Rest, Inspire, Grow – Eco Villa
As someone who takes pride in supporting eco and sustainable businesses, I am really over giant chain hotels who claim to be eco friendly merely due to the fact that they encourage guests not to swap their towels everyday. Of course, it is great that businesses are seeing the need to take measures to become more eco friendly but I don’t think they should be announcing them selves as eco friendly until they are doing a lot more, like the AMAZING new boutique hotel, Eco Villa in Christchurch.
This brilliant new accommodation in central Christchurch deserves its eco accolade and also five stars from me and here is why!:
A piece of tranquility in the centre of Christchurch
Eco Villa is everything you want in a hotel. Hands-on owners Nisha Duncan and Evan Chadwick have achieved the dream with this labour of love. The villa is bright, welcoming, cosy and beautiful. But as well as being a really lovely place to stay, huge thought and detail has gone into making sure that the hotel is as environmentally friendly as possible. Perhaps the most delightful factor in this venture is the amazing edible garden in the back yard that is available for guests to use. Stepping out into this garden to grab your mint or silver beet to use in the communal kitchen, it is hard to believe that you are right in the centre of Christchurch!
The Upcycling Project
Nisha and Evan started Eco Villa in February of this year by renovating an existing 1910 villa “The Grand Old Lady”. This eco lifestyle stems from Nisha’s upbringing in eco-communes and their mutual dedication to this way of life. With AirBnB hosting experience under their belt they decided to up the game begin this passion project.
In coming up with the idea Nisha told me “we saw a gap in the market between a hostel, a BnB and a hotel and Eco Hotel fulfils this need for people.” I totally agree with her, Eco Villa has the laid back vibes and communal kitchen of a hostel, the comfy cosy sitting room and lovely garden of a Bed and Breakfast, and then the amazing comfy beds and self check-in convenience of a hotel.
Eco Villa has the laid back vibes and communal kitchen of a hostel, the comfy cosy sitting room and lovely garden of a Bed and Breakfast, and then the amazing comfy beds and self check-in convenience of a hotel.
Beautiful Rooms
There are 8 different rooms in the large villa including en-suite, those with shared bathrooms, twin and family rooms. The rooms all have cool features including up-cycling of the original furnishings, huge comfortable beds, and a simple, laid back, clean style. I felt so at home here, miles away from the hustle and bustle of the city despite being right in it! The family room is a great addition and Nisha made clear that they love having families and are a welcoming communal home.
Top Location
Eco Villa is on Hereford Street almost opposite the temporary cathedral, so its super convenient for being in the city and Pashley style bikes are provided for guests so you can explore the city easily. This was super handy for me, as I was in town for work and my office happens to also be on Hereford Street. You can’t get much more convenient than this. I highly recommend anyone in a similar situation to make a good decision for yourself and for the environment and forgo the Ibis for Eco Villa!
A Sustainable and Curated Breakfast
On offer every morning, is the btilliant Eco Villa breakfast. For $10 you get a selection of organic cereals, fresh organic juice, handcrafted Christchurch bread with local spreads and my favourite; freshly made chia seed pudding and coconut yoghurt.
Coffee and Tea are available at all times and one of Eco Villa’s original and unique features is that they do not support the dairy industry. No worries here as instead you have a selection of 3 different types of milk including soy milk, homemade almond milk and homemade coconut and cashew milk. In my opinion its worth staying here for the homemade milk alone! The breakfast is just one aspect of Nisha’s creative flair shining through Eco Villa.
No detail is forgotten and its clear, as time goes on, more and more cool and quirky ways to inspire guests and provide a quality sustainable place to stay will take shape at Eco Villa.
Outdoor Candlelit Baths!
I can’t believe I have gotten this far through talking about Eco Villa without even mentioning the baths! Nestled in a private area of the garden between Ponga Ferns are 2 old baths that guests are able to use. I haven’t seen this anywhere before and it is so wonderful. You can head out there, light the candles take a glass of wine and your favourite book. You can even have a romantic bath without having the annoyance of someone else’s toes in your face!
Consume good, feel good
I LOVED Eco Villa, I will definitely stay there again if I get that chance. I think it is really vitally important that as consumers, we try to support businesses like this wherever we can. We support them and in turn they do the best they can for the environment and we can rest a little easier in that we are making a difference to the world, even in some smaller way through our choices. And the bonus: businesses like Eco Villa enlist a huge amount of creative thought, care and love into providing the best and most unique experience possible.
LOVE IT! If you are in Christchurch and need somewhere to stay, I can’t recommend Eco Villa enough!
For bookings and more check out : https://www.ecovilla.co.nz/
Thanks for reading!
If you have any recommendations for other amazing sustainable accommodation like this, please comment below, I would love to hear about more.
For more posts about sustainability in New Zealand you might like to read the following:
Why Wellington is a Fair Trade City
Where to shop organic/sustainable in Wellington
My favourite hair salon in Wellington is sustainable
And for travelling NZ check out my TRAVEL SECTION HERE
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Josie x