Hotel Certaldo is an eco-friendly facility, for your eco-friendly holiday in Tuscany!
Right after the quality and the comfort of our rooms, Hotel Certaldo also invests in eco-friendliness, with renewable energy sources and the safeguard of the territory. Every single day, with small but significant precautions, Hotel Certaldo contributes to diminish its impact on the land and to favour the environmental balance of its context.
Hotel Certaldo and the old watermill
The most important peculiarity of Hotel Certaldo in this matter is undoubtedly the use of hydroelectric energy: our Hotel Certaldo is the result of the recent restoration of the old watermill from the 16th century, which belonged to the Medici family and was the most important one in the whole Val d’ Elsa territory. The watermill had indeed been used for centuries to grind wheat, producing flour. After this period and for the whole 20th century, the watermill was used to produce electric energy for the whole town of Certaldo. Just as hundreds of years ago, Hotel Certaldo is now striving to return to the production hydroelectric energy with the help of the constant flow of the Elsa river, the most important of this area, which gives the name to the same territory. This will enable us to produce the energy we need, still with respect for the environment.
Hotel Certaldo’s Garden
Hotel Certaldo has its own private garden! A space of 5000 square meters, a small green island bordered by the Elsa river and by the artificial channel of the 16th century. This green space is a true oasis close to the town center: many indigenous plants grow here, as well as flowers and trees planted by man. It is also the natural habitat of many animal species: herons, magpies, nutrias, pheasants, water turtles, mallards. In the earliest hours of the day it is not uncommon to spot some deer pacing around the garden!
Hotel Certaldo for Recycling
Here at Hotel Certaldo we divide the waste in a systematic way, differentiating amongst paper, glass, plastic and organic waste, in order to contribute as much as possible to recycling. Coffee grounds are also often used as fertilizer for the plants in our garden…caring for the environment and saving money with home remedies!
Breakfast at Hotel Certaldo
Safeguarding the planet also means preparing home-made food with fresh and genuine ingredients. Every morning pies are baked at Hotel Certaldo, along with biscuits, bread and focaccia, just as you would find in a home! The recipes are the very same of our mothers and grandmothers…and you can taste the difference! You can enjoy all this at our buffet breakfast, available from 7.30 am to 11 am! At Hotel Certaldo we only use local products, such as milk and yogurt from Tuscan producers, marmalades, Tuscan cold cuts and the famous onion marmalade from Certaldo, made with onions grown in the fields of Certaldo, not far from our Hotel.
Hotel Certaldo offers to our guests the opportunity to have light lunches and light dinners with local products, using only delicious Tuscan specialties like cold cuts and cheeses, seasonal vegetables, dairy products, marmelades and local wines, thus favouring the short food chain and the development of the Tuscan territory.
New trees at Hotel Certaldo
We recently planted six new mulberry trees in the garden of our Hotel Certaldo! Enjoy their shade in summertime at Hotel Certaldo!
Activities at Hotel Certaldo
Our guests at Hotel Certaldo are always presented with entertaining activities, aimed to highlight and improve the area surrounding us. Here are some examples: wine and typical food tastings in the local farms, which produce everything on their own; bike rental to explore the lovely area of Certaldo around our Hotel; funny and beautiful cooking classes a few steps away from Hotel Certaldo, where you can prepare and taste true dishes of Tuscan tradition prepared with fresh local ingredients, and have a good laugh in the meantime! Walking tours, guided tours on horseback, cycling tours along the Via Francigena, only a few minutes from Hotel Certaldo, numerous Tuscan natural parks and theme parks a few minutes from Hotel Certaldo, guided tours in the Tuscan countryside to get to know all the peculiarities of this territory, Treno Natura, a special steam locomotive which connects the various Tuscan cities during some specific Tuscan events…and much more!
Our small but meaningful tricks at Hotel Certaldo to help the environment
At Hotel Certaldo we are very attentive to the environment and do whatever we can to maintain its delicate balance: we use eco-save and LED bulbs, no plastic tableware is to be found at Hotel Certaldo, and we also dramatically reduced the number of plastic cups used. Hotel Certaldo kindly invites our guests to an observant behaviour regarding linens and towels, in order to limit their waste and impact on the planet; with eco-cards, we invite our guests to change linens and towels only when strictly necessary. Hotel Certaldo is a non-smoking facility, where it is possible to smoke only in the outer areas or in our garden at Hotel Certaldo.
Hotel Certaldo’s Linen
The sheets in Hotel Certaldo’s beds are in pure cotton 100%, as well as our towels. No synthetic fabrics are used here, for the best comfort for our guests.
Courtesy Set at Hotel Certaldo
Hotel Certaldo chose to have a completely ecologic courtesy set: the packaging respects the severe rules on biodegradability; its volume reduced to them minimum in terms of volume and has a minimum impact on the water ecosystem. The products are clinically tested; they do not contain parabens, BHT, nickel or formaldehyde, and are vegan – friendly. They all have the EU Eco Label.
Recycling paper at Hotel Certaldo
And last but not least…at Hotel Certaldo we always try to reduce the use of paper for our copies, using the scanner instead. Technology is in favour of the environment!
