Four houses, on the record: Aman, Soneva, One&Only and Cheval Blanc

Groups matter because of scale. A single resort can prove what is possible; a portfolio decides what becomes normal. The review uses only public sources, and asks of them what the Standard asks of any hotel: who owns the targets, what is measured, what stays in the place and what is reported.

None of the four has been assessed by Regenera Luxury, and none took part in its 2026 Awards. The review continues in each issue, with further groups read by the same method.

The four at a glance

What a reader can check, by layer of the Standard: A, governance; B–F, operations; G–H, destination; I, accountability; and the leading practice each group publishes.

• Aman. A: policy or plan · B–F: property level · G–H: property level · I: not found. Leading practice published: Amanruya, Bodrum: GSTC Stage 3 after external audit ²
• One&Only. A: policy or plan · B–F: property level · G–H: property level · I: policy or plan. Leading practice published: One&Only Reethi Rah: EarthCheck Gold, three consecutive years ⁴
• Soneva. A: policy or plan · B–F: group results · G–H: property level · I: group results. Leading practice published: Total footprint published, guest flights included: 64,460 tonnes CO₂ in 2021 ⁹
• Cheval Blanc. A: policy or plan · B–F: property level · G–H: property level · I: not found. Leading practice published: Cheval Blanc Randheli: 2.4 MW floating solar runs the island in daylight hours, 2026 ¹⁴¹⁵

All four publish policy, not results, for governance. Only Soneva publishes group-level results, for operations and for accountability. None yet reports results for its whole portfolio across all four layers.

How the review reads

• Sources. Public only: each group's reports and web pages, certifier records, press releases and trade press, listed on every page. Accessed October 2026.
• Labels. Certified: a third-party certificate a reader can check. Reported: published by the group, not independently verified. Target: a commitment with a date.
• Gold rule. Marks the leading practice each group publishes. It is the Journal's reading, not a ranking. (In this web edition, the leading practice is set in bold.)
• Right of reply. All four were sent their pages for factual review before publication and are invited to respond in Issue 02.

What a guest can ask

• A. Who is responsible for these commitments, and to whom do they report?
• B–F. How much energy and water did the hotel use per guest night last year, and how was it measured?
• G–H. What share of what I spend here stays with local people and businesses?
• I. Where is the latest report, and who checked it?

Classification: FACT (practices as published; sources listed below); INTERPRETATION and OPINION (status labels, scorecard summary, leading practice, reading, questions).

Aman

The Disclosure Review · 01 / 04

• Founded: 1988. Amanpuri, Phuket, by Adrian Zecha
• Hotels and resorts: 36, with further openings announced ¹⁸
• Countries: 21, from Bhutan to Turks and Caicos ¹⁸
• Owner: Vladislav Doronin, chairman and CEO, since 2014

What it already shows

• Four pillars: local heritage, local culture, environmental protection, social responsibility, as recommended by GSTC. Reported ¹
• Amanruya, Bodrum: GSTC Stage 3 after external audit; all criteria met; climate action plan. Certified ²
• Amanruya: energy, fuel, water and waste measured; energy use down year after year, figures not published. Reported ²
• 15 properties on or close to UNESCO World Heritage sites, supported in kind or financially. Reported ¹
• Cage-free eggs at every hotel and resort, staff canteens included, since October 2025. Reported ¹
• Amanoi, Vietnam: one in ten team members Cham or Raglai. Reported ³

What the Standard would ask

• I. A yearly portfolio report: energy, water, carbon and local spend per guest night, method stated. Today: no group report found
• A. The four pillars set as group targets, with dates and a named owner. Today: pillars stated as policy
• H. At the 15 UNESCO-adjacent properties, what was funded and what it achieved. Today: support described, not quantified
• E. The wellbeing a stay delivers, measured with a stated method: the ultra-luxury question. Today: not found

Starting point. Amanruya's externally audited GSTC Stage 3 result, with energy, water and waste already tracked.

Why it matters now

GSTC's performance requirements of April 2026 ask certified hotels for data on local purchasing, decent work, energy, water, emissions and waste ⁸. Amanruya already works inside that system. The same figures gathered for every property would make the portfolio report this review could not find, and would let Aman's quiet reputation rest on evidence a guest can check.

Disclosure scorecard: Aman group

What a reader can check, by layer of the Standard

• A · Governance: Policy or plan
• B–F · Operations: Property level
• G–H · Destination: Property level
• I · Accountability: Not found

"The resorts show what the groups value. Only a portfolio report would show what they measure."

