Make Your Upcoming Hotel Stay in California Meaningful—for You and the Community

As we embrace this new year and era of travel, one of your resolutions might be to enrich your journeys—making them more impactful while ensuring they benefit the places you explore.

Introducing Kind Traveler, a socially responsible hotel booking and educational platform that empowers travelers to give back as much as they receive from their destinations. Recently, they launched the first statewide regenerative travel initiative in collaboration with Visit California, featuring 58 Californian hotels—38 of which are newly listed on Kind Traveler’s platform—alongside 25 vetted impact partners. These partners are California-based charities focused on enhancing community welfare and promoting environmental sustainability.

Kind Traveler’s “Give + Get” hotel booking tool enables travelers to access exclusive deals and benefits, such as complimentary bottles of wine, late checkouts, and room upgrades, from participating Kind Hotels with a donation of $10 (or more) to a local charity that positively affects the community or any other charity of choice available on the platform. Transparency is crucial: 100 percent of donations go directly to the chosen charity, and travelers receive impact metrics with their booking, allowing them to see how their travel funds benefit the local area.

Each charity partner, from Farm to Pantry, which addresses food insecurity and waste, to UC Davis Tahoe Environmental Research Center, committed to preserving Lake Tahoe, plays a vital role in the destination’s health and future, as well as contributing to the United Nations’ Global Goals for sustainable development. New “Kind Hotels” in Palm Springs, Lake Tahoe, Los Angeles, and Sonoma County have also been added to the site.

The program introduces exciting ways to “travel kindly” across 12 California destinations, including Los Angeles, Monterey County, Santa Monica, and Oakland, partnering with charities that address food insecurity, climate action, LGBTQ+ rights, animal welfare, local wildlife, and more. Here are some highlights:

Palm Springs

A stay at Kimpton, the Rowan Palm Springs helps support Friends of the Desert Mountains, a nonprofit dedicated to preserving over 60,000 acres of Coachella Valley desert for future generations. By donating during your booking, you provide outdoor science supplies for a youth in East Coachella Valley. Experience the importance of conserving this delicate desert by joining stargazing nights with members of the Astronomical Society of the Desert or participating in a guided interpretive hike with Friends of the Desert Mountains.

Monterey County

Staying at the Sanctuary Beach Resort (or any Kind Hotel) in Monterey County benefits Rancho Cielo Youth Campus, a local nonprofit that offers resources and vocational training for underserved and primarily Latinx youth. A $10 donation covers one-third of a young person's daily educational costs, and travelers can witness their impact by visiting the student-run restaurant at Rancho Cielo during its Friday night dinner series, which prepares them for successful careers in the local hospitality sector.

Sonoma County

If you visit the Stavrand in Sonoma County, you can choose to support the local charity Farm to Pantry with a $10 donation that provides 23 servings of fresh produce for those experiencing food insecurity in the area. You can also participate in gleaning, where you collect surplus fresh food from farms and gardens to distribute to those in need, helping to reduce food waste—which contributes to 8 to 10 percent of global greenhouse gas emissions each year. Alternatively, your donation could support Charlie’s Acres Farm Sanctuary, a Kind Traveler impact partner dedicated to rescuing abused farm animals in Sonoma County. After meeting these animals—perhaps during a goat yoga session—you might feel inspired to adopt a more plant-based diet or at least become more aware of your food sources.

“Our aim is to inspire and encourage travelers not only through exclusive offers but also by providing an opportunity to support local nonprofits actively working in their travel destinations, making it easier for them to create a positive impact,” explains Jessica Blotter, CEO and cofounder of Kind Traveler (and board director for the Center for Responsible Travel, CREST).

“It fosters a triple win for the traveler, the charity, the hotel, and even the destination itself. By the time you arrive at your vacation spot, it’s often too late to make a significant impact. Positive change begins during the planning phase of your journey, long before you board your plane or get in your car.”

During a trip to Belize, Blotter and her partner and cofounder, Sean Krejci, were motivated to find a way for travelers to contribute more to the places they visit. After witnessing emaciated stray dogs on the streets, they realized that a simple gesture—buying dog food for the hungry animals—encouraged fellow travelers on their bus to follow suit. As animal rescue volunteers in Los Angeles, they recognized how even a small act of kindness could create a ripple effect and foster a sense of community among travelers.

Kind Traveler embodies the rising trend of impact-driven and regenerative travel, a movement that gained momentum during the pandemic. As of 2023, the platform has expanded to include 150 hotels across 22 countries, partnering with 150 nonprofits.

Having been an earth science teacher with a master's in education, Blotter understands the necessity of Kind Traveler serving as an educational resource. Each hotel listing on the platform provides travelers with insights on how to engage more consciously with their destinations, along with opportunities to give back beyond mere donations by participating in unique experiences and voluntourism initiatives with charities.

Discover where you can stay and make a positive difference with all of Kind Traveler’s destinations and impact partners.