Nishaville Resort & Spa: A haven of sustainable luxury
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“Sustainability” is rather over-used word in the hospitality industry today. But at the Nishaville Resort & Spa, sustainability is not simply a marketing term; it is a way of life.
This Thai beach resort, which forms part of The Unique Collection, operates in an almost entirely self-sustainable manner, producing its own food, recycling waste water to hydrate the hotel’s grounds, and using its many coconut palms to produce a whole range of products, from massage oils used in the spa to coconut jam served at breakfast, and all manner of in-room decorations.
This focus on sustainability is largely down to the resort manger, Ekprasert Kanjanarangsun, or Khun Bee as he is better known, who has a very hands-on approach to hotel management.
Under his direction, Nishaville Resort & Spa has expanded its organic garden to produce a wide variety of fruit, vegetables and herbs, plus mushrooms which are grown in two thatched huts.
The only items that the resort needs to buy are dry goods, meat, dairy products, although Khun Bee is also planning to add chickens in future, to provide his kitchens will a regular supply of organic eggs.
So it comes as little surprise that the Nishaville’s restaurant serves up excellent food. There is a selection of Thai and international dishes, all prepared to a standard that one would expect from a top international restaurant, rather than a provincial resort.
And of course the F&B focus is on fresh, seasonal ingredients plucked straight from the organic garden. In fact the resort can often have such an abundance of fresh produce that it needs to come up with creative ways of using it. To this end, Khun Bee regularly tasks his entire team – from chefs to waiters and stewards – with devising new dishes. On our visit, the resort was promoting a mouth-watering watercress dish that was invented by a trainee staff member.
This sense of empowerment flows through all areas of the resort, with staff members actively encouraged to think up new ways of using the resort’s many natural assets.
Even the resort’s non-human associates contribute; Nishaville now owns and cares for several buffalo, which it saved from a local abattoir. These animals provide a charming attraction for young visitors, who can feed them, and supply an endless amount of natural fertilizer which is used in the gardens.
The resort also recycles 100 percent of its waste water, which is treated and used around the vast grounds, and it is working on a new eco-friendly system for waste management.
Nishaville Resort & Spa is an excellent example of how a good resort should operate. By empowering and taking care of his employees Khun Bee maintains a low staff turnover rate, while the resort’s sustainable outlook not only reduces the resort’s environmental impact, but also improves the quality of F&B and reduces operating costs.
In this way, the resort is improving the lives of its staff, guests and the local community, and that is something that should be deeply admired.
BOOK NISHAVILLE RESORT & SPA
Tel: +66 32 616 333
Email: reservation@nishavilleresort.com
Web: www.nishavilleresort.com or www.theuniquecollection.com
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