The World's Most Amazing Vacation Rentals (2021) s02e06 Episode Script

1
Essentially what
we're doing on this trip
is discovering places that are
eco-friendly while you're traveling.
- Right.
- Yes.
I was like,
"What would it look like if we all
purposely found eco-friendly homes?"
By the end of this journey, I wanna be
as green as a Christmas tree.
Sustainable tourism is huge!
The vacation rental market
is evolving
to face the challenge of climate change.
We're gonna show you how to travel
green without giving up great experiences
and luxury living.
We start at this eco-friendly
architectural masterpiece in Tulum.
To this environmentally
conscious retreat here in Finland.
To this earth home here in Colorado.
All right, ladies, welcome to Mexico!
Mexico, Tulum! Wow!
We've traveled to Tulum, Mexico,
for a luxury property
that combines eco-friendly features
with the best of beach living.
Tulum is world famous
for its beautiful Caribbean coastline
and the stunning ruins
of an ancient Mayan port city.
When it comes to luxury,
the last thing you think
is you could do it sustainably.
How are you gonna make luxury sustainable?
You know, that's a great question.
And that is exactly the same questions
that the couple had in mind
when they built it.
Make a luxury place
that caters to the very wealthy,
who take
their vacations extremely seriously,
without compromising the sustainability.
And they found a way to combine this all
into this masterful, beautiful place
in front of the water.
So now, let's just go to eco heaven.
- ¡Hola! Megan.
- Megan and Joanna.
Hola, Joanna. Mucho gusto. Enrique.
So, we have prepared some drinks for you.
Welcome. Enjoy the house.
All right.
Wow!
- Oh, talk about being in a jungle!
- Oh!
- I love this!
- Whoa!
Wow!
I love the fact
that they're keeping this as a jungle,
because that's what it is.
This is beautiful.
Casa Xixim combines the services
of a boutique hotel
with the luxury of a private villa.
Staying here includes
a personal chef and gourmet meals,
concierge, housekeepers
and direct access to an incredible,
beautiful, secluded beach.
It has four bedrooms,
four bathrooms
sleeps up to 12 guests
and starts at $1,500 per night.
What's really remarkable
is that all of this luxury
comes in a property
that's eco-friendly from top to bottom.
So this is it. This is our living room.
This is our house.
I really love how
it's like you're in the jungle still.
- You still are.
- Yes.
It does a great job
of dissolving the outside with the inside.
It makes the space look like
almost 12,000 square feet.
This place is only 4,800 square feet.
So you know what I'm noticing
is that there's a constant breeze.
You have air conditioning in the house,
but you don't really need it
when you have this flow of breeze
that was intentionally designed for it.
Another eco-friendly feature
is all the building materials.
The wood furniture, the clay tiles,
everything is made sustainably.
We got pocket doors!
- And she's sliding the doors back!
- She's sliding the door!
- You see that they're not connected?
- I know!
You can customize
whatever privacy you want.
It even has screens
on the outside for mosquitoes.
- This is a tropical space.
- Yeah.
Storms happen, right?
But when the storm happens,
it has this lock.
This is place is like a Transformer
of a house.
- These are like hurricane shutters.
- I love that!
And the kitchen!
Drinks. Margaritas. Mexico.
- The life! Salud.
- Salud!
- Mmm!
- That tequila
- Wow. Wow.
- That little chili. That's delicious.
- Let's go see the beach.
- Yes, please.
Walking around barefoot,
living like we live here!
Feel like you own the place
when you have no shoes on?
It's just a rewarding moment.
I like that there's a beach
and a pool next to each other.
- Hammocks.
- Hammocks.
- This is an adult playground.
- Whoo!
- Wow! Look at this beach!
- It's like a little day club.
- This is dope!
- Wow, this is great!
I know I brought you to a lot of beaches,
but this is one of the most beautiful.
It's private.
- You promised me 85 degrees.
- We'll see.
- Oh! Oh, my gosh.
- I rest my case.
So this is Soliman Bay.
You go to Tulum Beach,
where they have all the high-end hotels
you can possibly imagine
for the craziest prices,
and they don't have access
to the beach the way this one has.
This, to me, is a great find.
And look, you guys, you can see
the solar panels from here. Look at that!
You couldn't see it before,
They did a good job of hiding it.
