Rethink complimentary toiletries
Complimentary toiletries are beloved by guests and offer a great way to showcase your hotel’s luxury image in the bathroom. However, as part of the campaign against the waste plastic clogging the world’s oceans, you really should make sure that the containers you use are eco-friendly.
There are a number of plastics available that are 100% biodegradable, such as HDPE and polypropylene. Switch to a supplier who uses this packaging and the environmental impact of each of your guests will be significantly reduced.
Think about where your rooms are positioned
Air conditioning is expensive, and a drain on your hotel’s energy bill. Many hotels have no option but to install these resource-hungry machines in rooms that heat up uncontrollably and result in unhappy, sleepless guests.
At the design stage, some of these problems can be mitigated by orienting your hotel rooms to face a certain way. It’s good practice to avoid having too many west-facing rooms, as they soak up the sun’s rays and heat up throughout the afternoon – leading to an increase in air conditioning usage.
Some hotels can’t avoid being west-facing, but there are ways of shading the building to avoid the use of air conditioners. Consider using trees, shutters or even a trellis covered in climbing plants to shade your guests and communicate your eco-friendly ethos.
Embrace conscientious construction
Developers often overlook the environmental cost of construction, such as the haulage of goods to the site, the use of water and the risk of hazardous material spillage. A way to avoid these onsite issues damaging the environment around a hotel development is to introduce modular construction techniques, in which parts of the hotel are constructed offsite and dropped into place.
Anything from the rooms themselves to volumetric bathroom pods are available to order in. Another critical advantage that modular construction offers is that it is much quieter than traditional onsite techniques – vital when building an eco lodge within an ecosystem that would be harmed by excess noise, or simply if there are plenty of neighbours who value their sleep.
Invest in a locally sourced minibar
Let’s be honest – the minibar lacks character in many hotels, packed with generic snacks and drinks (often coming from big brands with less than perfect environmental records). An alternative to this is sourcing your minibar produce from the local area, reducing food miles while being community conscious.
Swap big brand beers for the local brewery and source locally produced snacks and mineral water, and you might even find that curious guests boost your minibar revenue in the long run!
Integrate with the future
Electric cars are the future – there is no doubt – but they are also being adopted at a glacial rate. Part of the reason for this is that the general public are wary of having nowhere to plug in their vehicles in certain areas. Ensuring your eco-friendly hotel is equipped for these challenges by installing charging points outside is important, while also serving to future-proof your investment as, in a few decades, electric cars will be far more commonplace.
All of these considerations are designed to make your hotel fit for the eco-friendly future, while driving down your energy bills and reducing waste. Because, let’s face it, you want your hotel to stand the test of time – so being considerate in the early stages of design and planning can make the difference between a flash in the pan and a long-term, viable hotel business.
Images: Pixabay
