Senior Editor:
Juliana Shallcross
Full Masthead
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We know those Scandinavians are a pretty innovative bunch, so it's not surprising that the claim to have the world's first 100% carbon neutral hotel chain comes out of Denmark. The chain is small, though, which makes it easier--just four hotels under the Brochner Hotel brand, including Ibsens Hotel, Hotel Kong Arthur and Hotel Danmark, all in Copenhagen.
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by amandak
April 22nd is Earth Day so all this week we will be bringing you the latest news on Green Hotels. Got some eco-friendly news you wanna share? Let us know.
In the spirit of wishing everyone a happy Earth Day, here's a hotel that is definitely trying to do the right thing by the earth.
The partly-opened Boca de Iguanas Beach eco-resort in Mexico is doing its bit by appointing a Sustainability Manager to make sure the environment comes first.
Their Sustainability Manager, Lorena Vargas, comes from a line of organic farmers and then studied environmental biotechnology; good qualifications to keep this eco-resort truly eco. One of the neat things she's in charge of is the herb gardens that use heirloom seedlings (that means unmodified, "pure" strains of herbs, traced back over 150 years).
When the resort restaurant gets fully up and running these herbs should make a real difference to plenty of meals. Beyond that, the eco treatment gets into things like solar energy, gray water recycling and green on site sewage treatment.
The Boca de Iguanas hotel is offering a Romance package at the moment--three nights for $720. If you're not wanting romance, but just a green break, then now might be a good time to go. As they're still doing construction work to finish off the entire development, they're offering 40% off rack rates.
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April 22nd is Earth Day so all this week we will be bringing you the latest news on Green Hotels. Got some eco-friendly news you wanna share? Let us know.
Starwood's newest upscale business travel hotel brand, Element Hotels, are going green.
Starwood has required that all Element hotels pursue the U.S. Green Building Council's (USGBC) LEED certification requirements. Already, Starwood has used the first Element property in Lexington, Mass. as the guinea pig for green building of the brand. Such eco-friendly practices include:
energy efficient stainless steel appliances and lighting, water-efficient faucets and fixtures and bins for paper, plastic and glass which make recycling easy. Filtered water in guest rooms and amenity dispensers in the showers reduce plastic bottle waste.
In addition, ELEMENT hotels use low VOC (Volatile Organic Compound) paints and carpets with up to 100% recycled content and anti-microbial carpet pads which improve indoor air quality for guests and staff. Guests driving hybrid cars are rewarded with priority parking.
Even the ubiquitous "Do Not Disturb" sign gets a green makeover, replacing the traditional paper tag with the environmentally-friendly magnet.
But Element says you won't have to sacrifice the pleasure of hotel comforts. The Element hotels will still feature Westin's Heavenly Bed, spa-like bathrooms with oversize showers and rain showerheads (which are water efficient of course), a state-of-the-art fitness center, complimentary breakfast and organic pantry options, and complimentary bikes for guests.
The Lexington property should open in July 2008 with locations in the Las Vegas, Houston and Baltimore suburbs to follow.
The UK Times are spending the next few months gathering nominations from the public for their Green Spaces Travel awards: that is, the most environmentally friendly places to stay that have helped to change your attitude to be more green.
One of the first nominations to come in is for the Eco-Lodge in Old Leake, Lincolnshire. We've long been amazed by this place and its founder Andy Reynolds, who's come up with all kinds of creative solutions to keep the lodge as environmentally sound as possible, and who's not afraid to try to teach the rest of us a thing or two, at the same time.
As the nominating guest said, the Eco-Lodge is not the kind of place where they think they're green just because they suggest you shouldn't get your towels washed every day. Instead, you use homemade charcoal to cook homegrown veges and local organic meat. A shed full of old forklift batteries have been converted to store energy generated by a rusty old windmill Andy resurrected from scrap.
Eco-Lodge doesn't sound like the most comfortable place to stay, but it has to win some prize as one of the greenest. We'll be following the Times to see if a few more comfortable yet nearly-as-green places get nominated for the Green Spaces Travel awards.