- That's true.
- Correct.
And the solar panels are just one
of the many eco-friendly features here.
- Wow!
- Let's go see the bedrooms.
Every single room
is indoor/outdoor.
Yes.
- Oh, it's gorgeous.
- Beautiful.
Two terraces? Are you kidding me?
Well, look, this is gonna be
so beautiful with the breeze.
A canopy just does it for me.
This is luxury.
- For mosquitoes?
- The bed was made for you, Megan.
I'm protected!
And there's something about a canopy
that just screams luxury.
- This feels like a little secret.
- Let's go see the bathroom.
Oh!
This is a great bathroom.
You know what?
When you have a makeup towel,
you get a five-star review.
The fact they're black? Luxury.
The texture of the walls
and a rainfall shower head
- I love that. I love this.
- Teak slats.
This is earthy to me.
Okay, don't slip, come on.
She's dangerous in here.
So two bedrooms up here.
- Nice! This is amazing.
- What?
- Whoo! Look at this catwalk! What?
- Wow!
Look at this terrace. Look at that.
You really walked past through it.
It's truly
calling you out into nature.
By the way, important.
You see all this deck?
Underneath this wood is the drainage.
This is all for the purpose
of storing water.
So basically when it rains,
everything in the house is designed
so that it drains all
to the same place that's under the house.
So the rain goes down
underground into a tank
that brings the water back up,
filters it on tanks
that are on the ceiling.
And then brings it back down
for us to use, fresh and clean.
- Wow!
- Nice!
So they're supplying their own water
based on what nature just naturally does.
One hundred percent.
But wait till you see what's on the roof.
And so for the roof oh, my God!
- I'm going first!
- Pick one! Pick one!
A hammock room!
Yay!
By the way, guys,
these solar panels here,
they generate enough electricity
to power the entire house.
Why put the solar panels on the roof
when you can elevate them
with steel and do a hammock room
- One of the smartest things we've seen.
- underneath? This is great.
Okay, normally,
I wouldn't freak out about rooftops.
Normally, I don't even look at rooftops.
But the thing that they've done here
is maximize the space,
which is really a narrow box,
but they've made it double the size
because they're using
rooftops efficiently.
Look at this. At the very top,
you have your solar panels,
your hammock deck, gardens
that are a rainwater collection system,
that turn into a walkway,
outdoor seating,
shade for the first floor
It's almost like it's too much,
but what is it really?
It's a magic trick!
There is a situation. The girls
are freaking out because of mosquitoes.
Come on, there is no mosquitoes.
You're supposed to be sleeping naked.
- By the way look at her!
- "Freaking out" is not the word.
By the way, this looks very beautiful.
- I'm putting the canopy down.
- This looks super nice.
This is a beautiful design feature,
but it's also for mosquitoes.
The thing about mosquito nets
nobody ever really tells you is
you need to tuck it under the mattress.
Otherwise you're gonna get trapped
inside of your bed with mosquitoes!
- So, good night.
- Okay, good night.
Good morning, my little sister.
Where's our brother?
Where is he?
With all the amenities
this property has to offer,
the amenity most often forgotten
or ignored is leisure.
Now, that is luxury.
So Luis told me
that almost everything here is local.
Yes, like the wood, the tassels.
I made the tassels, yeah.
- You made these?
- I made those tassels.
Also the hamacas are
from this Yucatán village.
The entire house is made of wood.
This is tornillo. It's a local wood,
and the table is tzalam.
This is a clay made in Tulum too.
Casa Xixim is almost like a museum
where every item in the house
tells the story of Tulum.
Making a rental feel like a home
is all of these local materials,
but I think what makes
something feel really authentic and cozy
is someone like you!
- Thank you.
- It's like you make it feel like home.
Another great feature of Casa Xixim
is that it's only a short drive
to the Maya ruins
that Tulum is so famous for.
It's a chance
to step into a rich local culture
that vanished over a thousand years ago.
Let's talk about
the concept of a high-rise.
This is the original high-rise.
Look at the size of this thing.
You understand what it took back then
when people didn't even use the wheel?
It was all by hand.
Wild.
So you wanna know
about some good design?
- Some good Mayan design?
- Yes.
So these roads were made
strategically with limestone
so that when the moon was up,
there was light on these roads!
- Glow-in-the-dark streets!
