Colombo Courtyard – first carbon neutral hotel
View(s):Blogger Josh Cahill found a “calm oasis in the middle of the city” when walking into the Colombo Courtyard during his visit to Sri Lanka. Here are excerpts from his blog post released by Colombo Courtyard:
“Having spent the previous three weeks travelling around Sri Lanka’s beaches and countryside, I arrived at Colombo after a two and a half hour train ride from Galle. I had no idea what to expect, and I was quite excited to find out what Sri Lanka’s capital was like.
Luckily one of Colombo’s top boutique hotels, Colombo Courtyard, invited me to review their one-of-a-kind property which is right in the heart of Colombo. Let me take you on a little tour around the property that exceeded my expectations and had a more than a few surprises up its sleeve.
The hotel has a mix of Superior, Deluxe and Suite Rooms, all of which are completely unique and individual. The building was previously an office space for about 20 years, and was fully renovated and refurbished into the hotel it is today, so each and every room is a different customised space.
Amber Spa is also located within the hotel next to the beautiful and modern lap pool and offers great treatments at affordable prices, and by staying in the hotel you are offered a 20 per cent discount on all massages and treatments. The Courtyard offers plenty of drinking and dining options, and even boasts its own rooftop cafe, separate bar and lounge, and a wine bar on the ground floor! Also, it even has a great little library! What more could you want?
The rooms had all the modern amenities that are expected from boutique hotels nowadays and even more, as it has a strong focus on being eco-friendly. All the toiletries are produced especially for the hotel and are all green and environmentally friendly.
Overall all the dining and drinking options are really great at the Colombo Courtyard and you will definitely find something that will suit everyone’s tastes and preference.
As I mentioned before, sustainability is a big priority of the owners and management at Colombo Courtyard. Their goal is to be an environmentally friendly property and the entire team has worked extremely hard from the beginning to achieve the honour of being a totally carbon-neutral hotel, which means that all of their carbon emissions have been offset in order to reduce their overall carbon footprint.
This is a great initiative and one that they do very well, and it all begins with the great attitude and ideas of the owners and management. All throughout the hotel you will notice eco-friendly and recycled materials such as paper lanterns and recycled sculptures, or their great recycled metal “Colombo crows” and feathers that are featured throughout the hotel.
At Loft Lounge Bar you will find yourself sitting on stylish recycled tractor seats, or on restyled railway sleepers. They also have a great showpiece in the lobby, a sculpture that they commissioned especially made from recycled materials. The “Bicycle Part Tree” intertwines itself all the way up to the rooftop and represents their main philosophy of eco-friendliness and environmental value.”