I stayed at a 4-star hotel in Colorado known for luxury and was surprised to discover a focus on sustainability, too
Insider's reporter spent at night at the sustainable St Julien Hotel in Boulder, Colorado, where she witnessed composting and beekeeping at the 4-star property.
- I recently stayed at the St Julien Hotel & Spa, a four-star luxury hotel in Boulder, Colorado.
- The hotel adopts sustainable practices such as composting and partnering with local organizations.
- Leaders at the hotel told me there's more they plan to achieve in the coming years.
- This article is part of "Green Getaway: Luxury," a series exploring how people can make more eco-conscious choices on luxury trips. For more climate-action news, visit Insider's One Planet hub.
I spotted Colorado's Flatirons before I caught a glimpse of the St Julien Hotel & Spa, my hotel for the night.
The jagged rocks look as if they're crawling out of the ground. Kitty-corner to the formations is the four-star, four-diamond hotel. Depending on your room's location, you technically wouldn't ever need to leave to admire Boulder, Colorado's famous rock formations. From the window of my suite during a recent stay, I had a perfect view.
The hotel is positioned for people looking to go on hikes or go mountain biking on nearby trails. But bringing guests closer to nature isn't St Julien's only goal. The hotel, which local Boulder residents own, sets out to combine luxury and sustainability.
"Our goal is to make it more convenient for guests to be more sustainable," Aaron Coburn, the hotel's general manager, told me during a tour of the property. "Luxury is convenience, and that's what we want — to show them that they can have both."
During a recent one-night stay at St Julien, I soaked in the hotel's hot tub, had a full-body scrub at the spa, and dined at its farm-to-table restaurant. While there, I saw a handful of efforts to make its luxury offerings more environmentally friendly.