Lonely Planet called it 'the hippiest hostel in the world'', the ex-military-prison-turned-hostel Celica Hostel that's celebrating its 13th anniversary this year, just received another award - this time for successfully implementing a wide range of sustainable measures and answering with 'yes' to 150 questions on the Travelife checklist. With the prestigious international Travelife Gold award, Celica Hostel became the world's first eco-certified hostel, offering green holidays to their guests.

All Travelife certified hotels and accommodations must undertake an independent on-site audit to prove they meet our strict criteria before they receive a Travelife award. The same was true for Celica Hostel - various criteria had to be met with questions pertaining to sustainability management systems, environmental management (energy, water, solid waste, pollution, etc), labour and human rights, community integration, suppliers and guests.

"Being awarded the Gold Travelife environmental seal of approval is an important recognition for us and Ljubljana. It proves that we're successfully following the vision of sustainable operation," said hostel's director Tomaž Juvan for the local RTV Slovenija's news portal.

According to the news portal, Celica's sustainablity efforts also reflect through providing local and eco-friendly food, being among the first to join a project on green supply chains that strives to offer simple, affordable, fully organised supply of 100% local food to hotels and restaurants.