- Yes!
So these ruins are also connected
to our eco-friendly journey
because it's believed that the overuse
of their natural resources
was one of the reasons
this huge empire fell.
Here is perfect evidence as
to why you need to be sustainable.
We spend the rest of the day back
home enjoying this incredible property
and the personal service you only get
from a skilled staff
who anticipates your every need.
Cold drinks
We haven't even called you,
and you noticed.
- Spidey-sense.
- I know. I just noticed.
Salud!
to craft lessons
No, look.
Knots here. Yes. Perfect.
to a gourmet dinner
made just for us.
So I have a real estate tip
for my friends in the hotel business.
Change the game plan,
because properties like this are
kicking your ass in every single category.
It's changing the game.
For me, now that I've seen it,
this is the only way I travel.
Please enjoy.
This is pescado. Amigos!
- Yes!
- Salud!
Thank you for joining us.
It means a lot to us.
Thank you, amigos.
And this is becoming
a global conversation, sustainability.
And people in different parts
of the world,
either they started later or earlier,
they're all doing it now.
It's easy, and sometimes you don't
even realize that it's so easy, right?
I used to work at the hotels,
and the hotels are very cold.
Here I think it's just very simple
because it's just like a real house.
People need to experience this level
of service with this net zero mentality.
Like, you don't need to ruin the planet
to have a good vacation.
- Thank you, guys.
- On that note, salud!
Salud!
We're in the Arctic Circle.
This is Santa Claus' office.
Look at this. Look at this. Look at this.
Okay, here we go.
Oh, my God!
And the fun and mayhem has begun.
When it comes to being eco-friendly,
few countries do it better than Finland.
We're starting our journey
here in downtown Rovaniemi,
and in the Finnish spirit,
we're going green.
We're taking electric snowmobiles
far north
- Ha-ha!
- So beautiful!
to our cabin in the woods.
Welcome to Ollero Eco Lodge
in the Arctic Circle of Finland.
Wow, what an entrance!
This is like a little village
just for us,
and it's all very green and clean.
So you booked
an entire village for your property.
Yep.
The Ollero Eco Lodge
is a Finnish family treasure.
Embracing green design and sustainability,
this retreat features
multiple sleeping quarters,
including a solar-powered glass igloo.
It has three bedrooms
two bathrooms
a classic Finnish sauna
and sleeps up to eight guests,
all for about $500 per night.
I can't wait to see this place.
There's a little sauna.
- You see that smoke over there?
- Yeah.
Okay, so should we go in here?
- Yes, yes, this is it.
- It's so cute.
- Welcome!
- This is cool!
Oh, it's so cozy.
Everyone loves a rocking chair by a fire.
There's so many places to journal
and read or take a nap.
Wow!
Oh, look at this. We got donuts.
These are the little touches
I really appreciate.
There's a thermal
with fresh coffee ready to go.
I'll take a cup, please.
The cool thing about this property is
that all the energy in here is renewable.
So these lights, the heat,
More than 80%
of the waste here is recycled.
So it's not just a beautiful cabin.
It's been created very carefully
and meticulously to be sustainable.
- Come on in.
- Hello, guys.
- Hello!
- Hi!
- Are you warm now?
- Yes.
It was so kind and thoughtful
of you to have this waiting for us
and lighting the fire
before we got here.
So this cabin is over 100 years old.
We spent all summers here.
How does it feel to share something that
was part of your childhood with strangers?
It feels very nice.
Because we love this place.
And I think
our guests also love this place.
For the Finnish,
why's it so important to be sustainable?
We love it,
but it is so different from the States.
We're a small country,
but there is a lot of nature.
And we are used to living in the nature.
So we want to keep it like that.
It's so gorgeous. We wanna see all of it.
Can we see some of the other rooms
we can sleep in?
Please.
Okay, welcome to the sleeping cabin.
- It is super cozy.
- There's a loft up there.
What's cool about this
is there are options.
You could technically have a family.
You could put your kids here.
You could take the igloo,
which we should go see.
Yeah, let's go see.
This is great for Christmas too, hmm?
It's great for everything.
A holiday home.
Welcome to the glass igloo
Oh, my God, I love it!
This is beautiful!
Fun fact about this igloo,
it is solar powered, and it's movable.
When the seasons change, they move this
around the property
based on the most beautiful place.
