Green travel ideas from two environmentally conscious travelers

The Haptik Suite by design firms IDEO and WATG, which won the USGBC’s Sustainable Suite Design competition, was showcased at the HD Expo in Vegas.

A look at the suite shows that pushing green choices doesn’t necessarily have to involve sending guests on a guilt trip. It can also be done with subtle suggestions, by wrapping the green elements within trendiness and luxury.

The Haptik Suite features a floor-to-ceiling view of the exterior with a sliding-glass door. The glass shower is situated next to the window and facing the bed.

This plays to the exhibitionist tendencies that hip hotels are promoting as the latest cool with see-through glass showers and rooms with full glass views looking in and out.

The green element is smartly hidden inside this trendiness, with a glass trombe wall between the shower and the glass exterior that captures solar heat to provide warm water for the shower. Greywater is recycled and used to irrigate an outdoor herb garden.

Unlike the usual hotel suggestion cards which beseech guests to save the earth by being green, the Haptik Suite uses humor. A message on the mirror above the sink says “You look marvelous. Our energy efficient LED lighting brings out your inner beauty.”

Lights are automatically turned off with an ‘all-off’ switch based on passive infrared sensors.

Bottomline - A hotel room shouldn’t cost more just because its green. It should be just as trendy and luxurious as any other hotel room, and the green aspects need to be discretely tucked into the design.

Photo - WATG

Last month, the San Francisco board of supervisors passed a non-binding resolution calling for individuals and businesses to go meatless on Mondays.

San Francisco being an ultra-progressive stronghold, it was assumed that Meatless Mondays would soon become an accepted norm in restaurants.

Not so fast, say the most prominent green hotels in San Francisco.

Chefs for the LEED certified Orchard Garden Hotel and its elder sister the Orchard Hotel say they’ll offer meatless dishes on Mondays, but stopped well short of an outright ban on the use of meat.

Jim Bruels, business manager for both hotels, tells Hotel Interactive that he thinks its a good promotional idea for green hotels, but won’t necessarily work everywhere. He too refuses to go on record agreeing to a ban on Monday meat.

Would this impact your choice if you’re looking for an eco-friendly hotel, or if you have to have your meat, monday or not? From the initial response, it looks like the hotels are right to keep their options open.

A Colorado banker and an Illinois financial advisor are among those who wrote to the SF Board, telling them that they would no longer be coming to stay in San Francisco for business meetings and conventions.

Others wrote in to protest intrusions of civil liberty and concerns over ignorance of proper vegetarian diets. Whatever the reason, it seems the San Francisco Board of Supervisors has bitten off more meat than it can abstain from.

It’s slightly ironic that every hotelier somehow manages to unearth green practices to boast about in a press release when Earth Day comes along.

Ironic because its an acknowledgment of the growing importance for a hotel to be seen as being green, while hotel owner surveys show that being green does not directly translate into more profits or occupancy. 

Faced with these contradictory trends, many hotels take the easy way out - Greenwashing.

It’s already difficult to keep track of the growing number of green certifications for hotels - there’s LEED, Green Seal, Green Globe, Energy Star, STEP, Audubon Green Leaf, and many more state-level certification programs. Even uncertified hotels claim to be green by putting up a solar panel, recycling waste, etc.

Its getting extraordinarily difficult for consumers to separate the green from the  greenwashed. This is where TripAdvisor steps in - with guest reviews adding weight to a hotel’s claims of being green, or disproving it.

Here’s a couple of reviews of LEED certified hotels which TripAdvisor spotlighted and sent out in an email newsletter to show how TA reviews can be used to verify if a hotel is green enough.

1. element Lexington in Lexington, MA - “Great Service. Green Hotel. Plan to Visit again.” - Read full review

2. Proximity Hotel in Greensboro, NC - “The Proximity is known for its eco-friendliness, but it would be an outstanding hotel even if that weren’t the case.” - Read full review

With the sheer quantity of reviews they have, TA could easily wade deeper into this debate and list green hotels for every destination, based on their own reviews.

Could this be the solution to the greenwashing problem, or would it simply add one more standard to keep track of when looking for and booking a green hotel?

