Gaia Green Awards 2026 name Stayokay and Cul Sec winners

Stayokay Amsterdam Stadsdoelen, a hostel inside a 1730 canal-house monument, and Cul Sec resto.bar.wijntuin, a wine bistro in the small town of Culemborg, have won the top honours at the Gaia Green Awards 2026, the Netherlands’ prize for sustainable hospitality.

Organisers announced the winners on Tuesday 22 September at the “Dit Smaakt Naar Meer!” sustainability pavilion during the Gastvrij Rotterdam trade fair at Rotterdam Ahoy. Leon Keekstra, known publicly as the Stadsbemoeial, and Sylvie Slachter of Euro-Toques presented the trophies.

The Gaia Green Awards are organised by Green Leisure Group together with Green Key Nederland, Worldmeetings, VHC Groep, Made Blue Foundation, the Amsterdam International Olive Oil Competition and Euro-Toques Nederland. Organisers describe the prize as running for more than a decade; the Gastvrij Rotterdam fair itself ran from 21 to 23 September at Rotterdam Ahoy.

A gas-free 1730 Amsterdam monument and a Culemborg wine bistro top the Netherlands’ sustainability awards.

Gaia Green Awards winners by category

In the hotel category, the jury picked Stayokay Amsterdam Stadsdoelen. The hostel occupies a monumental building dated 1730 in the historic centre, runs without a gas connection, and covers heating and cooling with a heat pump and on-site renewable energy generation.

Cul Sec resto.bar.wijntuin in Culemborg won the restaurants category and also collected the special Falco Eleonora Award for the best sustainable food concept. The jury cited its reliance on local supply chains and seasonal produce as evidence of a “future-proof” hospitality business.

Het Nutshuis in The Hague won the MICE-venue category, recognising sustainable practices around meetings and events space. Hotel The Happy Traveler in Groningen took the Publieksprijs, the public-vote award decided by online ballot rather than the jury.

Machiel van Dooren of the Made Blue Foundation, one of the awards’ partner organisations, said the leading entrants “integrate impact into their business model,” adding that this approach “delivers environmental gains and creates stronger organizations.”

A crowded field of green labels

The Gaia Green Awards sit alongside Green Key certification, held by one of the awards’ own co-organisers, and a widening set of hospitality sustainability labels whose scoring criteria are not standardised across the sector, which makes direct comparisons between winners difficult for guests.

Dutch hospitality has had its own headwinds this year, from a wave of bankruptcies that only recently eased to an uneven patchwork of certificates, of the kind counted in Amuse’s review of green stars awarded to Dutch food producers.

Registration for the next edition of the Gaia Green Awards opens in early 2027, organisers say; category rules for that round have not yet been published.