The scorecard reads public disclosure only. One&Only and Soneva follow, read by the same method.

One&Only

The Disclosure Review · 02 / 04

• Origin: Sol Kerzner, founder of Kerzner International
• Resorts open: 14, four more announced
• Countries: 9, from Rwanda to Montana
• Owner: Investment Corporation of Dubai, operated by Kerzner International

What it already shows

• Group partnership with EarthCheck since 2019; membership mandatory across the Kerzner portfolio. Reported ⁴
• One&Only Reethi Rah, Maldives: EarthCheck Gold, three consecutive years. Certified ⁴
• Emirates One&Only Wolgan Valley: certified carbon neutral by Toitū (formerly carboNZero) for ten consecutive years from its 2009 opening. Certified ⁶
• Wolgan Valley: more than 220,000 native trees planted since 2006 on a 7,000-acre reserve. Reported ⁷⁶
• Net Positive Hospitality, on joining the World Sustainable Hospitality Alliance, April 2025. Target ⁵

What the Standard would ask

• A. A published definition of net positive: what counts, which baseline, by when. Today: target announced April 2025
• B–F. EarthCheck results published for every resort, large and small. Today: results public for single resorts
• I. First results reported against the net-positive measure, with method. Today: policy or plan
• E. For a brand sold on wellness, guest wellbeing outcomes measured with a stated method. Today: not found

Starting point. A data system already mandatory in every resort, and Wolgan Valley's long record in carbon and land restoration.

Why it matters now

Since 27 September 2026, claiming that a stay has a neutral, reduced or positive impact on emissions on the basis of offsetting is prohibited in commercial communications to consumers in the EU (Directive (EU) 2024/825). A net-positive measure will be credible only if it rests on reductions and restoration that can be counted, as the trees at Wolgan Valley can. For a group opening in Montana and the Hudson Valley, that measure would travel with the brand.

Disclosure scorecard: One&Only group

What a reader can check, by layer of the Standard

• A · Governance: Policy or plan
• B–F · Operations: Property level
• G–H · Destination: Property level
• I · Accountability: Policy or plan

• Group results: quantified results published for the whole portfolio, with period
• Property level: certified or reported at individual hotels
• Policy or plan: framework, commitment or system in build
• Not found: not in the public sources reviewed

Classification and sources: Aman and One&Only

Classification: FACT (group profiles, certifications and commitments as published); INTERPRETATION and OPINION (status labels, scorecard, reading, what the Standard would ask, why it matters now). Aman and Kerzner International have not been assessed under the Regenera Luxury Standard and did not take part in the 2026 Awards. Sources: aman.com/sustainability and property pages (Amanruya, Amanoi) ¹²³; EarthCheck, Kerzner International case study ⁴; World Sustainable Hospitality Alliance, press release, 22 April 2025 ⁵; Sustainable Hotel News, 22 April 2025; aman.com/sustainability-amanruya ²; Kerzner, Emirates One&Only Wolgan Valley fact sheet (Toitū certification as reported for 2009–2019); Signature Luxury Travel & Style, 2023 ⁷; Health Club Management, 2024; GSTC, hotel certification requirements, April 2026 ⁸. Profiles: aman.com ¹⁸; Kerzner International, factsheet 2026. Accessed October 2026.

Soneva

The Disclosure Review · 03 / 04

• Founded: 1995. Soneva Fushi, Maldives ¹⁹
• Resorts: 4. Fushi, Jani, Secret and Kiri
• Countries: 2. Maldives and Thailand
• Founders: Sonu and Eva Shivdasani; chief executive Neil Gallagher

What it already shows

• A 2 per cent environmental levy on room revenue since 2008, funding the Soneva Foundation. Reported ⁹¹⁰
• Carbon neutral since 2012, guest flights included, through Soneva Foundation projects: 508,511 tonnes CO₂ mitigated by 2021. Reported ⁹
• Myanmar Stoves Campaign: the country's first Gold Standard-certified carbon project, more than 350,000 tonnes CO₂ mitigated. Certified ¹⁰
• Total footprint, guest flights included: 64,460 tonnes CO₂ in 2021, in a public sustainability report. Reported ⁹
• Maldives solar expansion, January 2024: diesel down two million litres a year, direct emissions down 40 per cent. Reported ¹⁰
• Soneva Namoona, with island councils in Baa and Noonu atolls: more than 800 tonnes of waste kept from open burning or the sea. Reported ¹¹