Photo by fotdmike

There are self-proclaimed green hotels. There are certified green hotels. There are LEED certified green hotels. And then there’s Napa Valley’s Bardessono, in a league of its own.

What makes the Bardessono Inn and Spa in Yountville, CA so special? That would be because of the:-

• 14,000 sq. ft of 200 kilowatt solar photo voltaic systems on rooftops
• Eighty two 300 foot wells beneath the Bardessono as part of a geothermal system for heating & cooling rooms and preheating of domestic hot water
• Automated external venetian blinds on windows and occupancy sensors to turn off lights
• LED and fluorescent light fixtures
• Low water use fixtures, dual flush toilets, drip irrigation, drought resistant plants
• The Town of Yountville recycles grey and black waters and sells it for irrigation use.
• Recycled wood furnishings with eco-friendly fabrics
• Redwood ceilings from old wine tanks
• Glues, adhesives, paints, and wall coverings with low VOC
• Concrete with a high potash (recycled product) content
• Glass Tiles with a high recycled content
• Steel with a high recycled content
• Organic linens and terry
• Organic cleaning products
• Spa & Restaurant food use organic and local
• Recycled Uniforms
• Drinking water, filtered on site
• Vegetable waste composted for use in the gardens
• Laundry done with limited hot water and non-detergent cleaners
• Recycling throughout the hotel
• Recycled paper products
• Electric and bio-diesel vehicles for hotel use

Photos courtesy Studio 707

To learn more about the 62-room Bardessono Inn, spa and restaurant, visit www.bardessono.com/  

Don’t let any mental pictures of LA’s summer smog cloud your thinking about the city’s commitment to environmentally friendly hotel options. In fact, LA is making many good green choices, and the eco-friendly Hotel Palomar is only one example. The Palomar has a program in place called EarthCare which puts to use over 40 eco-friendly practices in and around the hotel. For example, their website lists:

*  In-room recycling bins
* Energy efficient lighting
* Water efficient fixtures
* Toiletries made from natural ingredients by earth-friendly manufacturers
* Organic food and beverage options in our mini bars
* The restaurant adjacent to our hotel follows the Monterey Bay Seafood Watch’s sustainable seafood guidelines
* We are a 100% non-smoking hotel

I found it particularly interesting that this hotel works with an environmentally friendly restaurant - overfishing our oceans is a large problem, and it’s inspiring to see a hotel and a restaurant working together on this front.

These efforts resulted in the hotel being awarded the Governor’s Environmental and Economic Leadership award by the California Environmental Protection Agency.

The hotel itself is beautiful and classy - don’t neglect to check out the artwork before you leave; it provides an interesting reflection on the area’s Hollywood scene.

Photo: Todd Jones Photography

As re-reported by Bnet.com, Oklahoma has unveiled a series - seven, to be exact - of sustainable travel programs designed to meet the growing needs of consumers interested in sustainable and eco-friendly lodging and travel options. I found this article to be interesting on a number of fronts, including this statistic:

“…U.S. Travel Association research shows that 51 percent of consumers would continue to patronize sustainable travel service suppliers regardless of an economic downturn, and 48 percent said continued support of sustainable travel is a necessity.”

51% is an astonishingly high number to me, and it’s encouraging.

The article highlights the potential partnership between Oklahoma’s Colcord Hotel and Clean the World,   non-profit which provides third-world countries with “gently used” hygiene products like soap and shampoo from hotels around the world.

It appears as though a major push to increase recycling will be the first component of these sustainable travel programs. This is a good first step, and it will be interesting to see what the next steps will be. We’ll have to wait for feedback from the programs to determine how these efforts are being received and what new efforts will be made in the future.

Photo: Serge Melki

Key West, Florida is a green town - literally. There are ten green properties, including the LEED certified Weather Forecast Office. Four of these properties have complete something known as the iStayGreen audit. According to this audit, the Doubletree Grand Key Resort in Key West is well on its way to LEED certification - it qualified for the 3 Green Leaf Eco Rating (out of 5 leaves).

