OUR ETHOS AT DORSET HOUSE

Our ethos of sustainability is very important to us at Dorset House and we strive to behave in an ethical manner. We are lucky enough to be based in one of the most beautiful parts of the country and wish to preserve that beauty. Our Grade II listed building is a great example of balancing the requirements of preserving a historic property with investing in the technologies that exist to maximise energy efficiency.

We are very proud of our Green Tourism Gold Award and TripAdvisor Green Leaders Award and are striving for constant improvement in this field.

ENVIRONMENTAL:

We have taken great care when renovating Dorset House to use sustainable building methods and materials. We have repaired rather than replaced where possible and used VOC free paint throughout as well as environmentally friendly wax products on woodwork.

Whilst your shower should feel amazing, it is an aerated shower head to reduce water usage. Loos are on a double flush system. The hot water is delivered through a double return system. This means that you will not have to run the tap for hot water at key times of the day, avoiding waste.

We have installed boilers that perform to the latest environmental standards. Heating is all thermostatically controlled with smart controls that learn from usage to perform efficiently. Windows, whilst single glazed due to our historic status, are draft proofed and the original shutter have been restored for additional insulation at night.

All light fittings are LED and lights in the public areas are on timers. We ask you to take care to turn out your room lights when you go out.

Our electricity and gas provider is 100% British green energy.

Unless you prefer otherwise, we will replace towels on departure only. If you require replacement towels before this, please leave the towels in your shower tray and we will do the rest.

We sort waste for recycling and food waste is collected for recycling too. We are striving to reduce our single use plastic and as such use beeswax covering and tubs rather than cling film. The chilled water that we offer to guests is filtered and offered in washable glass bottles.

We use environmentally friendly cleaning products by Delphis Eco.

SUPPLIERS:

At Dorset House we make every effort to support local suppliers, especially for food, which is organic where possible. We also make an effort to use seasonal produce where possible and our ethos includes avoiding air freighted goods.

We consider a supplier’s environmental footprint and have chosen suppliers that mirror our ethos. For instance, our chocolate supplier only supplies goods in fully recyclable and biodegradable packaging. Our fruit and veg is from a local organic farm and is packaged in crates rather than plastic bags.

Our laundry is cleaned locally so avoiding the miles and large lorries that the national suppliers create and is washed using environmentally friendly laundry products.

The in-room toiletries are locally produced and supplied in fully recyclable packaging. We provide full sized refillables as they avoid the vast amount of throw away packaging that comes with minis.

LOCAL ECONOMY:

We work hard to support our local businesses and try to encourage guests to follow our lead and shop from our high street as well as eating in our local restaurants.

Our staff all live locally and walk to work. They are paid above the Living Wage.

PUBLIC TRANSPORT:

We can easily be reached by public transport. The nearest train station is Axminster and from there, guests can either catch a bus to the front of Dorset House or we can book a taxi. We are also right on the South West Coast Path and encourage walkers. We offer a small discount of £5 per night to those guests arriving by public transport.

CHARITY SUPPORT:

Our chosen charity is the RNLI