Have A Green Hotel Stay
May 22, 2007 · Written by Joel
When going on holiday usually there isn’t much of a choice of how green your hotel is. However some hotels are cropping up that have been designed to be a little more environmentally friendly.
In San Francisco the fifth LEED (Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design) hotel in the US has opened. 86 rooms with an energy saving roof, low-flow plumbing, dedicated recycling centre, and an auto shut-off feature when you leave your hotel room, saving 20% of energy with just that feature.
Hotel Green in Nantucket uses all energy-efficient lightbulbs, organic linen and towels, recycled paper (including toilet paper), organic food and wine and chemical free cleaning products.
For a “no-frills” eco hotel, Canadian ALT Hotels incorporates geothermal technology, that will use the earth’s constant temperature of 10 degrees Celsius (at a depth of about three meters) to help heat and cool the hotel. Other measures include energy saving lighting, and heat recovery from water used in commercial washers.
Even if you don’t have a “green” hotel where you’re going, there are a few things that you can do whilst staying at a hotel in order to make it that little bit greener.
- Turn off lights and air conditioning when you leave your room.
- Only get your sheets, towels and amenities changed when you really need too.
- Ask the hotel about their energy usage, such as bulbs and recycling. If enough people ask then they might take notice.
- Refill your own water bottles rather than using the ones provided.
- Take short showers rather than baths.
Do you have any more tips for a greener hotel stay?
[...] Have A Green Hotel Stay [...]
Hi there,
Just stumbled upon your green hotel request. We’ve just published a guide called Green Places to Stay, a fabulous little book which is the green flagship in our Special Places to Stay series of guides. Richard Hammon - the eco-travel editor of the Guardian - wrote and researched the guide, and there are some truly fantatsic places in there. Small, family-owned, genuinely progressive and gorgeous too. We’ll be relaunching our site in the next couple of weeks, and it’ll be loads easier to search for and find our green places. So watch this space - but if you’re desperate to find somewhere now, click on http://www.sawdays.co.uk/titles/eco/index.html and search using the maps.
Hope that helps!
Toby
Thanks Toby, we’ll definitely look out for the book, and take a look at the website.
[...] Joel: Thanks Toby, we’ll definitely look out for the book, and take a look at the website. [...]
Hi
Just to let you know that there is a website http://www.organic-holidays.com which is a great resource for hotels and B&B’s around the UK and the world - from expensive to surfer B&B’s in Cornwall. Well worth a look when planning your next trip.
Trish :0)
[...] to my esteemed brother’s post about environmentally friendly hotels, there are a few in the UK too. The Apex Hotel in Edinburgh (branches in London and Dundee too) won [...]
Also, at http://www.bnbfinder.com, you can search for eco friendly inns and B&B’s, many of whom offer green discounts as well as being eco friendly places to stay. Just click advanced search, extras and eco friendly. You can also see quite a few green inns under the specials link, then green getaways. I think it’s amazing that travellers are cathing on to the importance of green stays so quickly.