Avana got its start from a deep desire: to create a real green tourism model where the environment and the local community always come first. 

Our mission is to restore the area around Avana to its original, untouched beauty from decades ago. We want to make sure the kids running around barefoot today will have a safer, cleaner environment to grow up in tomorrow. We're also working hard to help the communities nearby understand how vital it is to live green, keep things clean, and see how precious their long-standing culture truly is. That's basically everything Avana Retreat is striving for.

You might think a big dream requires a big foundation. But on the journey to make those precious goals a reality and sustainability, we'd say: Greatness comes from the simplest things

#1: Daily conversations with the locals

Recently, James Thai, CEO of Avana Retreat, together with the top leaders in the hospitality and tourism industry, had a meeting at the Asia Sustainable Travel (AST) Forum in Hanoi to tackle key industry challenges. During the forum, Mr. James shared: "Engaging in collaborative dialogue and repurposing local natural materials helped us achieve the resort's unique standards."

With 90% of our workforce being local, Avana has truly become an integral part of the community, embracing the unique language, sounds, and culture of the region. Many of our Thai, Hmong, and Muong team members, who once relied solely on two rice harvests a year, are starting to learn everyday English phrases, how to fold napkins, set forks and knives, and even bake. They come to Avana really wanting to improve themselves, and we're just as passionate about helping this area grow. As long as they're eager to grow, we provide free training, career guidance, and employment opportunities. We're giving them the chance to work right here in their homeland, and in return, they're giving us the opportunity to have them as cherished members of the Avana family.

#2: The everyday work that sustains local communities

Being welcomed into this land has opened up so many doors for us to their culture and traditional crafts. That's brought us a treasure trove of sustainable materials to build our resort with! The local artisans in this region have been amazing teachers, showing us how to plaster mud walls, pick the best palm leaves for roofing, and share their unique Thái and H'mong house-building secrets that keep rooms so toasty in winter and wonderfully breezy in summer. When stepping into any corner of Avana Retreat – from the chill-out lounges to the private villas and restaurants – you'll find it adorned with stunning handmade items such as comfy pillows with vibrant brocade patterns, or gorgeous lamps woven from rattan and bamboo. Crafted from all-natural materials, Avana Retreat's decorations are more than just beautiful – they're also earth-friendly.

#3: Honoring cultures through global sharing

Beyond the culture of the Northwest, Avana Retreat also wants to share the idea of respecting cultures from all over the world through how we run our sustainable resort. During the Asia Sustainable Travel (AST) Forum, our COO, James Thai, shared some smart, budget-friendly ideas that any business could start using right away. A prime example he gave was Avana’s old-school mechanical keys. This simple swap doesn't just cut down on plastic key cards, it also beautifully shows our respect for Jewish guests who observe Shabbat without electronic devices.

When everything we absorb these days is filled with plastic junkies and chemicals, we would want to go for a choice that focuses on the greens and benefits to the environment like organic products. Making our products more natural, ethical, and healthier is a great start in the commitment to sustainability, and we have plenty on the list: 

• Organic juice and fruit:

A hearty plate of yummy fruits and juice is Avana’s first gift of welcoming you here. Charge your daily glucose and vitamin boost while feeling the crunch and sweetness of fresh tropical fruits.

• Organic herb garden: 

To keep the greens truly green, our herb gardens are pesticide-free. From seeding to harvesting, every process is carefully nurtured by our local farmer. The freshest food comes straight out of the soil, and in our cooking class, you can visit the garden and pick up fresh herbs for your menu. 

• Organic eggs: 

Avana Retreat is home to nearly 300 birdies, where they lay fresh, healthy eggs. No cages or stress, they are just a flock of happy chickens, roaming freely on the hill, scratching the ground for worms, and bathing in the sun. 

• Organic spa oils & shower essentials: 

Ranging from essential oils to soap, shampoo, and candles, put your body in whole natural care with organic extracts from herbs, flowers, and fruits. Let the products deepen your connection with heaven and earth through fragrant, true-to-nature scents that linger for hours.

