Top Sites for Eco-Friendly & Sustainable Accommodation
18
Jun
Top Sites for Eco-Friendly & Sustainable Accommodation
If you want a more eco-friendly stay, here are the top sites to find sustainable accommodations in 2026.
(If you’re looking for organized self-guided, private, or small-group trips that already include sustainable accommodation, we’ve got you covered!)
When you’re planning your trip completely on your own, accommodation is one of the biggest ticket items you’ll need to book. Opting for sustainable accommodations is one of the best ways you can “vote with your wallet” on the type of positive change you want to see in the tourism industry.
Most traditional hotel and accommodation booking sites have a problem: they don’t focus on sustainability or offer a ‘green’, ‘eco’, or ‘sustainable’ filter for their myriad listings.
Yet, sustainable travel options are becoming a more pressing need for travelers as concern for our planet grows. Booking.com's 2025 Travel & Sustainability report states that:
73% of travelers want their spending to go back to the local community and 69% of travelers now want to leave the places they visit better than when they arrived.
Where the major booking platforms fall short in catering to conscientious travelers, a slew of innovative startups and SMEs (small and medium enterprises) are working hard to fill the gap. And, it’s important to fill that gap because accommodation is one of the biggest expenditures for tourists.
We know that sites like Booking.com and Expedia have a variety of great deals on accommodations as well as flights, car rentals, and attractions – making them a convenient option. We also know that many travelers opt for Airbnbs or VRBO. But, if you want a more eco-friendly stay for your next vacation, keep reading to discover great alternative booking sites.
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What are eco-friendly accommodations?
There is no hard and fast rule as to what makes an accommodation eco-friendly. There are numerous rating systems, certifications, and criteria that might be followed by hotels and other types of lodging. One way to distinguish an eco lodging though is to see if they are taking visible and viable steps to reduce their environmental impact.
The Evolution of Sustainable Travel
Sustainable Travel in 2025
Booking.com publishes a new report each year - so what were some of the important stats from the 2025 Travel & Sustainability report?
Environmental Impact to Community Connection
Booking.com’s 2025 Travel & Sustainability Report shows a clear shift in traveler awareness, with 53% of respondents now recognising tourism’s impact on local communities as well as the environment, a notable change since the research began in 2016.
Tourism continues to be viewed positively overall, with 57% of travelers believing it benefits their local area. However, respondents also highlighted growing concerns around congestion, littering, overcrowding, and rising living costs, pointing to a more balanced understanding of tourism’s effects.
Rather than supporting caps on visitor numbers, travelers favor practical solutions. Investment in public transport, waste management, and environmental conservation is seen as the preferred approach, with only 16% believing that limiting tourist numbers is the answer.
Sustainable travel behaviors are increasingly mainstream. The report found that 73% of travelers want their spending to benefit local communities, while 69% aim to leave destinations better than they found them.
For the first time, the research also adopts a community-focused lens, asking respondents about their experiences as residents in tourist destinations. This approach provides valuable insight into both the benefits and pressures tourism creates at a local level.
Sustainable Travel in 2024
Booking.com’s Sustainable Travel 2024 Report underscores that sustainable travel remains a priority for most global travelers. 83% of respondents say that sustainable travel is important to them. A substantial 71% of travelers want to leave the places they visit better than they found them, reflecting growing interest in mindful and responsible travel.
Three-quarters of travelers (75%) express a desire to travel more sustainably over the next 12 months, with 57% intending to reduce energy use and 54% planning to use more sustainable transport options.
Interest in sustainable travel certifications remains strong, with 45% of travelers saying a sustainable label makes accommodation more appealing and 67% agreeing that all travel sites should use the same sustainability standards to help build trust and clarity.
Overall, while positive intentions are widespread, the 2024 report highlights barriers that the travel industry must address, simplifying sustainable choices, improving standards, and making credible options easier to find, to turn traveler intentions into real, measurable action.
Sustainable Travel in 2023
Booking.com's 2023 Sustainable Travel Report states that 80% of travelers surveyed confirmed that "traveling more sustainably is important to them," with 76% saying they want to "travel more sustainably over the coming 12 months."
When it comes to accommodation specifically, 59% of travelers want to "filter their options for those with a sustainable certification," and 64% "would feel better about staying in a particular accommodation if they knew it had a sustainable certification or label." Yet, 39% of travelers surveyed reported not trusting sustainable travel labels.
With this in mind, we must balance being skeptical with being open-minded towards companies that really are trying to make a difference. Below, we've rounded up sites that we think are setting a good example in this space.
Sustainable Travel in 2022
Booking.com's 2022 Sustainable Travel Report shows that 81% of global travelers think sustainable travel is important, with 70% saying they would be more likely to book sustainable accommodation. Travelers who stayed in a sustainable accommodation within the last year reported wanting to reduce their impact on the environment (41%), have a more local experience (33%), and treat the surrounding community better (31%). On the other hand, among travelers who did not stay at sustainable accommodations, 31% reported that they didn’t even know sustainable accommodations existed. This is down from 36% the year prior, and while it reflects increased awareness and demand for sustainable properties, it also shows a big gap left to fill.
Top Sites for Eco-Friendly & Sustainable Accommodations:
- Wayaj
- Kind Traveler
- Fairbnb
- Regenerative Travel
- Ecobnb
- Green Pearls
- socialbnb
The eco-travel sites we have listed below make it easier for you to find these types of accommodations. They take the guesswork out so you can save time and get to what you love quicker: traveling!
Wayaj is a female-founded sustainable travel platform that offers tools and resources to travelers and tour operators to help them make better ecological choices. They aggregate hundreds of eco-accommodations worldwide for all budgets, and their goal is to help travelers “minimize the environmental impact while maximizing the benefits to local communities.”
Their green hotel rating uses the following seven criteria to score the environmental and social impact of hotels and other forms of travel accommodations:
- Materials: The reduction of resource consumption and the purchase of more local and sustainable materials.
- Community: The promotion of tourism in locations that support the local community, as well as its people and environment.
- Waste: Proper disposal of waste and the promotion of more sustainable disposal options.
- Indoors: Boost the quality of the interior environment to ensure guest satisfaction, health, and well-being.
- Management: Provide a safe, healthy, and non-discriminatory workplace for all genders, races, religions, and social classes.
- Water: Reduce the amount of water used and reuse it where possible. As well as the use of natural water sources and wastewater treatment.
- Energy: Reduce energy consumption and employ clean, renewable sources for the remaining needs.
Site experience:
The accommodations themselves look amazing, but the listings are limited in comparison to larger booking sites; the trickiest part will be finding lodging in the specific destination you have in mind. That’s why we suggest maybe finding your dream accommodation first and then planning your trip around that!
Why book with them?
In addition to providing accommodations for all types of travelers, Wayaj also offers eco tools to help you on your journey. Their eco tools include a carbon footprint calculator and a selection of carbon offsetting projects you can donate to.
2. Kind Traveler
Do More Than Travel
Accommodations: Worldwide
Kind Traveler is a public benefit corporation, and the first socially conscious Give + Get hotel booking and media platform. Booking through Kind Traveler empowers you to “positively impact the communities you visit” by making it simpler than ever to give back and feel good about it when you travel.
They partner with environmentally friendly hotels in the US and worldwide that are making a difference through the promotion of individual wellness, sustainability, and community. Each hotel is given the opportunity to collaborate with a local charity that travelers may choose to donate to.
Here’s how it works:
- Choose the destination and the hotel
- Donate to a charity or cause of your choice
- Get exclusive rates on hotels
- Explore how to travel kindly
Site experience:
Start your search by clicking “Book Hotel” at the top, since there’s no search bar, then scroll to the destination you want. Current destinations include a handful of major US cities, Mexico, the Caribbean, the Maldives, Belize, Italy, Paris, Guatemala, and Thailand – so this could be a great site to use especially if you’re looking for a beachy vacation.
Why book with them?
Travelers unlock exclusive hotel rates and perks upon a $10 nightly donation to a highlighted local charity that positively impacts the destination visited, or to a charity of choice. No need to worry – 100% of donations are given to the charities!
Similar to Kind Traveler, Fairbnb uses a donation model to give back to local communities.
They are a cooperative accommodation booking platform that promotes and funds local initiatives and projects in Europe. For every booking you make with Fairbnb, 50% of your booking fees are donated to a community project in the place you visit.
Fairbnb.coop gives travelers and locals the opportunity to participate in a more responsible and sustainable tourism model. When travelers book through this platform, they’re supporting social and ecological projects for a community. Fairbnb.coop works with local authorities to verify hosts, and then stakeholders collaborate to define and prioritize the social projects.
Site experience:
The homepage feels like a familiar, standard booking site and we like that the drop-down only includes cities they have a presence in. Their destinations include 14 major European cities and a few other European regions, which makes their site a great booking option for a sustainable Euro-city break!
Why book with them?
Consider booking with Fairbnb if you’re looking for a ‘more ethical version of Airbnb’. They are committed to supporting the UN Sustainable Development Goals, reinvesting in local communities, and fairly treating hosts and guests while putting people over profit. Read their full manifesto here.