And it floats!
- It floats?
- So it's like a little dock.
Insane!
Okay, look at this igloo.
First of all,
talk about a room with a view.
The whole room is a view.
And the best part is this full control
of everything inside of the igloo.
You have reading lights. You have
a Bluetooth speaker and USB ports.
If you get a little hungry, you have
a pull-down dining room. Look at this!
Eco-friendly compost toilet.
Did I even tell you about the kitchenette?
A full-on kitchenette.
You can cook inside of this.
I don't know if we're
about to take off or cook dinner.
It's my own little spaceship!
Anni is showing me
that running sustainable
means covering every last detail.
Here is where all the waste goes.
And as you can read, there are,
like, separate places for all the waste.
Okay, so then
the biowaste is all the food
and all the waste
that comes out of the eco toilets.
Yeah.
- You're talking poo?
- Poo.
- So our poop is in there?
- Yeah.
I mean, she is showing me everything.
We are collecting
the biowaste here.
Aka poo!
Okay.
- No, come in. Join.
- Do you want to see?
Come on! This is part of the process.
We're making the world a better place,
one poop at a time.
"One poop at a time."
Yeah.
Are there instructions
on this reindeer meat?
What does it say?
Can you read this?
Nope, no clue.
This place feels like it's lived in,
and it makes you want to also add
to that experience of it being lived in.
- Yeah, it's great.
- How do you feel, Luis?
I love it here. I would stay
a whole week here, no problem.
I think it's a great place for a family.
- Yeah! Or a bunch of friends.
- Absolutely.
You know, I was looking
at the numbers for Rovaniemi,
and the vacation rental market has grown
over 250% over the last two years.
- Whoa!
- That's insane.
Oh, my God.
Let's try it, because
I've never cooked reindeer before.
- Mmm! Oh, my God. That's so damn good.
- It's good?
Megan!
That's really good.
Cheers, guys. Salud.
You guys keep cheering,
but I keep drinking the wine!
- I wanna play.
- Whoo!
Whoo!
One great thing
about Ollero is that
even though this eco retreat
is in the middle of the woods
Whoo!
it's only a ten-minute ride
on your e-sled to downtown Rovaniemi,
the official town of Santa Claus.
Wow!
Oh, my God, they're looking!
Our Christmas card.
Happy holidays
from me and this reindeer.
When I'm in a new place,
I love to go thrift shopping.
You can see
what people really use and wear.
Plus, it's an eco-friendly way
to find souvenirs.
That's what we call a win-win.
That's a nice, big scarf.
This property has an incredible
traditional Finnish sauna.
You know,
I'm really fascinated by the sauna.
Are you
are you ready to carry the water?
Uh, what do you mean?
So, I've got to break through the ice
to get water from the river
to create steam in the sauna.
The most important word
in Finnish is sisu.
It means determination and hard work.
Now you know what the Finnish
sisu really means.
You have to put some effort on it.
You actually feel like
you deserve the sauna.
There is nothing in the world
like a hot sauna,
followed by a plunge into the icy water.
To me, it's a spiritual experience,
and I wanna share it with Megan and Jo.
We're gonna go 15 minutes at
very high temperatures, like 200 degrees,
and we're gonna go jump.
We're gonna go straight
from the sauna into the cold plunge.
And it's an incredible,
exhilarating experience. I promise you.
- It is the anticipation that kills you.
- Absolutely.
Listen, my child
Our father. You're like, "What?"
Oh, my God, it is snowing out here.
Oh, my God.
Don't worry.
Go all the way in. All the way in.
- Don't think about it, just go.
- All the way to your neck.
- Okay, hold. Hold your breath.
- Breathe. Breathe.
Close your eyes.
Control your breath. Slow it down.
Don't focus on the cold.
It's all mental. Just control your breath.
There you go.
Oh, my God!
This is the best part right now.
- Put your feet there.
- Oh, dear God!
Just embrace it.
- This is absurd.
- Go all the way.
Go all the way! All the way!
Stay there!
Control your breath.
- Oh, my holy body!
- You ready to come out?
Okay.
Champion!
Ah, you're a champion.
Embrace the moment now.
- You did it.
- This is insane!
See, this is just one
of the reasons why Finland is one
of the happiest countries in the world.
