Going local: Riverside Boutique Resort, Vang Vieng, Laos

Sus­tain­able exper­i­ences reach into themed rooms at the River­side Boutique Resort in Vang Vieng, Laos while Gen­er­al Man­ager Math­ieu Thaer­on cuts con­sump­tion by rely­ing on com­mon sense and a clued-in staff. This is the second Sus­tain­able Tour­ism Laos Show­case by “Good Tour­ism” Des­tin­a­tion Part­ner WeAre­Lao.

Today’s trav­el­lers demand sus­tain­ab­il­ity and authen­t­ic exper­i­ences. River­side deliv­ers both. 

“The moment guests enter, they feel like they’re in Laos,” Mr Thaer­on said, and the 34 rooms and suites prove it. All fea­ture fab­rics, decor and arte­facts from one of eight loc­al eth­nic groups.

“Our staff from these eth­ni­cit­ies can best explain their tra­di­tions, life­styles and crafts,” he said. “The guests are eager to dis­cuss the cul­ture, and often change rooms for a broad­er experience.”

Behind these room scenes, Mr Thaer­on cuts energy con­sump­tion using com­mon sense. Dim­mers are out. “Guests tend to turn dim­mers on high,“ he said. “We also lower min­i­bar temps after guests leave, and shut off elec­tri­city to all unoc­cu­pied buildings.”

Com­mon sense saves water. “We meas­ure flow from taps and showers. Then we match the water heat­er with flow to get good pres­sure and tem­per­at­ure. This cuts water and elec­tri­city costs.” 

He added, “Rooms have silent over­head fans. They look nice and are effi­cient. We ask guests to ‘Give the fan a chance’.” Still, guests need energy-eat­ing A/Cs. For effi­ciency, bam­boo boxes block the sun, pro­mote air­flow and cut costs by 15%.” 

Bey­ond rooms, innov­at­ive solu­tions start with poolside lan­terns, fuelled by used cook­ing oil. Plastic bottles pro­tect the tree-lamps bulbs. Pub­lic bath­room lights go on and off when people enter and exit.

Riverside’s kit­chen eased exhaust fans’ work by short­en­ing vent pipes. Food waste goes to the staff to feed fam­ily farm animals. 

Laun­dry? “We line-dry then fluff in dry­ers that are expens­ive to run.” House­keep­ing? “We only uses eco-clean­ers that pro­duce less waste.” Recyc­ling? “Policies are in place.” 

All this adds up to achiev­ing the Lao PDR Sus­tain­able Tour­ism Devel­op­ment Best Prac­tices Award. On top of that, “ASEAN wants us to rep­res­ent their Spa Standards.” 

Mr Thaer­on stressed the staff’s role in the resort’s sus­tain­ab­il­ity efforts, pri­or­it­ised in Octo­ber 2019. “I tell them why we take actions. They under­stand, and that is key to success.”

Hotel sus­tain­ab­il­ity expert, Patri­cio Gonza­lez Morel, saw this first-hand when he assessed the resort. “It usu­ally takes GMs a long time to start adopt­ing even the simplest improve­ments … Math­ieu mobil­ised his staff in a week.

“He cut energy con­sump­tion by 35% in three months, and I expect 50% soon after.”

Mr Thaer­on shrugged. “The reas­on is simple: com­mon sense and an eager staff who under­stand … They get it.”

COVID clean & safe

“Just after start­ing our sus­tain­able push, COVID came,” Mr Thaer­on said. “So we merged policies, and the staff was ready.”

COVID con­scious­ness kicks off at Riverside’s check in. UV ster­il­isers san­it­ise key and cred­it cards. The front desk mon­it­ors tem­per­at­ures of guests, vis­it­ors and staff wear­ing masks and gloves. 

“We deep clean rooms after check out,” Mr Thaer­on said. “Any­thing guests touch gets wiped with alco­hol: door handles, faucets, remote con­trols, switches … everything.” 

Riverside Boutique Resort

Web­site: River­side Boutique Resort
info@riversidevangvieng.com
+856 (0)23 511 726 – 8

Down­load: “Going Loc­al: River­side Boutique Resort, Vang Vieng” (PDF; hos­ted offsite)

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