Organic products aren’t just a costly trend we can skip, to Avana Retreat, it is a statement, a revolution, and a significant change for the better. 

When Avana's founder used to go explore the land and scout deep in the forest, we passed through many streams. Looking at the clear water, we thought that it is too pure that we could almost drink it. So an idea was initiated: a self-supplied water system that is as fresh as the natural streams.

True water-drinking enthusiasts will know that not every water tastes the same, and yes, Avana’s water is different from any water in the urban. It’s neither the bottled water you usually drink nor the bland tap water, it’s a strangely pleasant refreshing flavor of nature’s clarity. Water is not something you would pay attention to, but to us, any efforts to preserve nature is worthwhile:

• Complimentary water is provided during every activity of the Retreat.
• Water is filled in glass bottles for guests for reusable purposes. 
• An on-site purifying system helps cuts down CO2 emissions during outsourced water transportation and also cuts down on plastic usage 

By building the system, we are always proud to provide a clean, pure source of water, made of nature’s freshest and a part of the care plan for the environment. 

A clean sip of water will refresh you, and a clean source of water will relieve nature.

Food sourcing had been a puzzling quiz to solve during Avana's first days. Costly expenses, long delivery hours, fresh food decaying, etc., more and more problems just occurred when it comes to transporting ingredients from the urban to Avana Retreat in the mountain. We were too focused on the limitations, but then a fact came ringing that there is a treasure we have been ignoring: the local food source. Planted and nurtured by the natives, you can feel the authenticity in every ingredient.

On Friday morning, chef Tuan will head to Bao La market - a local market just 10 minutes away from the retreat. He said that whoever comes first gets the freshest ingredients, and he proves it right. Tumbling fish, vegetables that look like they just got straight out of the soil, chicken, and ducks clucking here and there,  bags of beans next to each other, everything just looks inviting to cook! 

Food tastes best when it is cooked wholeheartedly. There is no better way to honor the local cuisine than to have it right on your menu, using the ingredients that grow on this land: 

• Fish, pork, chicken, and goat, all meat are locally produced.  You can taste the juicy, tender texture of creatures that grow up in nature.
• Have a taste of local herbs and plants that is only found in the mountain. In the highlands, common veggies like potatoes and corn have a more earthy taste. 
• Handmade desserts are served after every main course. Comes in many shapes and sizes, these cakes are delicacies of Northwestern Vietnam.

We love our local source, we love the fresh ingredients, we love the mountain taste in every bite, and we love to support the local community. To buy food locally is to give natives the chance to make a living, and to honor their cuisine authentically, and rightfully.

Convenient, fast, and cheap, plastic is like a dream material for life in the mountain of ethnic groups. But the plastic utopia doesn’t last long when people are more and more dependent on single-use plastic products.

Unfamiliar with garbage sorting, and most garbage disposal areas are concentrated in the city, waste management is not really a matter to concern about in remote mountainous and rural areas, but consequences are clearer day by day: Plastic bottles scattered by the river and cascade banks, sights of plastic bags carelessly thrown on the bushes, and garbage piling up by the beaten village road. For it to be an imprinted mindset of ethnic groups, to damage and pollute the intact, beautiful nature here, those are the sights we don’t want to witness.

Therefore, Avana wants to bring them a new mindset, a new lifestyle where plastic is not necessary at all:

• No single-use plastic in the resort
• Eco-friendly materials: corn starch waste bags, bamboo and paper packaging, cups and bags, etc.
• Reusable bottles and cups: Our water purifying system allows us to use glass bottles for refill

There is no need for a grand campaign; they can start with small actions, but consistency is key. Continue to practice, continue to remember the things they could do, and continue to share with others.  90% of Avana staff are locals, coming from the surrounding villages, so they will continue to spread that lifestyle to their families, neighbors, and villages because that's how they do it: share and spread good things to the village.

From a single action, they can change to being a habit, and it will become a lifestyle - a plastic-free lifestyle.