Topas Ecolodge

We had the opportunity to visit the Topas Ecolodge, right in the middle of the mountains in Sa Pa. This outstanding place has been awarded last year by National Geographic with the “Unique Lodge” certification, reserved for sustainable, locally rooted and exceptional hotels across the world.

Built from second hand and reused materials, this lodge complexe is sustainable and circular to the core. Motor of local growth, 85 employees from local ethnies (Hmong, Thai, Tay…) work in the hotel. All the cooked food is coming from the Sa Pa market, or the hotel itself. Vegetables grow in the garden, with chicken guano – also breeded in the garden – as fertilizer. Their organic waste is given to a local farmer as food for its pigs.

The water used comes from two nearby wells, and is purified after use thanks to vegetal water filterer basins.

Finally, the Ecolodge is aiming for a plastic free fonctionning. After buying loose, using hesian bags for waste, or bamboo straws, the hotel new objective is to remplace every single plastic bottle by glass drinking bottles for its clients, filled with the local wells water.

Topas Ecolodge is a real exemple of a sustainable hotel, with many circular initiatives implemented at each possible and different scales.

We deeply thank Hubert de Murard, manager of this place, for his invitation, the personal interview and visit he gave us.

If you wish to learn more, check out our detailed analysis !