And I love sharing this experience here
in Rovaniemi with Joanna and Megan.
We spent our last night
with our wonderful host
in a beautiful, authentic Lapland tepee,
where we cooked a classic
Finnish meal over an open fire.
I got little gifts.
I went to a thrift store down the street,
for both of you.
I wanted to grab something that
could match with the inside of the cabin.
- Thank you.
- It's a really cozy
- Price tag.
- Remove the price tag
Really cozy blanket
that will match perfectly with the cabin.
- This is so nice of you. Thank you.
- That's amazing.
You're welcome. Aww!
- Oh, my God
- That's a toast right here.
Cheers!
Thank you, guys,
for an amazing experience.
How did you get this car,
from the 1900s?
First of all, this car is not
from the 1900s. It is a hybrid car,
and I didn't have to rent it.
I borrowed it.
Is this about the environment
or your wallet?
- I can't believe it's about her wallet.
- Both!
You can save the environment
and the wallet at the same time.
- That's the concept of this whole thing.
- That's what it is.
I looked everywhere
for an eco-friendly stay,
and I found a one-of-a-kind bargain
here in Southern Colorado.
Pagosa Springs is a tiny town
with a big name in geothermal energy,
thanks to their natural hot springs.
Look at the dome!
- Whoa!
- Wow!
I think you guys
are going to love this property!
Oh, I see it.
Look at this house!
This is insane!
I love this so much,
and we haven't even gone in.
The Wonder Haus deserves its name.
The four-story tower overlooks
an earth home heated by passive solar.
There's three bedrooms,
two bathrooms
plus a pair
of kid-friendly sleeping lofts.
It sleeps ten guests
and rents for $400 per night.
So basically, the house
is the tower, like a lighthouse.
No, that's just part of it.
The house is underneath the ground.
It's called an earth home,
which is, like, part of the earth.
Okay, if you're anything like me,
you're probably wondering
what the heck an earth home is.
Let me just show you.
This is an earth home.
It's a home built into the earth,
and that's
what makes it more energy-efficient.
They carved into the hillside.
They put the structure on top,
covered it with concrete,
and then covered it with more earth.
Oh, earth house! Now I get it.
I'm gonna go to the roof of the house.
You're gonna walk on our house?
When is the first time you've been
able to go through the top of the house?
This is the craziest, most confusing,
most amazing house.
This is the center of the house.
- Oh, so this is where light comes in.
- Yes!
So, wait, the house is divided
into these tunnels basically.
Yes.
This is one of the tubes.
And they all meet in the center,
like a little star.
The original homeowner who built this
was very into astronomy,
and the house design is actually
based on astronomical concepts
and for stargazing.
Okay, the front door's this way.
Whoo!
- This is different.
- Unexpected?
It feels like a hobbit house
even more that I'm in it.
Ladies, you gotta see this.
Wonderful!
Gosh!
You wouldn't expect ceilings this high
in an underground home.
- What a cool house!
- Gorgeous!
Doesn't this feel breathy,
like you can breathe more with this light?
Which is ironic
because we're underground.
You see the exact places
where the tubes were set, like,
- one, two, three
- Yeah.
four, five, six.
And they're all connected in the middle
under this beautiful skylight.
Let's see where we were standing.
- Wow.
- Oh, this is beautiful!
It reminds me of a hobbit shire.
Tell me what the eco-friendly breakdown
of this home is.
Yeah, so the home is underground,
which helps it
maintain a consistent temperature.
The whole thing is passive solar.
So when it's winter,
the sun bursts into the windows,
hits the materials, the concrete,
the tile and warms the space up.
So that when the sun goes down
and the temperature drops,
then the heat comes up
and radiates the whole thing.
- Stays toasty in winter.
- Right.
- Do you roast in the summer?
- No.
The earth is colder underneath.
And what they did was
they drilled into the earth,
and they put a fan at the top
and bottom of the tower.
So basically, it's like convection air
that cools the entire thing
in the summertime.
Bedroom time!
- Ooh, this is a
- Whoa!
This is a beautiful, delicate room.
This bed
Cloud.
This is calm.
So comfortable and then when you look up,
this is so serene.
When you look to the side, that's
so serene.
Wow, this is so nice.
All of these six cylinders have
their own private outdoor spaces.
- That is really nice.
- Right?
Get ready to go up.