Discover responsible package trips that immerse you in culture.
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Created in 2019, Regenerative Travel brings together upscale, luxury eco-resorts from around the world.
Each of their 53 Regenerative Resorts is selected based on their dedication to environmental and social impact. Regenerative Travel makes certain that the eco-friendly hotels embody six standards:
- Honors place: Ensures the lodgings are well-integrated into the local destination and do not disrupt the local environment, history, and culture.
- Provides hospitality: Guests are provided with authentic and personalized experiences.
- Is inclusive and egalitarian: All people are welcome and underrepresented communities are supported.
- Operate responsibly and ethically: Takes into consideration the wellbeing of surrounding communities and ecosystems.
- Respects local and global ecosystems: A strong commitment to reducing their environmental impact and monitoring the waste produced from their operations.
- Communicates regenerative values & practices: Mutually values Regenerative Travel’s commitment to being a socially and environmentally responsible company.
You can filter through accommodations ranging from adventure lodges to cozy cabins, to private villas and luxury safari camps. The listings also have thorough details on how the lodging is making a regenerative impact. Most of the resorts are located in the Americas (seven in North America, seven in Central America, and two in South America), followed by nine resorts in Asia. Regenerative Travel also has unique experiences tied to some of their resorts – such as visiting a cinnamon farm or releasing baby sea turtles.
Don’t miss their online magazine which offers unique travel guides, highlights cuisine from around the world, and gives recommendations on style and wellness as it pertains to travel and sustainability.
Site experience:
This site has a sleek, luxurious feel to it. Begin browsing by clicking “Regenerative Resorts” in the top navigation bar or searching by region in the search bar. Based on the highly curated selection, this might be another site to let your luxurious resort or regenerative experience decide where you book your next trip.
Why book with them?
Sustainable travel doesn’t mean you have to skimp on comfort and luxury. When you book with Regenerative Travel, you can discover high-end hotels & resorts dedicated to making a positive impact. If you want to feel good and do good when you stay in an accommodation, Regenerative Travel is the way to go.
5. Ecobnb
Discover the Authenticity of Travelling with Nature at Heart
Accommodations: Worldwide
Ecobnb is a platform dedicated to changing the way we travel. Initially, an Italian blog that told ecotravel stories, Ecobnb evolved into a booking platform in 2015. Then in 2017, they received an award for excellence and innovation in tourism from the UNWTO.
From bio hotels to treehouses, they offer a variety of eco-friendly accommodations that follow sustainability requirements. They also pride themselves on helping their guests save an average of 8 kg of CO2 and 302 liters of fresh water each night they stay in an Ecobnb accommodation.
Accommodations listed on the site must meet at least five of the 10 sustainability requirements. Some of these requirements include car-free accessibility, water flow reducers, and eco-cleaning products.
Site experience:
Browse by destination using the search bar on the home page. The listings are concentrated mostly in Italy and France (and in some surrounding countries) – so start with this site if either of those countries is your destination.
Why book with them?
Ecobnb is an award-winning platform with simple-to-understand sustainability criteria. As the ‘largest sustainable tourism community,’ they are highly accredited, and their accommodations have numerous certifications. They also have a “Green, Clean, & Safe” charter you can read here if you want more information on their efforts.
Green Pearls offers travelers unique green hotels from around the world. The eco-hotels listed on their site are chosen based on their sustainable initiatives and green projects. Hotels listed must also fulfill at least 80% of the 14 Green Pearls requirements in categories such as:
- Management plan
- Architecture
- Flora & Fauna
- Water Consumption
- Energy Consumption
- Waste Management
- And more
Their 12 environmentally friendly hotel types include boutique hotels, wellness hotels, and wedding hotels just to name a few (they even have vegan hotels!). Vacation rentals are also available if you’re looking for a more cozy feel.
Site experience:
Scroll below the beautiful slider to find the search bar. When you search, it will scan all of their hotels, blog posts, sustainable projects, and more. The site is in English, but you’ll notice a strong German influence (not everything is translated) – and will find the most accommodation options if you’re looking to travel to Germany.
Each hotel listing has green icons to indicate an area of sustainability, though it’s a little hard to tell what each icon specifically represents. Once you click into the listing, you’ll see the Green Pearls score and plenty of details about their sustainability initiatives. There’s also a section that provides more context about the lodging, such as if it contributes to a local social project or was rebuilt after a disaster.
Why book with them?
If you’re looking for stylish and well-situated hotels and vacation rentals encapsulated by nature and great for all budgets, this is the site for you. Green Pearls helps you to find hidden gems at an affordable price. You can feel great about staying in their hotels since each one supports important regional social, environmental, or wildlife projects.
