“At Madhubhan Resort & Spa, environmental sustainability is inbuilt. We have been practicing it for the last 18 years,” Manohar S Gurung, president of Madhubhan Resort & Spa, a standalone luxury resort in Anand, Gujarat, said setting the tone for the conversation. The resort’s green initiatives have been recognised recently by the FHRAI, when they bestowed the resort with the Best Luxury Resort category for Green practices, at its Varanasi Convention.
Situated in Anand, the milk capital of India, Madhubhan Resort & Spa, has the distinction of being the first 5-star-deluxe resort of Gujarat. Although the hospitality landscape of the state has changed over the decades, Madhubhan still holds its niche not just for opulence as a resort, but its commitment to environment and sustainability. “At Madhubhan, rather than treating environmental responsibility as isolated initiatives, we have an integrated approach to it touching all aspects – water conservation, energy conservation, inhouse composting, organic farming – sought to minimise its impact on the existing ecosystem,” Gurung said, who started his journey as the GM of the property 18 years ago.
“From the very beginning, sustainability was in our DNA,” Gurung said.
One of the most visible examples is the resort’s design, where the swimming pool and pathways were deliberately built with curves and bends to preserve existing trees and vegetation. The property subsequently planted around 1.25 lakh saplings to compensate for the vegetation affected during development.
The sustainability efforts have since extended well beyond the resort. The promoters initiated a large-scale seed-ball campaign under the “Throw to Grow” concept, distributing around one crore seed balls across Gujarat. The seed balls, made by embedding seeds in mud, are designed to protect the seeds from being eaten by birds and insects until the arrival of the monsoon.
Spread across 25 acres, Madhubhan has around 13 acres of organic farm, besides a butterfly garden and herbal garden. The resort has also installed a 1.2 MW solar power plant, which meets around 40% of its electricity requirements. An advanced heat-pump system captures the cold air generated in the process and uses it in the laundry, helping reduce the temperature requirement by a few degrees.
The property has secured an IGBC Platinum rating and is also among the early recipients of the Ministry of Tourism’s Travel for LiFE (TFL) Gold certification. Its other measures include an in-house water bottling plant, elimination of single-use plastic. “The resort is a plastic-free zone,” Gurung said.
Madhubhan also seeks to involve guests in its sustainability efforts. Guests who opt not to have their linen laundered receive the corresponding laundry saving as a credit to their folio. Those arriving in electric vehicles receive an additional 5% benefit, irrespective of the package booked.
“Sustainability is an intentional journey of successful growth,” Gurung said, adding that the resort constantly seeks to raise its benchmarks rather than merely maintain them.
This approach is reflected in its ongoing development as well. Madhubhan, which currently has 132 rooms, is adding 12 more rooms, including three suites, while a 5,500-sq-ft pillarless banquet facility and a nearly 10,000-sq-ft gym are also under development. Even new infrastructure, Gurung said, is being planned with the property’s sustainability philosophy in mind.
“For us sustainability is an ongoing process. We believe in enhancing our standards regularly,” he said.
