Search for an eco lodge in India and you will find hundreds of them. Some are doing remarkable, patient work: regrowing forests, training local people, building with earth and protecting wildlife corridors. Others have simply painted a conventional resort green, added a jute rug and a "save water" card in the bathroom, and put "eco" in the name.
If you care about where your travel money goes, you do not need to be an expert to tell them apart. A handful of pointed questions will do it.
We run an eco stay near Kanha Tiger Reserve, so we know these questions are fair - we ask them of ourselves. Below is the checklist, with what to look for, the red flags to watch out for, and our own answers as worked examples.
Why "eco" is so hard to judge
There is no single, universally recognised eco-certification for accommodation in India, and the word "eco" on a website costs nothing. International frameworks such as the criteria published by the Global Sustainable Tourism Council exist, and some properties are assessed against them, but most travellers will never see that paperwork.
That is why specific questions work better than labels. A genuine eco lodge can answer them with numbers, names and dates. A greenwashed one answers with adjectives.
1. What is it built from?
Concrete and glass in a forest is hard to call sustainable, however many plants are placed around it. Look for local, low-carbon materials and building methods that suit the climate, so the building itself does some of the work that machines would otherwise do.
Red flag: "eco cottages" that turn out to be standard concrete rooms with air conditioning running day and night.
At Surwahi: our buildings are made from stabilised mud cob - about 10,000 sq ft of it - with minimal baked brick, steel, glass or cement. Roofs are insulated with terracotta tiles salvaged from village homes. Rooms stay below about 28°C when Kanha crosses 40°C outside, without a single air conditioner. Read more about our eco-friendly construction.
2. How much of the land is built on?
A genuinely low-impact property leaves most of its land alone. Ask what proportion is built on, and what happens to the rest.
Red flag: manicured lawns, imported ornamental plants and every corner developed for "activities".
At Surwahi: we own ten acres and build on two. The other eight are fenced and left permanently untouched.
3. Is the land getting wilder or tamer?
This is the question almost nobody asks, and it is one of the most revealing. Is there evidence that nature is recovering on the property - tree counts, bird lists, wildlife records - or is the claim just a nice photograph?
Red flag: "surrounded by nature" with no evidence of what the property has done for that nature.
At Surwahi: the land held fewer than 300 trees when we bought it in 2015. We fenced it and left it alone for three years before building anything. By the March 2025 tree census it held more than 6,000 native plants and trees, over 3,500 of them taller than five feet, and 59 documented bird species. See the tree census and biodiversity reports.
4. What happens to water and waste?
Water is the hidden pressure point in most tourist areas, and rural India is no exception. A single resort can draw heavily on the same groundwater a village depends on. Ask about rainwater harvesting, sanitation and what leaves the property.
Red flag: a large swimming pool and lush watered gardens in a region where the village around it struggles for water in summer.
At Surwahi: we use a zero-discharge evapotranspiration toilet system. Arjun Pond, a rainwater reservoir dug as a water-conservation measure, has become a summer water source for wild boar, sambar, barking deer and leopard. In 2017 we also began pushing for a stop dam through the local panchayat, which eventually gave the village a more reliable water source.
5. Who works there - and who benefits?
This is the most important question of all. Are staff hired from nearby villages, trained and promoted into real responsibility - or brought in from the city while locals fill only the lowest-paid roles?
Red flag: a management team with no local faces, and "community" mentioned only in the context of donations.
At Surwahi: every person we employ directly comes from a surrounding village. Narendra Patle was our first hire, given real responsibility from the start, and is now our Estate Manager after ten years. Two local masons trained here in earthen construction and now use those skills independently. In 2017 we helped more than 40 village women organise the Deetya Jagriti Self-Help Group, so they could save, borrow and be heard together.
6. Is the culture shared or performed?
There is a big difference between a dance show staged at dinner and learning from people on their own terms. Ask how cultural experiences are run, and who earns from them.
Red flag: "tribal experiences" where the community has no say and sees little of the fee.
At Surwahi: Gond artist Sanjay Pancheshwar teaches guests rather than performing for them. Our neighbouring farmer takes guests into his fields in the monsoon, and our cook prepares food that carries the actual flavours and traditions of his community. See our workshops.
7. How does it treat wildlife?
Responsible lodges reduce their impact on wildlife; irresponsible ones turn wildlife into a product.
Red flags: guaranteed sightings, animal feeding or baiting, captive animals for photographs, and night drives where they are not permitted.
At Surwahi: our team is trained in snake rescue at the PfA Wildlife Rescue & Conservation Centre. The animals on our land arrived because it became safe for them - not because we baited them. As we like to say: this is their home, and we are all visitors.
8. Can it show independent recognition?
Awards are not everything, and plenty of excellent small lodges have none. But third-party assessment is always better than self-description, and it is worth asking who has looked closely at the property.
At Surwahi: recognitions include TOFTigers Most Inspirational Eco Lodge 2024, the AEN International Ecotourism Award 2025 for sustainable building, Madhya Pradesh Tourism Board's Best B&B Unit 2024-25 and the ICRT India Responsible Tourism Awards 2023 (Silver). See all our awards.
What you can do as a guest
Choosing well is the biggest step, but how you travel matters too:
Frequently asked questions
What is the difference between an eco lodge and an eco resort? The labels are used loosely. What matters is not the name but the answers to the questions above.
Are eco lodges in India comfortable? The best ones are very comfortable - just in a different way. At Surwahi, for example, comfort comes from thick mud walls and shade rather than air conditioning.
Is responsible travel more expensive? Not necessarily. Small, locally run properties often offer excellent value, and more of what you pay stays in the local economy.
The bottom line
A genuine eco lodge should be able to answer every question above specifically, with numbers and names - not just adjectives. If the answers are vague, the "eco" probably is too.
If our answers convinced you, explore our stays near Kanha or read our story.