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Socialbnb launched in 2021 aiming to build a "community-oriented way of experiencing places and cultures" wherein guests booking through their site support local projects regarding nature and animal protection efforts, education, and equality. How it works is travelers book a stay at a social or ecological project, they have an immersive experience wherein they get to know locals onsite, and support the region by directly contributing to the local projects. On socialbnb you can find B&Bs, homestays, holiday rentals, glamping, tents, campsites, van pitches, whole houses, converted boats, hotels, and hostels.
As a passionate social business, socialbnb prides itself on transparency including telling travelers where their money goes and publishing a publicly available impact report each year.
For stays to be listed on their platform, over 20 criteria are looked at covering topics like:
- Solution of a problem
- Organizational culture
- Empowerment
- Transparency
- Ecology
- Volunteering
- Protection
- External representation
Site experience:
From the homepage, when you click into the search bar, several countries will pop up, or you can type in your destination. Selecting a country will automatically open up the search results page. Alternatively, if you click "Find your accommodation," a map will appear showing prices and accommodations available around the world. On each stay, the type of impact projects supported will be indicated, for example, "Education" and "Equality". You can learn more about the initiatives on the accommodation listing page, discover if you can visit the project your stay will be supporting, and even make a one-off donation to the project.
A few considerations:
- While they have around 250 accommodations in nearly 40 countries, these can be a bit spread out, meaning if you have a specific city or country in mind, you may not find an available stay.
- Typing in France, as an example, resulted in a page with 6 accommodations, but actually the accommodations were not in France. This was a little unclear because there wasn't explicit messaging that there are not results in France, rather they show the closest accommodations nearby (in Italy and Germany, for example).
- Coverage seems a bit spotty. For example, they have accommodations in Spain and Portugal, but not in France or the UK. This should improve with time as the site grows.
Why book with them?
Use socialbnb for your next vacation if you believe that real connections between people have the power to positively change the world, and if you believe that tourism should provide positive value to local communities. Booking accommodation with socialbnb will ensure you contribute more to a destination than just visiting it: You'll have a meaningful experience, be exposed to inspiring projects, have take part in an authentic travel experience with a long-lasting positive Impact.
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Which booking site is best for you?
You can’t go wrong when booking with any of these eco-friendly accommodation sites. But, if you’re wondering which website you should use, it depends on what matters to you most and what you’re looking for on your next vacation.
Do you prefer a modern hotel in the heart of the city or a rustic vacation rental in the countryside? A secluded beachfront resort or an eco-lodge surrounded by lush greenery? Or, maybe you’re still not sure. Here are our takeaways to help you decide which sustainable accommodation site(s) may be best for you.
Based on what you’re looking for:
- Vacation rentals: Ecobnb, Fairbnb
- Eco hotels: Kind Traveler, Green Pearls
- Luxury getaway: Regenerative Travel
- A little bit of everything: Wayaj, socialbnb
Based on where you’re going:
- Wayaj: Worldwide, hundreds of listings
- Kind Traveler: Popular US cities and states (about 10 of each), 8 select global destinations
- Fairbnb: Major European cities
- Green Pearls: Germany
- Regenerative Travel: Worldwide, 50+ listings
- Ecobnb: Italy, France
- socialbnb: Worldwide in nearly 40 countries, ~250 listings
Based on what each eco-booking site is doing to help the planet:
- Wayaj: They provide travelers with a carbon footprint calculator and carbon footprint projects to donate to in order to reduce their CO2 emissions.
- Kind Traveler: When you book with them, a $10 nightly donation will be given to a charity of your choice.
- Fairbnb: 50% of booking fees will be donated to a community project in the destination you visit.
- Green Pearls: They make sure that each accommodation follows at least 80% of their 14 sustainability requirements to ensure that it is truly sustainable.
- Regenerative Travel: To join the platform, hotels must follow a rigorous application process and must abide by the six sustainability criteria, which include respecting the local & global ecosystems.
- Ecobnb: They calculate how many trees you save when you stay in one of their accommodations.
- socialbnb: They support local community impact projects regarding nature and animal protection, education, and equality.
This post may contain affiliate links. This means that we may receive a small commission if you purchase something from a partner site, at no additional cost to you.
Former sites included in this post, but which seem to either no longer exist, include BecoStay, MyEcoStay, BookDifferent, and EcoHotels. BookItGreen has been absorbed by EcoBnB.
This post was originally published in August 2021 and is updated periodically - most recently in December 2025.
