Hotel Mas Pelegri is an ecologic hotel that believes in responsible and sustainable practices.
Our goal since starting the refurbishment of a Pilgrims house 15 years ago was to build an ecologic and responsible place were people could come to be healthy and active in a wonderful countryside location.
Off-Grid
Many guests are surprised to hear we are completely off-grid and have no connection to the municipal systems for electricity, water and sewage. We think about our water and power usage and what waste we are producing. We think about each watt that is used, so all electric items use the least watts possible. We reasearch every product, and try to buy the ones that use the least power, but still function well. Our small boutique hotel runs on approximately 4kw on summer days and this drops to about 700w at night.
To make full use of our PV electric solar panels, we use the larger electric items at different times of the day. None of the sun’s energy is wasted. There is a large AC unit in the main building, and smaller AC units in the new garden suites, to keep the bedrooms comfortable (25°C indoor temp even in last Summers heat waves). Guests are amazed how cool it is inside during the Summer, as the Pilgrim’s house has 60cm thick stone walls. There are shutters fitted to the windows in the main building, so we can prevent the sun warming up the rooms.
Energy Conscious Planning.
The new garden suites have been built with the sun’s angle in mind. In the Summer the windows are shaded from the sun and in Winter the sun shines in to heat up the rooms. At night there is eco ventilation, where the night air is used to cool the buildings down, while using very little power.
We have a solar pool cover which heats the water and minimises evaporation. This means our pool is swimmable from March through to November all via the sun’s power. Our light bulbs are low energy. Our hair dryers use half the power of a standard hair drier. We do not have electric kettles, instead we provide thermoses of hot water for tea and coffee in the dining room, and kettles on the gas rings of the BBQs. We ask that guests do not bring electric kettles, hairdryers etc to the hotel as these use too much power (KW) that our sustainable system cannot run. There is no problem charging computers and phones at the hotel. We run all the elctric items necessary for running the hotel one by one, mostly during the hours of good PV power yield so we keep power levels stable and use our PV panels to their maximum, as we do understand PV panels and batteries etc are also not good for the environment, so it is always a balance. The best is to keep think of the way in which we can use minimum power but still give a great service.
While rebuilding we tried to keep all the old large trees. Most of these trees are deciduous, so provide fantastic shade in the Summer and then loose their leaves in Winter allowing the sun to shine on the buildings and patios to warm them up.
All the additional new planting was again to provide Summer shade and also to plant plants that do not require watering. In the new garden suites you will find lavender, sage and rosemary which keep the gardens colourful and green year round without watering. Also planting new trees, especially fruit trees, will help sequester more carbon and also give our guests fruit to pick while staying here. So a win win.
KM Zero Purchasing
We try to buy in season fruit and vegetables that are grown within the local area. Here it is called KM zero purchasing. We also work with locals and employ a local gardening company, local electricians etc. We also work with the local activity companies. We feel it is very important to provide a responsible rural economy. All of our taxes are paid here in Spain.
Changes this 2023
We have planted more trees and have reduced down to 1 vehicle for our company. This requires more forward planning so that we can make sure we are always available should a guest need us to come and help when they are out cycling or hiking etc. We have also added more PV panels, batteries and another invertor. This will allow us to run more AC units in the day time via the sun's energy next Summer, 2024. Due to climate changes we are having to add more AC units into the main building, as the Summers continue to become longer and warmer. Spain also brought out new rules this year limiting companies cooling in the Summer and heating in the Winter. These new rules are actually in line with a sustainble hotel's policy, so really require no new changes to our policy. In Winter we try to use the afternoon warm air and the sun's low angle to help heat the hotel. We also use the wind fall from our wood in the log burner. Obviously if it is necessary to heat the hotel via other means we will do so, but common areas to 19˚C and bedrooms to a maximum of 21˚C.
Come to Hotel Mas Pelegri to learn to life a more sustainable and ecologic lifestyle. In 2023 we are going to continue to offer the opportunity for guests to learn how to live a more sustainable lifestyle. For example to grow ecologically, forage, reduce your carbon, reduce plastic usage, and live a healthier more sustainable life in tune with your natural environment.
Future Plans
We plan in the future to buy an electric vehicle (when the infrastructure is such that we know we can charge from renewable energy sources when we are out driving), so we can do airport and train station transfers using the power of the sun. But as each new electric vehicle requires approximately 5 years of carbon usage of one fossil fuel running car, to build. It is important not just to buy a new vehicle without making sure everything is going to last. It would be great if PV panels, batteries and electric vehicles could be produced without burning fossil fuels, but the world is not there yet. Ultimately we would like a Sono or Sono-type vehicle that runs via its own PV panels and hopefully produced without burning fossil fuels. If you have any ideas please contact us. Thank you.