from an expertly-crafted menu.
The Edgewood Tahoe Resort also offers a coffee bar featuring velvety cappuccinos, perfectly pulled espresso, refreshing fruit smoothies, and world-class baked goods.
Sustainability Practices
Residing in one of the United States’ most carefully managed ecosystems, The Edgewood Tahoe Resort has achieved LEED Certification for its sustainability practices, including:
- Acquiring and demolishing several obsolete and environmentally unsustainable properties and restoring the land to its natural state
- Treating and removing half a million pounds of sediment per year from Lake Tahoe
- Conducting extensive improvements to holding, treatment, and discharge of stormwater from the densely developed core of Lake Tahoe into its landscape
- Implementing a lake-sourced cooling system, eliminating the use of electricity for this purpose
- Using locally-sourced materials in its construction to eliminate the impact of long-distance shipping
- Reducing its water usage through efficiencies in engineering and landscape design
When you find yourself needing a weekend of reprieve from the busyness of everyday life, there’s no better place to live than in California.
By escaping to one of its exceptional sustainable resort destinations, you can refresh and rejuvenate your mind and body while making a minimal impact on the local and global environment.
And if upon your return you’re in search of an elevated workplace and professional community with sustainability at its core, we invite you to come take a tour of your local CANOPY location and learn why it might be the right place for your business.