SYRACUSE, N.Y.—America’s newest, environmentally sustainable hotel is now open near the campus of Syracuse University. Hotel Skyler is only the third hotel in the United States to seek Platinum certification in Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design (LEED) from the U.S. Green Building Council. The Woodbine Group, owners of the Genessee Grande and Parkview hotels, renovated the former Temple Adath Yeshurun building—constructed in 1921—to create a one-of-a-kind 58-room boutique hotel.
Hotel Skyler features some of the most advanced green design elements of any hotel in the United States. The building is heated and cooled with a geothermal heat pump, just one of the cutting-edge technologies it employs to meet LEED Platinum certification standards, recognized nationally as the highest indicator of eco-friendliness and energy efficiency. Other features include an energy-saving key card system that powers guestrooms down when they are unoccupied.
“This hotel is about as green as you can get,” said Norm Swanson, owner. “It’s also a high-styled luxury hotel that will be a joy to stay in. We’ve reused an almost 100-year-old building, so the rooms aren’t your typical hotel rectangle—many of them have very interesting shapes, with French-style attic windows and other features you will only find at Hotel Skyler.”
Every effort was made to incorporate regionally-produced and reclaimed materials into the interior design of the hotel. The lobby is accented by a stained glass window reclaimed from St. John’s Church, in Oswego, and the bar serves sustainable wines, beer, and liquor. Stefon’s Marketplace offers healthy take-away meals, snacks, and coffee. In a nod to the Treehouse patient activity space at the neighboring Upstate Golisano Children’s Hospital, the hotel also features two, loft-style Treehouse suites. A portion of the revenues generated by these suites will be donated to the hospital.
“Upstate Golisano Children’s Hospital has enjoyed a long and mutually beneficial partnership with the Genesee Grande Hotel—Syracuse’s premier hotel—thanks in large part to the incredible generosity of owner Norm Swanson,” said Dr. Tom Welch, professor and chair, department of pediatrics, Upstate Golisano Children’s Hospital. “With the grand opening of Hotel Skyler we look forward to taking this special relationship to an even higher level. Norm’s commitment to donate 50 percent of all Hotel Skyler Treehouse Suite revenues to cancer care and research at Upstate Golisano Children’s Hospital is a tremendous and greatly appreciated philanthropic gesture.”
Go to Hotel Skyler.
