Inspire people to connect with nature through meaningful experiences. Have a positive impact on the environment. Care about the people we work with.
We only accept around 20% of places that apply to us because quality, authenticity, creativity and a connection to nature are important to us when choosing places. From roll-top baths and roaring ranges to wild swimming, firepits and hammocks with stunning views, you know that all our places give you a genuinely meaningful experience.
We spend time in every place on Canopy & Stars before we decide whether or not to welcome them into the collection. If you see it on our site, you can be sure that we’ve been there and checked it’s truly special. We’ve met the owners, experienced what they’re providing and thought about who it would be perfect for. It’s a big part of why our our Guest Experience Team consistently earns one of the highest customer service in scores in travel. They find out what you need, take all the knowledge from our inspections and experience, and find you somewhere perfect.
Our Charitable Trust
In 2018, we set up the Sawday Trust, that now owns 24% of the company. It donates its share of profits to organisations which are generating a sense of urgency around the accelerating climate crisis.
In 2010, we launched Canopy & Stars in an old farmhouse, with seven spaces and a team that could get round a few small desks, if we kept our elbows in.
As we grew, we discovered that there were a lot of amazing people out there building beautiful, inventive, often downright crazy places to stay and that more and more people were feeling the need to reconnect with nature. Nearly 200,000 Guests (and a staggering 9,000 dogs) have now used our collection to get outdoors.
We believe in making travel as low impact as possible. By working with Owners who build and live sustainably, and encouraging people to appreciate the natural world, we can be a part of preserving our environment. This focus has never been stronger, and in 2018 we established a Charitable Trust to support environmental causes and became Employee Owned to ensure our values are never compromised.
In 2018 we entered into a unique version of Employee Ownership, in which the company was divided between the employees (52%), a Charitable Trust (24%) and the Sawday family (24%). The advantages of people having a stake and a say in where they work are well documented and we’ve already seen the effects on our company culture and performance. The Employee Ownership Council has seen us all involved in decisions about everything from dividends to our environmental impact strategy. We were recently nominated for Best Newcomer Award by the Employee Ownership Association, which was a great start to this exciting new era for the company.