Today, we made our way through the forests of Sentosa Island to Siloso Beach Resort, one of our survey respondents and industry best practice leaders who agreed to host our onsite visit and interview. One of Siloso’s CSR Team members gave us a tour of their facilities at the hotel. This Eco-resort was designed from the planning phase to be built in harmony with the surrounding environment, and to minimize any harmful effects once in operation.

Perhaps the most striking thing to me about this resort was the efforts made towards keeping the surrounding environment undisturbed. For example, the terrain had not been flattened to build the resort. Instead, the hotel structure was built on stilts to account for the natural slope of the terrain. Siloso also went to great lengths to preserve trees that had originally existed in the area. When we visited one of the villas, a tree was right in the middle of the room, coming up through the floor and extending through the ceiling! As far as a hotel experience can go, it really felt like you were living amongst the natural habitat. A relaxing soak in one of the villas’ outdoors jacuzzis, listening to the jungle sounds would really complete that experience. There was also a beautiful swimming pool, which was built where an old road used to be, which meant that less digging was required to construct it.

It is clear that Siloso carefully and innovatively manages its energy, water, and waste. Some of the initiatives that we observed included a roof top garden that naturally cools the building through insulation, while saving water through a water collection system embedded below the layers of soil that evaporates back to the roots of the plants, thus reducing the need for irrigation. All the pool water was chlorine free, and was instead ionized to keep it clean, allowing the overflow water to be used for maintaining the gardens. The resort also had its own composting machines for food waste from the F&B department, as well as a system for sorting out recycling. They also build a lot of their own furniture with reclaimed wood pieces from nearby construction sites and deadwood found onsite that would otherwise be wasted. Overall I was highly impressed with the level of detail to which operations were designed with sustainability as the focus. From sustainable mosquito prevention to sourcing herbs from the rooftop garden for the F&B department, the variety of ideas that went into building a sustainable and effective operation was countless and inspiring.

Educating not only their staff but also their guests was evidently very important to their objective. The Eco-tour that had been given to us was actually an option that guests were able to partake in if they chose. Photos and signs with information about conserving the environment surrounded the café area where we ended our tour and were able to ask more questions. All these initiatives were in place with guest education and awareness in mind. More than the objective of reducing their own carbon footprint onsite at the resort, the staff at Silosa had much broader goals of extending their beliefs and practices beyond customers’ stays and into their daily lives. As we sipped our lemongrass drinks made from lemongrass that was sourced from the gardens at Siloso itself, the CSR team gave their thoughts on the industry, and explained their sustainability initiatives in greater detail. Overall, an amazing visit to an amazing resort! A big thanks to the CSR team at Siloso Beach Resort for enlightening us about such inspiring possibilities for hotels within the sustainability space!