Having visited the wondrous Shangri-La Rasa Ria resort in Kota Kinabalu to experience their Rasa Ria Reset experience with LUSH Malaysia, we took the opportunity to speak to general manager of the Shangri-La Rasa Ria, Fiona Hagan on Chiming in was Harvinder Harchand, director of LUSH Malaysia on how their collaboration is doing more than just providing a relaxing escape from the city. On our trip we got to experience a beach clean-up that was arranged by LUSH to experience first hand the damage of plastic on the environment and to better understand what we can do more of to better take care of our environment. 

As this is isn’t the first time Lush has collaborated with Shangri-La, with a previous collaboration with Shangri-La Rasa Sayang in Penang—we went to know how this pairing came to be?

HH: Well, the most important thing is the values we share together—we want to affiliate with companies, association, any resorts that align with our values. And we are very proud to say that Rasa Ria share those details—no plastic in the rooms, how the maintain their buildings is all very green.

So I would say it started with the values and also their community and their going green initiatives in this resort—basically their total mission and vision of the resort itself. So that really resonated well with our brand and that’s the main thing that we see before we engage in anything.

FH: I think our shared values is the cornerstone of  the partnership, but I think also secondly for us, we had been looking for a partner specifically for our ocean wing to help us activate our bathtubs on the balcony. We’ve got these beautiful bathtubs on the balcony and we wanted something that was environmentally friendly to compliment them.

I’ve been searching for something that we could empower our guests to really have this experience in the bathtub and to interact with any way that they felt fit, whether it was family or couples or girlfriends or whatever. And I wanted to really put that into the arms of the guests so the guests could create that experience themselves. But to do it with a partner that shared the same values as us was actually cornerstone to me.

So, what values do Lush and Shangri-La share? 

HH: It would definitely be sustainability. When we are talking about sustainability, it is something that you do, It becomes perennial—not like something you would start off and then just forget about it. Even when it comes to plastics—its too much till we can’t even count. We want to ensure that every step we take, it’s going to be moving forward. There’s no three steps forward and move one backwards. So I would really go for sustainability.

And what are some of sustainability movements happening at the Shangri-La Rasa Ria? 

FH: We have a bottling plant right on the resort, so we bottled our own water. Another thing is the careful curation of our bathroom amenities. People check into a luxury hotel and they expect to have a luxury amenities. So we have different pilot projects working with local Borneo based brands, with products made and packaged here. So it has a really lovely story and its great for the community.

We also put a lot of emphasis on education. The education about our environment and how people can help really underpins what we do. Inside the hotel we have 600 staff inside the hotel—so that’s a large number. So, if we can empower each of our colleagues to make better choices, they take those choices back into their communities. And that’s how we instill change. We talk a lot about that through education.

This not being the first beach clean up for either of you, how has the experience been to witness all that plastic and has the state of the beach gotten better since then? 

HH: I think every beach has got its own resources of garbage. And seriously, I think the single use plastic is something everyone really needs to look into. To combat this at LUSH, we’ve introduced the Bring It Back scheme that rewards our customers every time they bring back a black pot to our stores. Hopefully this would encourage people from not putting our garbage into the bigger garbage, right? Each beach we’ve been to tends to have different kinds of plastic on the beach and it depends on the environment surrounding it, but there is still plastic nonetheless.

A beach cleanup can be seen as more of a temporary solution—what are some more long-term solutions to accumulated plastic at beaches? 

HH: It starts at home—we really limit on single use plastic and if we do use plastic, we make sure to recycle it accordingly. We are also proud to say that our trash is only cleaned probably once a week. That means we’ve reduced the amount of rubbish in our office.

But I think today in our country, in need to start from schools. Lush has gone to a few schools and we explain to them on each and every plastic and what does each label mean. There’s only so much that we can do, but this needs to be routed from school because if it’s not then it becomes a little bit difficult to change the mindset regarding plastics.

The volunteers and staff at today’s beach clean up did an immense job, but I couldn’t help but notice that there was still a lot more to be collected. What else could Shangri-La possibly do to educate the community here?

FH: We need to play a very careful role in this balance with cultural things as well. Post covid, the whole landscape changed and how people used the beach changes too. So what we do is we really actively work with the local district office, the local schools, but more importantly, we work with our staff. A lot of the people this morning that you saw from our team live within the local area—so they become our influences. We will work with the head of the community to bring their locals and they bring their children here. And we will do this about four times a year in a big way to teach and encourage better and more earth friendly practices.

Going back to the Rasa Ria package with LUSH, how did you guys plan out what would be offered in this special offer? 

FH: With Lush, particularly this Rasa Ria Reset package that we put together, we wanted to focus not only on the Lush partnership, but on the wellness aspect too. We’ve created an opportunity for guest to come and take a step back, sit back, enjoy, engage with the resort, engage with your room, get out into your bathtub on your balcony, have this beautiful bubble bath and more. Our team created a book that will be waiting in your room and we encourage you to write down and start a journal, draw pictures, write a to-do list, enjoy some good food, enjoy SUP yoga or even do a beautiful sunrise walk. We’re definitely not your typical resort and we didn’t want to do a cookie cutter approach to wellness, and that’s why we felt Lush was the right partner to work with, because it’s all very personal. It’s about sense, it’s about your experience. And that’s, I guess, our wellness experience here. We didn’t want to just include spa and technology—but to allow people to really immerse and to enjoy and to treat it in a personal way. And that’s really where the idea came from, actually. It started with Lush.

Finally, with travel restrictions almost non-existent now, how would you recommend to make your journey and travel more sustainable and planet-friendly? 

HH: The easiest thing to consider is the towels—try to use them more than once and not have them washed after each single use. Number two would be to be more mindful of electricity: making sure to turn off the tv and AC when you leave the room!

FH: I think the other thing I would really encourage people to think about is to go local and to really be thoughtful about where you shop, where you eat, and where you spend your money. And that’s been a big focus for us in Rasa Ria, particularly in our shop. And I think I am particularly always very careful with what I buy when I travel. I want to make sure it’s not manufactured from different sources. And then actually, what I’m purchasing is authentic, and it’s going back into the local community, and it’s making a difference.

Whether you’re a family of four or a couple looking for a quick escape, the Ria Reset is an inclusive wellness program that has been carefully curated to treat the mind and body. Only available for a limited time, the Ria Reset with LUSH will be available to book from now to October 21 and for stays until 20 December 2022.