Oh, this is so cute!
And sleeps so many.
- In tiny beds. Talk about hobbit house.
- Wow!
Luis, how is it over there?
This is great.
Great for kids. Eight beds?
Four beds over here.
That's a bit of a problem. There's more
kids than adults. They're gonna take over.
To the tower!
Oh, wow!
What?
Another conversation
seating space.
- This room feels very secluded.
- Wow.
Like, if you needed to write, work,
this is the place you do it.
Hey, look at this. It's perfectly
aligned with the heart of the house.
Oh, that's so nice!
Oh, my gosh,
there's another set of stairs.
Ahh!
- Do you see this telescope?
- Mm-hmm.
Look how it's situated too.
Just in the space
where you can see the stars.
Okay, next floor, maybe floor four?
Uh-oh! It's like a meditation room.
Welcome to Wonder Haus.
There's one last thing, and I think
that's where the magic really is.
What?
This is a magical house.
Oh, Megan. You killed this!
It is magical.
If you're like one of those princesses,
you go up on top of the castle.
- You are a princess.
- You gotta be saved.
I came in thinking
it was only an eco-friendly property,
but I didn't realize
I was going to love the design so much,
probably more than
any other place we've seen so far.
And it's eco-friendly!
It feels like I would've done
something like this.
I feel at home because
this is how my home is.
That is amazing to know that
you don't need to sacrifice good design
to be eco-conscious.
This is where I'm sleeping tonight,
in the top of the castle.
Very special. So I'm gonna sit there.
I'm gonna stargaze for a little.
And I'm gonna go to sleep.
Okay,
I came up here to journal.
And look at this.
- Good morning!
- How'd you guys sleep?
- How was the house?
- Amazing.
- The sunrise on the roof.
- Mm-hmm.
Uninterrupted beauty.
- And the moon behind you.
- Yeah.
And I turned around and saw the tower,
and I'm like "Damn!"
- "There is Luis."
- "There's Luis!"
A stay at Wonder Haus
has to include a visit
to the world's deepest
mineral hot springs.
It's a perfect fit
for our eco-friendly tour.
Geothermal energy
heats these greenhouse domes
and supplies free green power.
- Wow!
- You guys see the color of the water?
- Yeah.
- Minerals. Good for skin and hair.
- Wow!
- You can see the minerals.
It looks glittery.
This is what
Beyoncé's bathwater looks like.
What?
Thirty-three major buildings of the city
are being operated by these hot springs.
- Geothermal energy, including schools.
- Geothermic energy that's borrowed.
- They have no heating bill.
- Correct.
This whole town is basically a spa.
- This town is a spa.
- Whoa! Great concept.
Listen, I think we've overextended
our stay in the spa.
- It's hot as hell!
- You burning up?
- It is hot.
- We should go back to the house.
This is one of the most tasteful places
we've ever been.
It's beautiful. It's well-designed.
I think when it comes to real estate,
self-sustaining houses like this have
a 15% increase on their worth, I think.
- Oh, really?
- Yeah.
Having an eco-friendly house is definitely
an asset for the value of a house.
So you could sell a house
for 15% more if it was eco-friendly?
Yes.
Not only does an eco home
save you money and energy costs,
it's also great for resale value.
What a great investment.
- Ta-da! Veggie burgers.
- Whoa!
No joke
What? You know what I'm gonna say?
- Of course I know.
- What's she gonna say?
That this is the best place
she's ever been to.
This is the best place I've ever been to.
Cheers.
Cheers!
Whoo!
This journey's taken us
all over the world,
which proves that being eco-conscious
is a global conversation.
Wow, what an entrance!
My favorite property was Ollero.
Getting to connect with a family that has
such a passion for sharing their childhood
and their love of nature
in such a beautiful setting
it was amazing.
My favorite property
was Casa Xixim.
It helped me define the type
of luxury property I personally like.
Simple and sustainable.
- Wow.
- Oh, this is beautiful!
The design of Wonder Haus was a dream.
Oh!
But for me,
Ollero Eco Lodge was my favorite.
I felt like I really connected
to the property,
the experiences and especially the hosts.
Cheers!
What a life!
All around the world we move ♪
All around the world we move ♪
All around the world we move ♪
All around the world we move ♪
All around the world we move ♪
All around the world we go ♪