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Hotels Keep Gettting Greener: The Westin Riverfront Takes the LEED

Where: 26 Riverfront Ln [map], Avon, CO, United States, 81620

Green hotel news has been taking the LEED (sorry, we couldn't resist the pun) on HotelChatter lately, but don't tab this eco-friendly movement as a passing trend. Most hotels are jumping on the bandwagon by, at the very least, introducing organic linens and natural bathroom amenities into suites. But more ambitious, environmentally-aware hoteliers and conglomerates are enacting full-scale green overhauls. From stem to stern, or penthouse to lobby, rather, we're seeing more hotels take the necessary steps toward meeting critical green standards.

Colorado's Westin Riverfront Resort & Spa, a hotel nestled among nature's mountains and trees, recently announced that they've earned Silver LEED (Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design) certification, making them one of only nine hotels in the country to carry the title.

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Wanna Know How Green Your Hotel Is? Ask to See Its LEED Plaque

Hotels love to talk about green their properties are--from electric car charging stations to non-toxic cleaning products, in-room recycling bins, water saving practices and low energy appliances and lighting. These are all commendable and we hope that more and more hotels introduce green services, practices and amenities in the future.

But still the reigning status symbol of a truly green hotel is the coveted LEED Status. LEED stands for Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design and was developed by the U.S. Green Building Council to rate "environmentally sound building practices" ranging from materials used to construct the building to water efficiency and sustainability. Ratings are point-based and range from certified to silver, gold and platinum.

While many hotels are pursuing LEED certification, only a handful actually are. So how do you know your hotel is telling the truth about its LEED status? By asking to see their LEED plaque like this one hanging at the Courtyard by Marriot Portland City Center hotel in Oregon which just recently received LEED gold status.

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Green is the New Black at the Newly LEED-Certified Nines Hotel

Where: 525 SW Morrison [map], Portland, OR, United States, 97204

If there's one thing Portland is known for, it's being green—literally, of course, with all of those lush Weeping Sequoias dotting its landscape, but also in the environmental sense. Long before Al Gore's An Inconvenient Truth made being eco-friendly chic, Portland was a city leading the green revolution, and its building practices have been a part of this wave.

Take The Nines hotel, for instance, which we raved about after paying it a visit upon its opening last fall. In addition to personal notes from maid service and free WiFi, we can add yet another point in its favor: The Nines recently earned LEED Silver certification from the U.S. Green Building Council.

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