Luxury Eco Cottage Holidays
Eco Chic Cottages - The Chestnuts and Culls Cottage are Places where Luxury and Sustainability meet.
Have a fantastic holiday, and tread lightly on the earth.
When we opened The Chestnuts holiday cottage over ten years ago, Eco Holidays had a touch of the worthy about them. They were often dimly lit - using as few lights as possible, swaddled in thick dark curtains to keep the warmth in and the cold out. Extra layers were often de rigueur to keep your core temperature up. I remember one eco-holiday where I barely removed my bobble hat - inside! But we knew the ethos was right; we just needed to do it differently.
Holidays are a special time to relax and indulge yourself; they shouldn’t be about giving things up (such as comfort) or wearing extra layers.
The Chestnuts and its sister cottage, Culls, deliver just that, and most of our guests don’t start looking for an Eco property. As far as we are concerned, all properties should do what they can and when they can to tread lightly on the planet.
We don’t have high-tech ground-source heat pumps or solar panels. Both of our properties are heritage listed, and Culls dates from 1670, so structural changes such as double glazing are not an option. But we work with what we have, and by taking the ‘Small Steps approach,’ you can holiday in Luxury while helping the planet.
Blessed with naturally thick stone walls, most Cotswold cottages are naturally insulating. But we have added to that great start with thermally lined curtains and packed floors and ceilings are packed with added insulation. Our underfloor heating heats the buildings slowly and softly, and padding around in bare feet on warm flagstone floors is one of life’s small pleasures.
From the start, it was important to us to be accredited, and we have been a member of Green Tourism for over ten years—holding their prestigious Gold award and running a Carbon Neutral Business. We are audited, and we like that it keeps us on our toes. Chatting with the auditor is always a great source of information. To use a cliché, ‘being green is a journey, not a destination.’
We are big on natural fabrics—crisp linen sheets, sumptuous woollen throws, and sheepskin rugs; bamboo chopping boards and bowls in the kitchen; and reusable shopping bags. We buy only Eco-friendly toiletries and cleaning products that are kind to the environment and you, the guest—there are no parabens in our shampoos or conditioners, which we leave you to enjoy.
Holiday cottages are all about living life your way—in a super new space that, for the weekend or the week, is your very own. Although we don’t supply you with food, we have several staples left for you to enjoy—tea, Coffee, sugar, etc.......…but you can be assured that even these are all either locally sourced, Fairtrade, or organic.
We don’t like chores as much as the next person! Where possible, we buy in bulk, lessening the need for unnecessary packing. But we all end up with some paper and glass waste, so we have made recycling at our cottages super easy – no rummaging frantically in a shed down the bottom of the garden the night before you leave.
Our cottages may be hundreds of years old, but our attitude to technology isn’t. Arrive in your electric car at The Chestnuts, and plug it into the PodPoint charger. With the help of the Nest learning thermostat and Smart electrical meter, we can keep our cottages humming at the most economical but comfortable temperatures. Plus, we have the latest electrical appliances - Smart TVs, sound systems and A+-rated kitchen equipment.
We would love solar panels, but until we can find a solution that is compatible with our beautiful Cotswold stone roofs, we buy 100% green-generated electricity so we can sleep easy knowing we aren’t depleting the fossil fuel bank.
Giving back is part of our ethos, and with our guests’ help, we support several charities that help our wider environment, including The Barn Owl trust and Caring for the Cotswolds. Our Bit Bob soft owl toys, purchased by guests, help raise awareness of the plight of endangered species, and we support three barn owls at the Barn Owl Trust. You may be lucky enough to see one of these majestic birds in the wild in The Cotswolds (especially near Culls Cottage).
Eco-friendly living is now the epitome of cool, and enjoying a holiday on an Eco Property is a natural alternative for everyone. You don’t have to sacrifice style or comfort to care for the environment. We genuinely believe our cottages are where Luxury and Sustainability Meet.
Also, read...
Click here to view details of all other holiday cottages in our UK eco-collection.