What the Standard would ask

• I. Reductions reported apart from offsets, year on year. Today: total footprint published, flights included
• A. Allocation and results of the 2 per cent levy, published each year. Today: levy reported since 2008
• G–H. Namoona's results reported island by island, with method. Today: one aggregate figure
• F. Every guest-facing claim matched to its evidence, beginning with "carbon neutral". Today: neutrality reported through offsets

Why it matters now

Soneva measures what most groups leave out: guest flights, the largest share of its footprint. Under EU rules in force since 27 September 2026, a neutrality claim made to European guests can no longer rest on offsets. The measured footprint and the reductions already reported, such as the solar expansion, become the stronger claim, and the one a new generation of guests can verify.

Disclosure scorecard: Soneva group

What a reader can check, by layer of the Standard

• A · Governance: Policy or plan
• B–F · Operations: Group results
• G–H · Destination: Property level
• I · Accountability: Group results

Two kinds of evidence: what a group chooses to publish, and what a hotel measures inside certification.

The scorecard reads public disclosure only. For the same layers measured inside Regenera Luxury Certification, see Asa Wright, Trinidad.

Cheval Blanc

The Disclosure Review · 04 / 04

• First Maison: 2006. Cheval Blanc Courchevel ²⁰
• Maisons: 6. The Seychelles opened in 2024
• Countries: 3. France with St-Barth, Maldives, Seychelles
• Owner: LVMH, through LVMH Hotel Management

What it already shows

• LVMH LIFE 360 programme: measurable environmental objectives for 2023, 2026 and 2030, set at Group level. Target ¹²¹³
• LVMH: a Board-level Ethics and Sustainability Committee; environmental and social targets built into staff pay. Reported ¹³
• Cheval Blanc Randheli, Maldives: 2.4 MW floating solar array runs the island on solar in daylight hours, April 2026. Reported ¹⁴¹⁵¹⁷
• Cheval Blanc Randheli: coral nursery run by resident marine biologists. Reported ¹⁶
• Cheval Blanc Paris: more than 600 French artists and craftspeople worked on the Maison. Reported

What the Standard would ask

• I. Cheval Blanc as its own boundary in LIFE 360: energy, water, carbon and local spend, Maison by Maison. Today: LVMH Group level only
• B–F. Randheli's solar reported as a share of the island's annual energy. Today: reported as daylight operation
• G–H. Craft and local employment measured each year, beyond the Paris build. Today: a single figure for one Maison
• E. The wellbeing outcomes of the spa programmes, measured with a stated method. Today: not found

Starting point. LIFE 360 sets dated objectives for 2023, 2026 and 2030; the Maisons would report against them.

Why it matters now

Three Maisons are in mainland France and sell under EU consumer law. LVMH already links environmental and social targets to pay. Reporting Cheval Blanc as its own boundary would show guests, and the Group, what each Maison adds to LIFE 360, and would give the brand's craft and its solar island figures that no competitor can borrow.

Disclosure scorecard: Cheval Blanc group

What a reader can check, by layer of the Standard

• A · Governance: Policy or plan
• B–F · Operations: Property level
• G–H · Destination: Property level
• I · Accountability: Not found

• Group results: quantified results published for the whole portfolio, with period
• Property level: certified or reported at individual hotels
• Policy or plan: framework, commitment or system in build
• Not found: not in the public sources reviewed

Classification and sources: Soneva and Cheval Blanc

Classification: FACT (group profiles and initiatives as published); INTERPRETATION and OPINION (status labels, scorecard, reading, what the Standard would ask, why it matters now). Soneva and LVMH Hotel Management have not been assessed under the Regenera Luxury Standard and did not take part in the 2026 Awards. Cheval Blanc, layer I: no brand-level report found; LVMH reports environmental data at Group level. Sources: Soneva, Communication on Progress 2021, UN Global Compact ⁹; World Sustainable Hospitality Alliance, awards case study (Soneva) ¹⁰; Soneva Namoona, six-year results, 2024 ¹¹; LVMH, 'For the environment', lvmh.com ¹²; LVMH, ESG, lvmh.com/investors/esg ¹³; Swimsol, press release, 22 April 2026 ¹⁴; pv magazine, 22 April 2026 ¹⁵; Forbes, 3 September 2021; BILLIONAIRE, 'King of the atoll' ¹⁶. Profiles: soneva.com ¹⁹; Visit Maldives, 2026 ¹⁷; lvmh.com ¹²; chevalblanc.com ²⁰. Accessed October 2026.