From The Straits Times    |
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Eco-friendly hotels

Photo: JW Marriott Hotel Singapore South Beach / Facebook

You’ve got the small – but increasing – pool of local designers who are eco-conscious. For your next staycation, consider the following green-friendly hotels to stay at – because as much as a pretty Instagram picture is vital, having solid credentials to back it up makes all the difference.

Here, we round up hotels in Singapore that’ll tick both the aesthetic and environmentally-responsible boxes:

Six Senses Duxton

Six Senses Duxton

Photo: Six Senses Singapore / Facebook

Opened barely two months ago, the Six Senses Duxton represents the luxury range’s first city hotel and foray into Singapore – though it’ll be accompanied by a bigger counterpart at Maxwell later in the year. If you aren’t familiar with Six Senses, they’re known for pushing a rustic yet polished hospitality experience that mixes sustainability with wellness.

Sustainability measures are practised at every level, including the supply chain – the hotel returns styrofoam boxes back to the suppliers to be reused, while single-use plastics (plastic drinking straws, bottles and paper plates) are not stocked at all.

Remarkably, the hotel (the group has been doing this for 15 years) even has a mineralisation machine on-site that produces, treats, purify and bottle its own drinking water that supposedly has a stable quality and zero-carbon footprint. In case you weren’t aware, shopping online and shipping things from abroad contributes to emissions of carbon dioxide.

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Hotel Fort Canning

Hotel Fort Canning

Photo: Hotel Fort Canning / Facebook

A five-star luxury boutique hotel that was formerly the administra­tion building for the British Far East Command, it’s situated in the picturesque Fort Canning and has received the Green Mark Gold Plus Award (which is the second highest tier) from the Building and Construction Authority (BCA). Not only that, the hotel also snagged the country winner in the category of Luxury Eco/Green Hotel at the World Luxury Hotel Awards 2017.

Their eco-friendly measures include chlorine-free mineral water swimming pools that are reportedly filtered by NASA technology, harvesting fresh herbs from their own on-site gardens (instead of importing them, which cuts down on carbon footprint), as well as a plant-a-tree initiative for customers.

Parkroyal on Pickering

Parkroyal on Pickering

Photo: Parkroyal on Pickering Hotel Singapore / Facebook

When it comes to eco-friendly digs in Singapore, Parkroyal on Pickering is definitely one of the most committed players, especially with its verdant veneer made up of live plants (#jungalow goals anyone?). And they’re not just there for show – there are gardens located on every fourth floor, and the ample amount of vegetation help to absorb heat, reducing the reliance on cooling systems.

Part of their water supply comes from a mix of rainwater, as well as Newater (Singapore’s recycled water). Small wonder that the hotel has clinched the Asia’s Leading Green Hotel accolade at the World Travel Awards for three consecutive years.

JW Marriott Hotel Singapore South Beach

JW Marriott Hotel

Photo: Agoda

One of the latest entrants onto the crowded Singapore hospitality scene, the JW Marriott Hotel South Beach’s approach is as architecturally arresting as it is eco-friendly. Any visitor there would have noticed the soaring metal canopy – its undulating features, designed by British architects Foster+Partners, is meant to mimic ocean waves but the design has also been angled in such a way so as to lower overall temperatures by approximately two degrees.

Not only that, the structure also collects rainwater for usage and has been outfitted with solar panels – the energy collected goes to light up the building’s facade.

Oasia Hotel Downtown

Oasia Hotel Singapore

Photo: Oasia Hotels

Designed by the same award-winning local firm – WOHA – behind Parkroyal on Pickering, the new-ish Oasia Hotel Downtown has frequently been featured on design sites, and it’s not hard to see why, with that eye-catching red facade.

The red aluminum mesh exterior supports more than 50 different species of plants, which in turn attracts fauna such as squirrels and bees, increasing the biodiversity in the area. The openness of the design also promotes natural cross-ventilation and less reliance on air-conditioning systems.

This article was originally published in Female.

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