http://www.hotelchatter.com/ Hotel Reviews, Hotel Ratings, Hotel Openings en-us Copyright 2008 - SFO Media 2009-11-24T16:08:09Z HotelChatter HotelChatter http://www.hotelchatter.com/images/hcwhite.jpg http://www.hotelchatter.com/tag/green%20hotels http://www.hotelchatter.com/story/2009/11/20/9525/6167 <![CDATA[<p><img src="http://www.hotelchatter.com/files/1425/algore30rock.jpg" class="top"><p> If you watched "30 Rock" last night then you may have seen former Vice President <b>Al Gore</b> make a confusing cameo as an eco-concerned janitor for Rockefeller Center (above.) But if you were dining at <b>Tulio Ristorante</b> inside the <a href="http://www.hotelchatter.com/hotel-reviews/Hotel+Vintage+Park+-+A+Kimpton+Hotel/ian/130132"><b>Hotel Vintage Park</b></a> in Seattle the other night, then you would have seen Al Gore live, in person.<p> The veep was in town for a town hall meeting to promote his new book, <i>Our Choice: A Plan to Solve the Climate Crisis</i>. He stopped in at Tulio which serves authentic Italian cuisine, for some halibut washed down with cabernet. According to the hotel peeps, he was very gracious to the staff and shook everyone's hand who came juliana 2009-11-20T10:05:47-05:00 http://www.hotelchatter.com/story/2009/11/2/03447/6530 <![CDATA[<p><embed src="http://c.brightcove.com/services/viewer/federated_f8/1321361467" bgcolor="#FFFFFF" flashVars="videoId=47696643001&playerId=1321361467&viewerSecureGatewayURL=https://console.brightcove.com/services/amfgateway&servicesURL=http://services.brightcove.com/services&cdnURL=http://admin.brightcove.com&domain=embed&autoStart=false&" base="http://admin.brightcove.com" name="flashObj" width="486" height="412" seamlesstabbing="false" type="application/x-shockwave-flash" swLiveConnect="true" pluginspage="http://www.macromedia.com/shockwave/download/index.cgi?P1_Prod_Version=ShockwaveFlash"></embed><p>Last week, we had the good fortune to spend a glorious fall day amongst the sun-warmed vines and valleys of Napa. Between wine-tasting rendezvous, we managed to invoke the tiniest bit of professionalism and took a tour of <a href="http://www.hotelchatter.com/tag/MTM%20Luxury%20Lodging">MTM Luxury Lodging&#146;s</a> new <b><a href="http://www.hotelchatter.com/hotel-reviews/The+Bardessono/local/1499">Bardessono Hotel</a></b> in Yountville, which aims to be the greenest hotel in America. By the looks of it, they&#146;re well on their way, but judge for yourself based on our video tour of one of their rooms. <p> Besides conventional eco-resort initiatives like LEED certification, controls that turn off the electrical systems when guests leave a room, and an organic garden that provides produce for EricRosen 2009-11-03T09:34:21-05:00 http://www.hotelchatter.com/story/2009/11/2/13016/0539 <![CDATA[<img src="http://www.hotelchatter.com/files/32083/fairmontsanfrancisco1.jpg" class="top"><p> <p>Luxury is synonymous with excess, which in the car world usually suggests the use of high smog-emitting vehicles. Bigger is not always better for Mother Earth, with all that carbon monoxide contributing to her degradation. <p>A depressing reality, to be sure, but with environmental awareness being so very haute these days, tastemakers and luxury providers are striving to make the good life the green life, too. It's no coincidence that you hear blatant plugs for hybrid cars as stars arrive on the Oscars red carpet, you know. Plush comforts and planet-friendly alternatives can coexist, as LuxuryLink, Lexus, and <a href="http://www.hotelchatter.com/hotel-reviews/The+Fairmont+San+Francisco/local/8"><b>The Fairmont San Francisco</b></a> and <a href="http://www.hotelchatter.com/hotel-reviews/The+Fairmont+Washington+D.C./ian/126091"><b>Washington DC</b></a> are attempting to prove with special <b>Eco-Chic packages</b>. <p>Included in Heidi Atwal 2009-11-02T15:51:27-05:00 http://www.hotelchatter.com/story/2009/10/28/14331/356 <![CDATA[<img src="http://www.hotelchatter.com/files/32083/hiltonmidtown.jpg" class="top"><p> <p>Swarming with smog, exhaust, and buzzing with the din of taxis in neutral, New York's Avenue of the Americas is hardly a location we think of as being environmentally-considerate. A work in progress, maybe, with a little cheerleading needed to nudge it in the right direction. <p><b>The "Green Street" Award</b> was established by the Avenue of the Americas Association to inspire the thoroughfare's tenants to think eco and find new ways to close the loop. This year, the <a href="http://www.hotelchatter.com/hotel-reviews/Hilton+New+York/local/299"><b>Hilton New York</b></a> was honored, and not just because it hosted the ceremony in its Trianon Ballroom last week. <p>Innovative eco-hotels are normally found bourgeois bohemian neighborhoods like the West Village or SoHo, so when we caught wind Heidi Atwal 2009-10-28T15:54:18-05:00 40.7625480 -73.978801 http://www.hotelchatter.com/story/2009/10/27/112925/09 <![CDATA[<img src="http://www.hotelchatter.com/files/32083/sustainable.jpg" class="top"><p> <p><i>A mock-up of the winning design</i> <p>Be honest; when you hear the phrase "environmentally friendly," the sensation of scratchy hemp rubbing against your skin and the cloying smell of patchouli come to mind. Before we were familiar with the versatility of a green lifestyle, we thought the same thing. Hotels like Portland's <a href="http://www.hotelchatter.com/hotel-reviews/The+Nines/local/1224">The Nines</a> have taught us otherwise, though, and once you get into the finer points of sustainable design, it's clear that luxury need not be pushed to the back burner. <p>All of the not-so-small environmental efforts that hotels are making these days&#151;recycling, installing low energy bulbs, et cetera&#151;are done with the hope that we'll live a brighter future. So it's only natural that eco-hospitality Heidi Atwal 2009-10-27T13:02:22-05:00 Search HotelChatter string http://www.hotelchatter.com/search/