These hand crocheted bicycle accessories by Simeli in the Netherlands are just the type of crafty goodness bike riders need to spruce their style. Your clothing won’t get tangled up in the spokes of your cruiser or comuter with these Dress Guards protecting your duds.

via CraftZine

Verana is an intimate boutique hotel on Mexico’s Pacific coast. Tucked in a remote hillside jungle just thirty miles south of Puerto Vallarta and accessible only by boat, Verana boasts luxury private accommodations with a backdrop of stunning water and mountain views.

Arriving by private pier you’re led to the full-service jungle spa, the first of the hotel’s two restaurants ad then it’s a 15-minute hike through the jungle, up winding stone steps to the hotel.

Verana’s nine individually-designed villas dotting the hillside combine the traditional architecture with modern design, with indoor/outdoor living. The hotel’s lush natural surroundings make it effortless to relax.

Dramatic views overlooking the bay from the hotel’s second restaurant and spa location.

A spring water pool with 180-degree views of the mountains and ocean, spa treatments, yoga classes, kayaking, whale and bird watching excursions, starlit baths (as good as it sounds, lit only by the heavens and candlelight) and the like. The nearby town of Yelapa is just a twenty minute hike away, with a long, lovely beach and a local celebrity of sorts—”the cake lady” who walks up and down the beach carrying delicious cakes and pies on her head for sale. Plan accordingly though, the trail between Yelapa and Verana is impassible when the tide is in.

Urnatur translating to ‘essence of nature’, is a Swedish forest getaway, where visitors can stay in cabins and spend time reconnecting with nature. The unique hand-crafted cottages and tree-houses are located in the Swedish Holaved Forest, and work in harmony with their surrounding environment.

UrNatur opened the doors to the wood hermitage in 2007. 6-15 guests can fit in the hermitage and can occupy six cabins. Only the conference hall and the tin castle, has access to electricity. UrNatur is perfect for day-long workshops, seminaries, lectures and other activities.

Forester Håkan Strotz and Biologist and Designer Ulrika Krynitz, bought the small farm Sjögetorp in 1993. Håkan worked as a teacher at Omberg’s Nature School, while Ulrika founded a textile design company ‘Qualle’ in 1999. during many summers they organized a handcraft festival called ‘ragnarök’. with strong shared interests in design and crafts, but also nature, ethno-biology, self-sustainability and cooking, the UrNatur project slowly took form.

The owners wanted to be able to offer a fantastic experience – similar to those of our parent’s generation – for city people who spend too much time far from nature. Houses are built from the storm-felled trees and are designed and built from scratch by Håkan.

Guests cook on an open fire and a single 12 volt lamp is powered by solar cells on top of the bath house roof.

All food offered at UrNatur is local, wild crafted or home grown. The bath house is the largest of all the houses, it contains a wood fired sauna, which heats two generous wash rooms.

via designboom, video from the Anthropologist via Kristin

The Bardessono Napa Valley is a LEED-Platinum certified hotel, restaurant and spa very luxurious while still earth friendly. Secluded on five acres of gardens and vineyards, the 62-room hotel offers a green spa, that is heated and cooled by an underground geothermal system, smart guestrooms in buildings crafted from hand-milled, reclaimed wood and steel and 93-seat restaurant headed by Executive Chef Sean O’Toole. (lots of biodynamic wine selections)

The advanced environmental technologies at Bardessono ensure a carbon footprint of zero while you relax in luxury. 940 rooftop solar panels provide all the electricity the hotel requires.

A portion of your room rate is donated to the Napa Valley Land Trust. Rooms are equipped with In Fiore bath products, Coyuchi bed linens, and 40-inch Sony LCD HDTVs. Internet, valet parking, and bicycles for touring the town of Yountville are included in your rate. The Bardessono is the second hotel to ever receive LEED Platinum certification and the first for California!

Denver’s own Beatrice Holiday makes the most adorable bicycle accessories a girl could ever ask for. With the tag line ‘wheel cute couture’ you are sure to be in for a treat! All seat covers and handlebar bags are made from vintage upholstery and vinyl. Handle bar bags even convert into shoulder bags and you can further accessorize yourself with the site’s recycled inner tube jewelry.

Visit the shop, you’ll be glad you did.

Cala Mia Boutique Hotel is a luxury Eco island Resort in the archipelago of Chiriqui, Panama. Winner of Fodor’s Choice Award 2010: it is an unforgettable total immersion in nature with palm-lined virginal white sand beaches, private boat trips to uninhabited islands, kayaking into mangroves, bird watching, whale- and monkey-watching, swimming, snorkeling or surfing.

Enjoy the pool or spa, tropical touches & new world gourmet cuisine: most ingredients from Cala Mia’s own organic gardens and dairy-farm.

No additives, no colorings and 100% solar-powered: simplicity into chic luxury, both stylish and tasteful.

The Scarlet is an eco hotel with a zen attitude in Mawgan Porth, Cornwall. A popular destination for surfers and pub lovers, it is also an amazing natural site.

Hung on a hillside, the Scarlet Hotel has been designed with the environment in mind, between sea and vegetation. It is a true eco-friendly hotel. Opened last September, the hotels 37 rooms are grouped around curved corridors, the facade is organic and the roof green.

