A green way of life: Luang Prabang View, Laos

Some may struggle with the costs of sus­tain­able prac­tices, but former Luang Pra­bang View Hotel Gen­er­al Man­ager John Wil­li­ams sees going green as a way of life … while sav­ing green­backs along the way. 

This is the third Sus­tain­able Tour­ism Laos Show­case by “Good Tour­ism” Des­tin­a­tion Part­ner WeAre­Lao.

Mr Wil­li­ams grew up in a rur­al town, where sus­tain­ab­il­ity was the norm. “I have been work­ing to save and use nature for many years. As a boy, I learned to use and re-use. I have been apply­ing this know-ledge in my dec­ades of hos­pit­al­ity exper­i­ence,” he said. “It’s more than account­ing wins or a thing you can pur­chase; it’s about doing what we feel is right. It’s a way of life…common sense …part of our daily work load.” 

Mr Wil­li­ams down­plays the role of cer­ti­fic­a­tion. “Just do it and save money.” He should know; the Luang Pra­bang View has landed sev­er­al plaudits, includ­ing the ASEAN MICE Award. “We can eas­ily check off the items on forms, while ini­ti­at­ing sus­tain­able meas­ures that any prop­erty can imple­ment, plus raise the bot­tom line.”

Water from the lux­ury hill­top property’s “grey pond” sep­tic sys­tem, in which over­flow is chan­nelled through three nat­ur­ally cleans­ing ponds, hoses down gar­dens and lawns. “If we used the city’s water, it would cost about $1,475 per month. That eas­ily cov­ers a $480 pump.”

The Luang Pra­bang View has been in front of the “No Plastic Parade” for years. For example, the hotel switched from plastic to reusable glass bottles, and rea-lised its RoI in less than a year. “The hotel moved to paper bags and recycled con­tain­ers for take-away food, and uses paper straws. Green net­ting replaces big black plastic bags for a 60% sav­ings, and we sell recyclables.”

The hotel’s nine com­post heaps for reju­ven­at­ing earth, vs. buy­ing dirt, saves $450 per year on a ton of soil. Repla­cing chem­ic­als with Effect­ive Micro-organ­isms (EMOs), made from hotel waste, cuts $8,220 in bio-clean­ing purchases. 

Loc­al farm­ers cash in by grow­ing herbs and veget­ables at the hotel’s garden, and many land on your plate. The garden also reaps fruit and flowers, and only uses regen­er­at­ive and sus­tain­able plants. These farm­ers raise anim­als, includ­ing chick­ens, ducks, and pigs. Some are sold, while the kit­chen uses others.

“We also pur­chase loc­al products. This keeps tour­ist dol­lars in the com­munity,” Mr Wil­li­ams said. Items range from ingredi­ents and fresh pro­duce to amen­it­ies like nat­ur­al soaps, sham­poo, and cot­ton shop­ping bags.

Mr Wil­li­ams is con­stantly on the prowl to uncov­er new sus­tain­able meth­ods. It’s in his DNA. Farm­ers mix cof­fee grounds with wet waste to feed the anim­als, and even use EMOs to repel insects.

“It’s just com­mon sense,” he explained. “It’s a way of life.”

Staying safe

“Wipe it down with alco­hol” rings through­out Luang Pra­bang View’s post-pan­dem­ic policies and procedures…but the hotel is doing much more: masks, gloves, boil­ing kit­chen and din­ing ware…

“We needed to re-invent how we work, and urge our guests and part­ners to fol­low us to ensure safety for all,” Mr Wil­li­ams said.

“The changes require a big step,” he noted. “The hotel involves all depart­ments to guar­an­tee safety is of the highest levels…We also expect guests to be in good health before arriv­ing in Laos.”

Luang Prabang View Hotel

Web­site: Luang Pra­bang View Hotel
sm@luangprabangview.com
+856 71 260 560

Down­load: “A Green Way of Life: Luang Pra­bang View” (PDF; hos­ted offsite) 

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Fea­tured image (top of post): Col­lage, includ­ing a pic­ture of John Wil­li­ams, is from his “GT” Insight from 2017, “How to make a hotel green & respons­ible: Get on with it!”