Musings

While winter has officially arrived in full force in Australia, the height of summer sun is beginning to wash over the Swiss Alps. In considering where to travel to over the summer, it is perhaps possible to keep sustainability in mind. One such potential destination for the increasing market of so-called ‘eco-tourism’, focusing on natural landscapes while minimising human damage and intervention is the WhitePod Hotel in Les Giettes, Switzerland. Describing itself as “low impact accommodation in an untouched and pristine alpine environment” (WhitePod), a series of self-contained geodesic domes sit over a series of timber plinths. Marketed as a form of luxurious and comfortable camping, these domes are equipped with bathrooms, fireplaces and full size beds, while retaining sustainable measures such as water control and filters over the small wood-fire stove/fireplace.