It’s very possible that this summer the only vacation you have planned is a staycation and not only is that good news for your budget, it’s also better for the environment (the CO2 emissions from air travel alone are enough to take the relaxation out of our R&R). But even if you’re planning to stay local there’s a chance that it will mean traveling to see semi-nearby friends or visiting a city that’s just out of your normal range and in those situations it’s more than likely you’ll want to spend the night. When it comes to choosing your hotel, however, analyze the accommodation’s environmental awareness as well as their customer service, comfort, and location. It doesn’t mean always opting for the most expensive choice, just doing a little research. To make it even easier for you, we’ve made a list, in no particular order, of the top 5 eco-friendly hotel chains (they’ll be easy to find in almost any area).

1. Fairmont Hotels and Resorts

Great if you’re looking for a little luxury with your green (and affordable even if you’re not luxuriously wealthy when you sign up for the free President’s Club, which has special deals), Fairmont has developed a Green Partnership Program that functions as a plan for sustainability and the focus is heavy on energy and water conservation, waste management and responsible purchasing (the Fairmont Winnipeg, for example, is 100% styrofoam-free). They’ve also developed a Climate Change Strategy through the World Wildlife Organization and they offer green-geared packages with activities that will raise your awareness about the planet.

2. Marriott

This chain has plenty of, literally, award-winning endeavors underway to get them greener and just this year they won the Tourism for Tomorrow Award for sustainability out of a record number of entries from around the globe. They’ve also won the EPA’s Sustained Excellence award for the last three years. Marriott has their Spirit to Preserve Strategy to thank for that; it’s a plan that’s getting more than 30 of their hotels LEED-certified by the end of the year and revamping their day-to-day operations to be more eco-friendly. When you book at a Marriott hotel, you’ll have to chance to get involved by purchasing carbon offsets for your stay (and protecting the Amazon rainforest) and when you go to sleep in your Marriott room, you’ll be resting your head on a pillow made from recycled plastic bottles.

3. Kimpton Hotels & Restaurants

Kimpton hotels are great as a budget-friendly option that doesn’t feel budget-friendly. They’re attractively designed, tend to have more of a boutique hotel air than most chains, and are getting seriously green. It’s not just in the rooms, either, although they have been optimized for energy and water conservation and maximum waste reduction, but also in the restaurants, where the foods and beverages put a focus on local and organic—there are even on-premise organic gardens for supplying fresh goodies—and in meetings rooms, where waste and excess paper use is minimized and events can be carbon offset. Check out their green vacation tips for ideas on how to make your stay even eco-friendlier.

4. Element Hotels by Westin

New to the scene but already greener than many, the Element chain of hotels (an offshoot from Westin and Starwood) are designed to be eco-friendly from the ground up. They’re the first chain to be attempting to get LEED certification on every one of their hotels, and they’re doing it with things like 100% recycled carpeting, saline (instead of chlorine) pools, eco-friendly cleaners, CFLs and LEDs, bikes you can borrow to get around, and recycling bins in the rooms. And that’s just to highlight a few features. The Element hotels are especially geared toward longer stays (and all the appliances in the kitchens are Energy Star certified), so look to this chain if you need an eco-friendly home away from home.

5. Hyatt

Not all their hotels have gone green yet, but Hyatt has undertaken some pretty cool initiatives to get the process started. In Hawaii, on the island of Kauai, they’ve 18,500 square foot solar panel over the parking lot roof (the first of its kind for the state). In Moscow they started a recycling program because none existed. In Zurich they leased a pasture cow named Tina to produce the resort’s cheese—the first we’ve heard of cow leasing. The crown jewel, however, may be the Olive 8 in Seattle (pictured above); it’s Seattle’s first LEED-certified hotel and features a saltwater pool, organic spa, electric car outlets in the parking lot, an 8,000 square foot rooftop garden, and lighting that’s controlled by your room key card. Regardless of where you stay, expect key cards, shampoo bottles, and lotion containers to be made from recycled plastics.

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