Just 400 metres from Cape Town International Airport, the hotel is part of the city’s 110% green initiative to make it the province with the lowest carbon footprint.

Hotel Verde boasts the title of Africa’s Greenest Hotel, but it is not just the paint the owners of Hotel

Verde were referring to when they embarked on this ambitious, sustainable living project.

The three-star facility is the first of its kind on the continent to adopt 100% green-living principles. These include three wind turbines to generate power, energy-generating gym equipment, geothermal heat pumps, and a grey water recycling plant, to reduce water use by 37%.

The owner believes his hotel will attract guests with an environmental conscience.

“I think that every company today has got a green agenda. Making travel more responsible from a green point of view, lowering the carbon footprint, I think is something every company will put on their agenda as well. So if someone has got the choice, I strongly believe he will opt for a greener hotel in making his decision,” owner Mario Delicio said.

The hotel has set the benchmark for sustainable building practices in South Africa.

“I have never come across a building myself, or been involved in such a building myself, that has so many technologically-advanced, energy efficient, water efficient features as this one,” said sustainability consultant Andre Harms.

Plans are already underway to expand the Hotel Verde franchise, in the hope of promoting green-living throughout South Africa.