One hotel in the Yorkshire Dales has recently gone plant-based, good news for local Swaledale sheep! Beck Hall is surrounded by limestone and rolling hills, where guests relax in one of 20 beautiful rooms overlooking streams or a roaring fire. They then tuck into a full English breakfast. For lunch, enjoy a ‘steak’ onion gravy baguette for lunch or partake of a traditional roast (including locally-made Yorkshire puddings).
Also served is afternoon tea with sandwiches served alongside homemade scones served with jam and cashew cream – and of course cakes! Or pop to the bar for alcohol-free draft beer.
Come evenings, the menu is extensive. How about a plant-based ‘beefburger’ with wholegrain mustard mayo, sauerkraut and tomato with fries, or a ‘vegan steak’ with chunky chips, roast tomato, grilled mushrooms, onion rings & peppercorn sauce? Or for a lighter bite, there is plant-based ‘shrimp’, with cucumber salad, polished off with sticky toffee pudding with butterscotch sauce or lemon ‘cheesecake’.
This hotel is not just ‘dog-tolerant’ but dog-friendly the owners rescued their own dog from Battersea Dogs Home). They try to allocate rooms close to outdoor doors, for easy access to the stream-side garden. Malham Cove is just 10 minutes walk away.
This hotel was bought by a couple from Yorkshire and Lancashire (no ‘war of the roses’ here!) who left behind former careers to create a gourmet plant-based hotel. They renovated the historic building, installed smart heating/hot water systems and fund tree-planting (almost 5000 so far) to offset carbon emissions of employees, who receive a Living Wage.
Successful Plant-Based Hotels
London Hilton’s Bompas & Parr has designed a ‘vegan hotel suite’ with fruit leather headboards and scatter cushions and keycards made from Piñatex (waste from the pineapple industry). Not just good ethics, but good business as funds are saved from having to buy ‘different products for different people’ (all pillows are feather-free, and instead stuffed with organic buckwheat or millet, with all carpets wool-free too).
Hempsall Farm Luxury Glamping (Cambridgeshire) offers safari tents that sleep up to six, with kitchens equipped to whip up quick meals, or cook meals on the open fire. The tents have luxury hot showers with flushing toilets to escape the ‘horrors of traditional camping!’ They include dining and seating areas, with chests containing games for all ages. The land used to be a farm, but has since been bought by vegans, so now it’s a animal sanctuary!
Stonewater House is situated on the Isle of Arran, a stunning place with mountains and beaches. This hotel (unfortunately they cannot accept animal friends) offers a breakfast of homemade vegan haggis with whisky cream sauce, with maple tofu ‘bacon’, mushrooms, baked tomatoes and steamed spinach.
Saorsa is set within a 19th century bohemian building, at the gate of the Scottish Highalands. Proudly sponsoring a vegan rugby club, this quiet oasis (the rooms have no TVs) offers artisan homemade sourdough and a 5-course tasting menu, finishing with caramelised banana brulee.
Vegan Welcome lists hotels abroad. Plant-based hotels are popular especially in the US, where for years, The White Pig has delighted guests at its 19th century Virginia farmhouse, each room named after one of their adorable rescued pigs. Guests can relax overlooking meadows and mature forest in ‘Walton’s country’, then enjoy a breakfast of organic waffles with fresh strawberries, blueberry pancakes with soy sausage/bacon, scrambled tofu with home-fries and coffee/juice. Baked afternoon goods are served with homemade lemonade or iced herbal tea.
VegVisits can be used alongside airbnb (the system syncs to avoid over-booking) where owners leave recommendations of local plant-based cafes and restaurants. Guests could also employ local tour guides to show them around (this company does not allow their guides to include viewing animals for entertainment (carriage rides, photos, zoos, aquariums, sporting events).
Resources for Eco-Vegan Hotels
- Helleo Soap offers guest-size olive oil soaps, free from palm oil and wrapped in recycled paper.
- Sell unsold food at reduced prices with Karma app. This creates up to £80,000 for some hoteliers.
- Replace plastic bottled water with mains-fed water coolers.
- Switch to biodegradable cleaning & laundry products (unscented is best).
- Use biodegradable bin bags and silicone toilet brushes.
- Make gardens safe for visiting dogs. Avoid facing indoor foliage to gardens (to help stop birds flying into windows).
- Ecotricity offers business tariffs for clean energy (also switch to a green phone company).
- Earn up to £5,000 a year by renting out unused parking spaces out-of-season with JustPark app (saving visitors fees for car parks). Also let locals use electric charging stations.