[Photo: Windsors Child]
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April 22, 2008 is Earth Day and while we believe you should live everyday eco-consciously, this is a good day to take stock of your carbon footprints when you travel. When it comes to hotels here's what's going down:
· The JW Marriott in Desert Springs, Calif. (above) has teamed up with the city of Palm Desert to offer an Earth Day Travel Package. For $399 a night, guests will receive standard guest room accommodations, two 50-minute organic date scrub spa treatments, use of spa/fitness facilities, breakfast buffet for two at the resort’s Lake View restaurant (including an organic honey tasting) and a free admission to Palm Desert’s Living Desert (in exchange for turning in a used cell phone).
The resort has a whole bunch of environmentally-friendly initiatives like electric-powered golf carts, a 50-million gallon lake that uses reclaimed water and is home to migrating birds, and green housekeeping cleaning products. Even better, ten percent of the proceeds from the package will be donated to the Living Desert Organization.
· National Geographic's Intelligent Travel blog went inside the new Proximity Hotel in North Carolina which is striving for a LEED Platinum status. We hope that reporter is driving a hybrid!
· Search for some green hotels on HotelChatter's Green Hotels map.
· Smarter Travel compiled some tips on how to find truly green hotels.
· Marriott Hotels continues their green push with a $2 million rainforest pledge.
· Abroad, the Hotel Chateau Mcely got recognized as the first five-star hotel to receive the EU-Eco Label award for environmental friendliness.
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by juliana
We said they'd be opening in December, and they actually got there. On top of that, the whole concept of the URBN Hotel Shanghai is so unique that we really want to stay there. It's the first of a planned chain of carbon-neutral hotels in China and, the owners hope, the start of a new pro-environment trend in China.
The URBN Shanghai was built in an eco-friendly way by including both salvaged bricks and tiles from buildings that were being demolished, and by buying additional materials only sourced from local manufacturers. Other green factors include natural shading from living bamboo, and fluorescent lights which have been made ambient by housing them in lanterns--the result of six weeks' research.
Now that the hotel is up and running, any energy used--and that even includes the commuting done by staff--will be calculated and neutralized through buying carbon credits. Naturally, some of this will be built in to the price you're paying for a room, and with rates starting around 2000CNY (US$280), it's not a cheap place to stay, but it's a green one.
[Photo: URBN]
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As part of their big pledge for environmental purity by 2025, the European Scandic Hotels chain has just announced they're going to help the environment even more by stopping their use of bottled water.
In the future, if you want a drink of water in a Scandic Hotel, you'll be able to quench your thirst using tap water that will be chilled and filtered as it comes through the faucet. Scandic says their filtering process will leave in the good minerals and take out any nasty chemicals, and you'll be able to choose from still or carbonated.
The move will save about 160 tons in carbon emissions a year, both by saving in the use of plastic bottles and through the transport costs usually needed to get the bottles to all the hotels. Those Scandinavians seem to have a heap of good ideas about being green, so we'll keep following Scandic on their quest for "environmental purity".
[Photo: Felix Idan]
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If you saw the Oscar winning film Sideways you might remember the fun loving Miles asking his more soul-searching Jack, "Can't we just... go back...and hang out?" Well, Jack would have said "yes" if they were staying at the comfortably cool Solage Calistoga resort and spa, a new diamond in the Northern Cal-i-forn-i-a rough.
After checking your bags and the locations of the local wineries, you'll discover just how green your Napa Valley experience will be. The charm of the resort and spa is obvious from the get-go, with a choice of 89 cottage-like rooms in five different layouts, from studios to spacious suites.
After a day of wine-tasting you can come back to contemplate the universe on your semi-private patio under the stars. [Ed. Note: Or do what we would probably do--keep drinking.]
Before you're ready to hit the lights, enjoy the flat screen TV, high speed WiFi access, DVD/CD player or the IPod docking station. The next day, wake up and get yourself a private cabana by the pool and just chill. There's also a spa on-site which includes a mud-bar and bathhouse, a fitness center, the Solbar restaurant and Bocce courts. And the place takes pets too.
At the hotel's website the online rates range from $350 to $800 per night, and a number of all-inclusive packages with added luxe value for one or more nights also are available. Also, the hotel has a pair of bikes for you to tool around in. Eco-friendly and fun.
[Photo: Neeta Lind]
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