Senior Editor:
Juliana Shallcross
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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
If you want to trek to Machu Picchu, but sleep beforehand with a bit of style, take note of the new La Casona Inkaterra, opening this month. It's Cusco's first boutique hotel (with just 11 rooms), a renovation of a colonial manor house. Each suite overlooks either the hotel's courtyard (Patio Suites) or has views over the town of Cusco (Plaza Suites).
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Down in Costa Rica the Doubletree Cariari by Hilton San Jose has been open a few months now since its renovations, and now they're trying to drum up some extra business by jumping on the green bandwagon.
We are definitely fans of some green hotel action, but this package from Doubletree Cariari seems a bit misleading. Yes, they call it the Green Getaway package, but that's making us think of environmentally-friendly hotel features and warm fuzzy give-back-to-the-earth thoughts. In fact, the only slightly green thing about this package is it includes a day tour out to a volcano and the La Paz Waterfall Gardens. That, and the fact that Yale ranks Costa Rica as the fifth greenest country in the world, apparently.
But apart from this suspicious labeling, the deal sounds nice--you also get a buffet breakfast, access to the fitness center and WiFi in public areas, and it starts at US$199 a night all the way through 31 October. Don't expect to save the rainforest, but you'll probably have an enjoyable vacation.
Just in time for Earth Day and HotelChatter's unofficial Green Hotels Week, the The Loews Hotels at Universal Orlando Resort have become certified members of the Florida Green Lodging program.
Aside from having green ogres and monsters on hand, the Loews Hotels (Loews Portofino Bay, the Hard Rock Hotel and the Loews Royal Pacific Resort) have formed "green teams" at their hotels. These teams are staffed by employees and help implement green practices that encourages both the guests and the hotel employees to be more "environmentally responsible."
Guests in all 2,400 on-site hotel rooms now have the opportunity to recycle plastic bottles, newspapers, aluminum cans and office paper.
In addition, a hotel campus-wide energy management system, programmable thermostats and high efficiency lighting help to conserve energy in all guest rooms and in more than 130,000 square feet of meeting space.
The hotels’ Energy Star-rated appliances, low flow plumbing fixtures and a linen and terry re-use program help to conserve water and waste is reduced by recycling and purchasing items in bulk.
Way to go green Loews! Now, did you know how much we heart in-room recycling containers or was that just a coincidence?
[Photo: The Loews Hotels at Universal Orlando Resort]
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by juliana
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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