Natural Class
by Claire Lim
Phi Phi’s only five-star resort, Zeavola is a luxurious yet rustic retreat offering hillside pool villas and beachfront, garden and village suites, while fulfilling its management’s vision to create “the best possible hotel product embedded in sustainability”.
It’s fitting that you take an hour’s boat ride to reach Zeavola, whether you arrive from Phuket or Krabi. After all, the name Zeavola is derived from Scaevola taccada, the Latin name of the coastal flowering plant also known as beach cabbage or in Thai as Rak Talay, which literally translates as ‘love the sea’.
As you come closer, blue water laps against the white-sand Laem Tong Beach, which is dotted with yellow umbrellas and backed by lush, green forest, with teak villas, camouflaged in the tropical setting. The all-suite resort features 52 villas in a tranquil setting, a paradise of barefoot luxury, taking guests back to a life of elegant simplicity. Little is left to waste in Zeavola, recent developments include a Reddonatura composting machine that reduces wet waste by up to a staggering 40 tonnes per year, as well as a highly efficient water system that uses reverse osmosis to produce clean water. Drinking water is provided to guests in glass bottles that can be refilled by staff or by guests at multiple water-filling stations, inspired by RefillMyBottle. The introduction of glass water bottles for guests and metal bottles for staff has reduced the usage of single-use plastic bottles by 120,000 per year. Laundry water is now also cleaned and reused for laundry due to a new system that saves over 1.4 million litres of water each year. Meanwhile, the swimming pools now benefit from the Enviroswim ES3 water-purification system that annihilates any bacteria, fungi, and viruses, allowing the resort to discontinue the use of chlorine or any other chemicals. “We’re striving to protect our precious island home with a self-sufficient lifestyle that will bring benefits for generations to come,” says GM Hallermann
