Customer Reviews

Special Places to Stay Green Places to Stay: From Beach Huts to Eco-Chic Hotels, All Over the World (Alastair Sawday's Special Places to Stay Green Places to Stay)

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First, please know that I love Alastair Sawday's book Special Places to Stay - India. We travel there frequently, have stayed in several of his recommendations around India, and loved all of them. They are unique and always what you expect from the book's description. I will turn to that book first for all our trips there and surely would consider his books for other countries.

So of course I picked up Green Places to Stay. Honestly, I bought it at Anthropologie because it was on sale for just $7. Leaves more money for travel. Why priced so low? Perhaps Entry 59 of the book explains why. It's the only entry for the United States and it is a fake entry that makes a mockery of our country. I couldn't believe it when I read it.

Let's face the fact that most Americans vacation within the United States. Americans who want to travel greener will need and appreciate recommendations in the U.S. This IS a book for international travelers, and many countries have only a few entries. So I would expect to see only a few ideas for U.S. travel. That's perfectly fine and makes the book appropriate for my husband and I, as we do travel to many places around the world. I'm really intrigued by some ideas in this book and will surely visit them. For that, I thank Alastair Sawday.

But instead of giving even one idea for a green place to stay in the U.S., he chose to publish a mockery. Thus, I have words for the author and I rate this book the lowest possible score, despite its potential usefulness for worldwide travelers.

To Mr. Sawday -- if you want to make a political statement, make it somewhere else. I have no problem with any statement you'd make because if it's about the response of American government and business, you may well be right. But you make a disservice to your planet with your approach in this book. It's individual people who are going to have to make choices and changes. The choices of Americans can have a huge impact, worldwide. If you want to truly help people and make a difference, give people who travel within the United States some serious ideas. We need it. Some of us will take advantage of it. What you did in this book won't make a difference. It's juvenile and offensive. Perhaps that's what you intended. But you should know better than to think the actions of a country truly reflect the beliefs of all of its people.

To Amazon shoppers in the U.S. who don't travel internationally, this book will be of no use to you. So don't waste your money. I guess if you want to travel greener, you'll have to find another way to get information. What a shame and wasted opportunity.

I first saw this book in a collection maintained by Amazonia Expeditions in their main lodge on the Tahuayo River, south of Iquitos, Peru. It is an excellent outline of environment-friendly resorts throughout the world. The reviews of each resort are not critical; they are designed to orient the tourist to the variety of places available to those concerned with the environment. Prices of the resorts range from the ridiculous to the sublime. I can confirm that the evaluation of the Amazonia lodge is accurate: actually, the food and the guides are much better than the book states. I fully recommend this travel guide.

I suggest reading prior reviews. There are more thorough books available. I own the book and use it as a back up because it has some ecolodges that The Eco-Travel Guidedoes not have, but it isn't anything special.