Hotels Creating New Experiences Through Sustainability

A recent trend among travelers has been the desire to give their business to sustainable hotels. Particularly among millennials, a group which studies have shown tend to focus more on sustainable practices, including how they travel.

Thus, hotels are adapting. Pronouncing their sustainable initiatives has become a selling point among businesses in the hospitality industry. This comes in many ways, shapes and forms from energy use to the way food is consumed on the premises.

The Six Senses Duoro Valley in Portugal recently received an award for its sustainability. The resort claims to focus on both environmental and social sustainability.

“Six Senses mineralized water is produced on-site so as to reduce the carbon footprint associated with packaging and transporting quality water. We are establishing an organic vegetable garden, composting and a curing center for meat and fish,” the hotel says.

This week a Hilton brand Hotel in Oman received a Green Globe award, a designation that certifies hotels on grounds of sustainability. The hotel made strides by cutting its incandescent light bulb use by 70 percent, replacing them with LED fixtures. Timers also shut off the lights if no movement is detected for a set period of time.

The resort has also implemented better gardening practices along with water-saving procedures.

Costa Rica’s Olas Verdes Hotel became the nation’s first to garner a LEED Platinum certification from the United States Green Building Council.

It did so by becoming water efficient, a significant accomplishment for a resort in a country that is dry for almost six months of the year, including popular tourism months. The hotel made sure to keep a neighboring wildlife refuge intact and made sure not to build within 200 meters of the high tide line, minimizing storm runoff into a local creek.

Increasingly, hotels are immersing themselves into natural environments. Uppgrenna Naturhus in Sweden is an example of a hotel that brands its experience as one that connects guests to nature.

“Environment and environmental considerations are important to us. Both in terms of business and housing, our aim is to leave as little footprint as possible, enriching instead of contaminating, cooperating instead of countering,” the hotel says.

Sustainability does not have to include a massive energy saving undertaking. Steps like responsible raising of bees by this London Hilton location are helping the environment and potentially cutting operating costs.

New hotel projects are seeking out better materials starting with the design phase. This Italian hotel sought out specific types of lumber that would give it the appearance it wanted but also a sustainable build.