120: Pascale Lauber and Ulrike Bauschke, Paragon 700 – Green hospitality: nurturing the community’s soul

Change Makers: Leadership, Good Business, Ideas and Innovation

In part two of this series in collaboration with Mr & Mrs Smith, we continue to explore the travel industry’s role in delivering a more sustainable future in the face of the Covid-19 pandemic and the growing climate emergency.

This week Michael travels to Ostuni, a fairy-tale Italian city known for its labyrinth of historical white-washed buildings, as he visits Pascale Lauber and Ulrike Bauschke, Founders of Paragon 700. Both with a background in design, Ulrike and Pascale have painstakingly restored every inch of what was the former 17th century palace, Palazzo Rosso, and turned what had been empty for more than 40 years into one of Italy’s most exciting and dynamic boutique hotel experiences.

Described as having a ‘green soul’, developed by the duo’s mantra that green hospitality is a philosophy, not simply a style, this hotel has a very modern mission to be better for the world. From employing local tradespeople, serving home-grown and locally-sourced organic produce, to operating with low emissions energy and working fully plastic free. Listen to how Pascale and Ulrike turned their vision into reality in the latest Change Makers episode.