HotelChatter

To help us maintain our "green routines," Element--an extended stay spin-off of Westin--promises guests in-room shampoo and conditioner dispensers, low-flow sink faucets and low-gallonage toilets, and individual recycling bins.

They're going to be implementing "smart" materials including carpets with "recycled content" and low-VOC paint on the walls. Also, they're planning on launching an education program to teach guests how to be environmentally conscious (probably a pamphlet of some sort).

Yeah, we know the whole "green routine" thing is just a cutesy way to market Starwood's new efforts to implement a sustainability program, but we appreciate it nonetheless, especially since we always thought Starwood was lagging behind its competitors in terms of green practices.

But aside from launching yet another brand with a lowercase name (Aloft is the other one)*, we still have a bone to pick with Starwood over this hotel hype. For now, the first Element hotel won't open until 2008. And that's just a predicted date, who knows if one will actually open by then?

*For the record, we can't handle this penchant for lowercased hotel names so we're uppercasing them.