Inn at Moonlight Beach
Encinitas · California
Five garden suites near Moonlight Beach, certified WELL Platinum in 2020.
Honest materials
Hotels that have said something about what they were built with; one meets our materials criterion in full.
Post Ranch Inn
Big Sur · California
Redwood and stone houses above the Pacific; the inn says its materials are low-emitting.
Bardessono Hotel & Spa
Yountville · California
Salvaged walnut, cypress and stone, a short walk from Yountville’s restaurants.
Harmon Guest House
Healdsburg · California
Oak, reclaimed redwood and a rooftop over Fitch Mountain, from the team behind h2hotel.
Santa Barbara Inn
Santa Barbara · California
A white-stucco inn on East Beach, certified as a California Green Business.
About this collection
New buildings give off a mix of volatile compounds for months after the paint dries. The hotels here have either said what they built with or been certified by a third party that looks at what goes into the building.
Most of what you will read is the hotel’s own account, and we say so on each profile. Only one meets our low-emitting-materials criterion in full; one has a health-focused certification confirmed by the certifying body. Harmon Guest House is here provisionally: its evidence is a 2017 pre-opening plan and an architect’s page that gives two different LEED levels.
The criteria
Low-emitting materials
Low-VOC paints, adhesives, finishes and flooring specified in construction or renovation.
How we review it: Low-emitting materialsBuilding certification
A third-party certification such as WELL, LEED or a green business program, recorded with its level, and its year where the certifier gives one.
How we review it: Building certification