In order to qualify for this rating, the resort had to prove that it complied with over 70 eco-initiatives, and the more of these initiatives are met, the more “leaves” the hotel is awarded.

Here’s a short list of some of the efforts this hotel is making to make the property more environmentally friendly:

- Guest rooms air conditioning units automatically turn off when doors are open

-  Shower heads conform to most updated low-flow guidelines

-  Fluorescent lighting is used throughout the property

-  Pool furniture is made out of recyclable materials

- Complimentary shuttle service to multiple locations reduces the number of cars which are used on the island

And more!

Photo: Milan.boer

The New York State Department of Environmental Conservation has launched a ‘Green Certification’ program for hotels and lodging establishments.

Green credentials will be certified by the Audubon GreenLeaf program. Based on environmental performance, a hotel could be assigned one to five green leaves.

The certification program is part of a larger initiative to support and market sustainable tourism in New York.

The New York State Green Hospitality and Tourism Partnership - a combination of state agencies, business associations, and academia - worked together to initiate the certification program.

Earlier this year, the partnership helped launch the Green Restaurant Certification process.

Forty-three hotels and inns — spread all over the Empire State - have already signed on for the ‘Green Hospitality’ certification process.

Here’s the full list of the 43 initial applicants:-

Long Island
1. Gurney’s Inn Resort & Spa - Montauk
2. The Stiring House Bed and Breakfast - Greenport

New York City
1. Grand Hyatt - NY
2. The Beekman Tower Hotel - NY
3. Westin - NY

Hudson Valley
1. Bear Mountain Inn - Bear Mountain
2. Fox Hill Bed and Breakfast - Highland
3. Mohonk Mountain House - New Paltz
4. Ritz-Carlton Westchester - Westchester
5. Tarrytown House Estate and Conference Center - Tarrytown
6. The Rhinecliff - Rhinecliff

Capital Region, Catskills, Leatherstocking
1. 74 State - Albany
2. Crowne Plaze - Albany
3. Glens Falls House - Round Top
4. The Fairlawn Inn - Hunter
5. Amsterdam Castle - Amsterdam
6. The Otesaga Resort Hotel - Cooperstown

Adirondacks
1. Elk Lake Lodge - North Hudson
2. Holiday Inn - Plattsburgh
3. Shaheen’s Motel - Tuper Lake
4. Silver Bay YMCA of the Adirondacks - Silver Bay
5. Sleep Inn & Suites - Queensbury
6. The Glen Lodge Bed & Breakfast - Warrensburg
7. Gideon Putnam Resort - Saratoga Springs
8. Hyatt Place Saratoga/Malta - Malta
9. Saratoga Farmstead Bed & Breakfast - Saratoga Springs

1000 Islands, Mohawk Valley
1. Holiday Inn - New Hartford
2. Best Western Carriage House Inn - Watertown
3. Capt. Thomson’s Resort - Alexandria Bay
4. White Pillars Lodging - Canton

Central
1. Berry Hill Gardens Bed & Breakfast - Bainbridge
2. Aurora Inn & E.B. Morgan House - Aurora
3. Bed & Breafast Wellington - Syracuse
4. La Tourelle Resort & Spa - Ithaca
5. Sheraton Syracuse University Hotel & Conf. Ctr - Syracuse
6. Turtle Dreams - Groton

Finger Lakes, Rochester
1. Bristol Harbour Resort - Canandaigua
2. RIT Inn & Conf. Ctr - Rochester
3. Radisson Hotel - Corning

Western
1. Adam’s Mark Hotel - Buffalo
2. Asa Ransom House - Clarence
3. Days Inn Batavia - Batavia
4. Super 8 Batavia - Batavia

The Golden Arrow Lakeside Resort in Lake Placid, NY is the only one which has already has been certified green by Audubon, with a rating of 4 leaves.

For more information about the certification process, visit the DEC and Audubon.

Photo by laverrue

The U.S. Green Building Council says that as of now, there were 888 applications from hotels and resorts awaiting LEED certification. And 697 of these applicants are from the U.S.