The multiple levels that allow the hotel to play tightrope above the sea. The airy architecture was intended by Harrison Sutton and Bauwerk to live at the rhythm of nature, with the outside air as air conditioning. The Scarlet Hotel offers a biomass boiler (burning wood and cereals), collects rainwater and recycles the waste water.

Cove Park is an international centre based in Scotland for the arts and creative industries. Founded in 1999 by Eileen and Peter Jacobs, Cove Park’s annual programme of residencies enables national and international artists, working in all art forms, to undertake research and develop new projects.

When Cove Park’s residency programme is not in progress, the accommodation and facilities are available for private and corporate hire.

The stunning location around Loch Long and the unique self-catering accommodation are ideally suited for weekend breaks or longer holidays.

Cove Park is also perfect for company away-days, seminars and conferences. The Centre can accommodate groups of up to 50 people, affording them marvellous views of Loch Long and the surrounding hills.

Set amongst Sweden’s dense 140 year old Northern boreal forest are seven futuristic structures that that are Treehotel, an innovative project by husband and wife team Britta Jonsson-Lindvall and Kent Lindvall. Treehotel was inspired by Swedish indie director Jonas Selberg Augustsén’s 2008 eco-documentary Trädälskaren-the Tree Lover, which followed a group of friends who leave their mundane jobs and move to the woods, building their own tree house home.

The Lindvalls’ tree dwellings were designed by some of Sweden’s most cutting-edge architects, including Bertil Harström, Tham & Videgård, Sandell Sandberg, Inredningsruppen, Marge Architects and Cyren & Cyren. The seven micro dwellings include “The Bird’s Nest,” a circular pod covered in twisted branches, and “The Tree Sauna,” an elevated take on the steamy sauna of Scandinavia.

Each mini tree house is powered by sustainable electricity and is attached to its respective tree via a metal clamp that adjusts for tree growth rather than with screws and nails that would damage the trees. Treehotel lies approximately 60 km South of the Arctic circle in stillness and wilderness undisturbed.

Watch this Reuters Treehotel video.

Hamanasi resort in Belize is nestled between the lush Maya Mountains and the turquoise Caribbean Sea. A secluded, intimate boutique resort located on the beach south of Hopkins, Hamanasi sits on hundreds of feet of Caribbean Sea beachfront surrounded by tropical flora on the finest stretch of beach in Belize. With a short flight from Atlanta, Charlotte, Dallas, Houston, Miami, New York or San Salvador you may let the warm tropical breezes melt away your hectic life for the laid back pace of Belize.

You can take advantage of the Dive & Adventure Resort or just  relax and soak by the pool or swim in the Caribbean. Belize’s barrier reef is the largest in the Western Hemisphere. More than 200 islands ranging from clumps of mangroves to scenic sandy cayes decorate the reef waters. Belize boasts three of the Caribbean’s four atolls, enormous rings of coral. Underwater is home to an extensive ecosystem comprising shimmering schools of fish, colorful sponges, coral of all shapes, dolphins, sharks, manatees and sea turtles. Belize is ideal for water sports: SCUBA diving, fishing, sailing, snorkeling and swimming.

Hamanasi offers spacious, comfortable rooms with elegant décor, hardwood furnishings and Central American folk art.  9 intimate, private treehouses raised on stilts are set in our coast forest surrounded by orchids and birds. 2 honeymoon suites, 8 beachfront and 2 beachfront deluxe rooms boast breathtaking ocean views. King or double queen beds with comfortable mattresses, plush linens, air conditioning, ceiling fans, private porches and colorful Mexican tiled bathrooms in all rooms.

Treehouses feature: expansive windows, huge shower/tub with twin showerheads, air conditioning, louvered windows, ceiling fans, hardwood floors, full size futon couches and a porch with chairs, table and hammock. Some come with wrap-around veranda with jacuzzi.

The Great House, reminiscent of a plantation home, which is the heart of all activity- it houses the lobby, reception, gift shop, restaurant, bar and wrap-around veranda. You may dine indoors or on the veranda overlooking the Caribbean Sea.  Delicious menu rich in fresh seafood, healthy, light dishes and international cuisine with a Caribbean twist.

The second largest barrier reef in the world, mysterious Mayan ruins, tropical rainforests teeming with life, palm-studded sandy beaches:  over 500 species of birds including scarlet macaws, toucans, parrots, hummingbirds, kingfishers, motmots, egrets and frigate birds. Amidst dense jungle, howler and spider monkeys swing beneath the forest canopy, river otters playfully float down streams, jaguars and ocelots roam at night and tapirs and peccaries forage the undergrowth. Here you’ll find gorgeous orchids, ubiquitous palms, pine forests, hardwoods such as mahogany trees, sugarcane, bird-of-paradise and mangroves. Fruit lovers delight in the abundance of bananas, mangos, pineapples, oranges, grapefruit, cashews, papaya, craboo and coconuts.

Although a small country with only 250,000 people, Belize is culturally rich. Belize comprises many different ethnic groups, which peacefully and harmoniously co-exist including Chinese, Creole, East Indian, European, Garifuna, Lebanese, Mayan, Mennonite and Mestizo. While many languages are spoken, English is the official language. Belizeans broadly welcome tourism and visitors are warmly greeted with large smiles. Near Hamanasi is the most traditional Garifuna fishing village of Hopkins. The Garinagu are descendants of Carib Indians and Africans and still speak the Garifuna language. Continuing their ancestral customs, Hopkins residents fish in dugout dories, harvest cassava and weave baskets.