Great West Way Travel Magazine | Issue 07

“The Great West Way is proud to have three restaurants
with Michelin Green Star status – an award designed to recognise
restaurants offering dining experiences combining culinary
excellence with outstanding eco-friendly commitments.”
Eco-friendly hotels and restaurants
Many hotels along the Great West Way route are now ecocertified,
achieved by performing zero food waste, using
biodegradable packaging, and focusing on local produce.
There are too many to mention them all, but in Bath they
include the DoubleTree by Hilton, Apex City of Bath Hotel, and
The Royal Crescent Hotel and Spa. There are at least five in
Bristol to include The Bristol Hotel, Radisson Blu Hotel, Hilton
Garden Inn, DoubleTree by Hilton, and Hampton by Hilton
in Bristol. There's also the DoubleTree by Hilton in Swindon,
Homestay Reading and many more.
Pioneering in the sustainability is Whatley Manor in
Malmesbury. They have recently been awarded a Silver
accreditation by EarthCheck and were amongst the first 23 UK
properties to be awarded a Green Michelin Star recognising
sustainable gastronomy.
These awards have not been without hard work from the
dedicated team, whose best practices include sourcing organic
beef from their farmer next door; coffee ground logs for their
indoor fires; building a Bird Hide from upcycled materials sited
by the river; employing a zero-use policy of single-use plastics
in guest rooms; having a paperless account office, and reducing
their fresh flower points replacing them with rooted plants.
Danesfield House Hotel & Spa have employed a ‘green
team’ to help the business move towards sustainability,
climate change measures and efforts to save the planet.
Measures include LED lighting and only running their garden
water features at the weekends.
And small changes are making a significant difference at
Wiltshire Inn’s, The Swan Hotel, Bradford on Avon and The Old
Bell, Warminster. As well as recycling with no waste going to
landfill they have invested in their own water bottling system
for still and sparkling water in reusable glass bottles in the
bedrooms. They recycle coffee beans into coffee logs to be
used on log fires, have ‘one cup kettles’ to produce instant hot
water on demand and encourage their guests to explore the
local attractions by bicycle or on foot by providing information
on walks, cycle routes and cycle hire at reception.
We all know that in catering there can be a huge amount
of waste, but many of the restaurants on the Great West Way
are achieving zero food waste going into landfill.
Vaughan’s Kitchen in Devises is one example. They even
use ‘vegware’ packaging made from plants – a system saves
around a tonne of waste which would otherwise be going to
landfill each month.
The Great West Way is proud to have three restaurants
with Michelin Green Star status – an award designed
to recognise restaurants offering dining experiences
combining culinary excellence with outstanding eco-friendly
commitments: Oak Restaurant, Bath; The Dining Room at
22 GreatWestWay.co.uk