In terms of design and functionality we wanted to bring the local environment into the hotel while making sure the functionality is not lost with the design.
Much thought was devoted to the design of the facility and the guest experience. We always followed the idea of how to make the least impact on the environment.
All the stone used in the hotel is from some of the oldest Slovene quarries that exist from Austro-Hungarian days, where they still chisel the stone by hand and is the same limestone used in imperial buildings in Vienna, Budapest and Trieste. It is the same limestone that the mountains are made of and it blends in perfectly into the environment.
For interior and exterior wood work there are two facets: Local laws on exterior facade of buildings in the area require us to have a wooden facade painted in dark brown colours. To minimise the use of hazardous paints that need constant reapplying we burnt the outer layer of wood to give it that dark tone and then the darkest top layers were hand brushed to get the texture and the colour we desired. It fits into the local environment, abides by local regulations and it is not harmful for the environment as there will never be a reapplication of paint needed. This facade will age and get better with time.
Interior wood flooring is made from braod oak wood panels, that are rougher – it fits the alpine look we wanted to convey and it is more resilient with the change of seasons (from cold and snow, to warm and sunny) we get in Alps. These panels are sturdier, but also there is less discarting of material when perfect pieces are not sought. Just like in real life, perfection is an illusion, so we welcome imperfections, while still having the best quality available. Luxury can be responsible too.
In terms of textiles and in-room amenities we decided to go plastic free. This means we have chosen to absolutely minimise the use of plastics, where ever it was possible. All our cosmetics comes in aluminium containers, that the guests can take home with them and use them for their future travels or we reuse them by washing the containers and sanitising them. The only plastic we have on our cosmetic containers are the small pumps for intimate soap as we could not find an adequate alternative at this point in time.
Cosmetics is produced by two Slovene producers of cosmetics and we are proud to say that none of the ingredients have been tested on animals and are organic or produced according to organic standards.
The coffee machines in the rooms use loose coffee beans instead of pods or capsules. We were willing to spend more to have such machines and save all the unnecessary rubbish that happens daily with the use of pods/capsules.
All our bathrobes are 100% cotton and contain no polyester or other synthetic materials. Same goes for our bed linen, our cotton and linen towels and all the cushions and blankets in the rooms are made from 100% wool.
The only plastic amenities we have are slippers that have been made from recycled plastic – each pair is made from 6 recycled plastic bottles by a Slovenian company and we encourage our guests to take them home and use them again and again.
Ceramics in the hotel have all been purposefully made for us – we have contracted four different Slovenian artisans to create our bespoke line of ceramics. One of the lines is truly 0km – a geologist collected the rocks around the lake, had them processed into dust to make clay out of it and out of that clay we made plates and bowls. Other artisans used clay of highest quality sourced mostly from Slovenia.
The scented candles the guests can purchase are made from organic oils (like coconut oil and soy oil) and are put into clay containers which were made form left over ceramics or ceramics that did not quite make the cut. These pieces were then broken down, ground up and mixed together to produce the container for the scented candles.
Glasses come from one of the oldest crystal factories in the world – Rogaska Slatina crystal (in Slovenia) and are still blown and made by hand.
All our packaging is either just paper or cardboard or a combination of it. The stickers we use are made with minimal coating and are therefore easily degradable.
In the restaurant as well as in the rooms we serve tap water, since the quality of it is superb (the water is coming straight from the mountains around us) and because we wanted to minimise the impact bottled water has on the environment.
Our menu is regional and we source majority of our ingredients from local farmers and producers. Some of them are only minutes away. Our menu changes seasonally and caters to omnivores, vegetarians & pescetarians.