It’s soon going to be difficult for travelers to keep track or remember which hotel has been certified green by the USGBC. So here’s the deal - On this page, we’ll maintain a master-list of all LEED certified hotels & resorts in the U.S., categorized by state.

List will be updated once every month. Last update - September 19, 2009.

Index:- Jump to… Alabama Alaska Arizona Arkansas California Colorado Connecticut Delaware Florida Georgia Hawaii Idaho Illinois Indiana Iowa Kansas Kentucky Louisiana Maine Maryland Massachusetts Michigan Minnesota Mississippi Missouri Montana Nebraska Nevada New Hampshire New Jersey New Mexico New York North Carolina North Dakota Ohio Oklahoma Oregon Pennsylvania Rhode Island South Carolina South Dakota Tennessee Texas Utah Vermont Virginia Washington West Virginia Wisconsin Wyoming

Index –> California:-

Gaia Napa Valley - American Canyon, CA
The Ambrose - Santa Monica, CA
Hotel Carlton - San Francisco, CA
Orchard Garden Hotel - San Francisco, CA
Orchard Hotel - San Francisco, CA
Hotel Indigo - San Diego, CA
Montage Beverly Hills - Beverly Hills, CA

Index –>Florida:-

Sandpearl Resort - Clearwater Beach, FL

Index –> Georgia:-

The Lodge and Spa at Callaway Gardens - Pine Mountain, GA
Hotel Indigo Athens University Area - Athens, GA

Index –> Illinois:-

Hotel Arista - Naperville, IL
Holiday Inn Chicago Mart Plaza - Chicago, IL

Index –> Massachusetts:-

Element Lexington - Lexington, MA

Index –> Maryland:-

University of Maryland Inn & Conference - Adelphi, MD

Index –> Michigan:-

CityFlats Hotel - Holland, MI  

Index –> Missouri:->

Unity Village Hotel & Conference Center - Kansas City, MO

Index –> Nevada:-

The Palazzo - Las Vegas, NV 
ARIA Resort’s Hotel tower - Las Vegas, NV
Vdara Hotel - Las Vegas, NV

Index –> North Carolina:-

Proximity Hotel - Greensboro, NC

Index –> Oregon:-

Avalon Hotel and Spa - Portland, OR
Courtyard by Marriott Portland CityCenter - Portland, OR
The Nines - Portland, OR

Index –> Pennsylvania:-

Hotel Palomar Philadelphia - Philadelphia, PA

Index –> Washington:-

Hilton Vancouver Conf Center & Hotel - Vancouver, WA
Hyatt at Olive 8 - Seattle, WA

Index –> Wyoming:-

Hotel Terra - Teton Village, WY

Good Karma or coincidence? Just in time to celebrate 09-09-09, the Nines Hotel, which occupies the top 9 floors of the historic Meier & Frank Building in downtown Portland, Ore., has been awarded Silver LEED Certification by the U.S. Green Building Council.

The Nines, a member of the Luxury Collection of Starwood Hotels & Resorts, and developed and managed by Sage Hospitality - is one of only 5 hotel properties in the world to rank Silver.

As part of the $137m renovation, the hotel has implemented efficient plumbing systems - including dual flush toilets - that save upwards of 500,000 gallons of water annually.

Furthermore, the Nines receives 100% of its energy from renewable sources such as wind power and carbon offsets.

A vital part of the revitalization of downtown Portland, The Nines - located next to Portland’s Pioneer Square and the MAX light Rail, offers 331 luxurious guest rooms and suites.

The hotel boasts of an extensive art collection - built by Art Consultant Paige Powell, long time friend of Andy Warhol - featuring rotating installations by local artists.

Upon arrival at the hotel lobby, guests enter a soaring, seven-story atrium featuring a glass skylight that provides natural light throughout the interior.

There’s also a stylish modern steakhouse, a private floor-to-ceiling library curated by Powell’s Books, an exclusive Club Floor, state-of-the-art fitness facilities and 14,000 square feet of eco-friendly meeting and event space.

Photos courtesy Starwood Hotels & Resorts Worldwide, Inc.

Info: 525 SW Morrison Portland, Oregon 97204; (877) 229-9995; www.thenines.com/