A Vitamin C infused shower? Alarm clocks that waken you gradually instead of sending your heart racing? Wall surface enclosures that cover equipment with elevated electromagnetic fields (EMF) emissions? These are just a few of the features found in the MGM Grand Hotel & Casino’s Stay Well Rooms—rooms that guests are paying $30 more a night to stay in. In case you missed it, Las Vegas’ MGM Grand Hotel & Casino and Delos, a real estate developer, announced this past week that the MGM Grand will be quadrupling its Stay Well room count from 42 to 171 rooms and suites, encompassing the entire fourteenth floor of the hotel’s main tower.
I asked Delos founder Paul Scialla about the expansion and he said the rooms have received positive guest feedback since launching a year ago. In fact, the rooms have achieved more than a 90 percent occupancy rate. “Following extensive national media coverage and attention, guests have been making Stay Well reservations as many as seven months in advance, indicating that demand is high and will continue to increase among both leisure and business travelers,” Scialla said.
Here is a rundown of the room’s features: Vitamin C infused shower to neutralize chlorine; air purification system; water purification system; advanced room lighting that assists with the regulation of melatonin production and sleep/wake cycles; wake-up light therapy; LED dawn simulator alarm clocks; Circadian dimmable bedside lighting; LED nightlighting of pathways; blackout shades; cedar closets; aromatherapy; EMF protection; photo-catalytic coating on surfaces; dedicated in-room menu; healthy mini-bar amenities; access to Cleveland Clinic wellness software; and access to an in-room Stay Well channel.
Emphasis on the Sleep Experience
It is obvious the designers of the Stay Well room paid a lot of attention to what impacts the sleep experience. Water and air quality have also been emphasized. Missing from the press release about the Stay Well rooms was any mention of the following: green cleaning practices; soaps, shampoos and lotions; pillows, linens and mattresses; and floor coverings and furniture. All of these are also obviously essential in creating a healthy stay. I asked Delos’ Paul Scialla about these items. The following are my questions and his answers:
Part of what makes a guestroom healthy is the cleaning products used to clean that room. I noticed these are not mentioned as part of the Stay Well program. What types of cleaning products are used to clean these rooms?
Special room-cleaning products and techniques with UV-light sterilization are used for the Stay Well rooms. