Almost a year ago, Sheikh Sultan Al-Qasimi, Member of the Supreme Council Ruler of Sharjah, inaugurated The Emirate’s first five-star, luxury, boutique hotel adhering to an agenda of sustainability. Unlike the majority of its competitors, Al-Bait Sharjah has abandoned single-use plastics in addition to embracing recycling as well as organic products.
The United Arab Emirates has taken a vow to reduce its carbon print by 70 percent and implement more energy-efficient strategies, such as meeting 50 percent of its energy needs from renewable sources over the next three decades. These goals are promising. However, without the general public as well as the private sector’s participation, the government alone will not be able to make the dream become a reality. The people at Al-Bait Sharjah realize this and decided to do their best to help the UAE get there.
Instead of plastic room keys, there are actual metal key with tassels, and rather than providing each room with a plastic sign to signal housekeeping, an artistic glass water-drop sculpture is used as an alternative. Already, the message is being heard, even by guests, with 40 percent of them choosing to use the same bed sheets for multiple nights during a stay, according to statistics.
The environmental awareness does not stop there, as the resort has an in-house portable water filtration plant, in which water is filtered and ionized to be finally bottled in attractive glass stoppered decanters, with the revenue from the selling of these bottles going directly to the Big Heart Foundation, a non-profit organization that brings water as well as education to underprivileged children in refugee camps.
When it comes to food, the hotel follows a zero-waste policy, choosing to recycle all food waste as compost for its landscaping, instead of contributing to the food waste crisis our world is currently experiencing.
For those looking for a luxurious retreat, yet worried about the state of our planet, Al-Bait Sharjah offers a spa that uses only organic products devoid of artificial color or fragrances, GM ingredients, petrolatum, petrochemicals, parabens, animal derivatives, or sodium lauryl sulphate. As for the nail treatment the resort uses only vegan, wildcrafted, organic Spa Ritual products.
All in all, it is definitely an amazing place that understands the challenges our planet is going through and how our survival as a species depends on us taking an action, right here, right now.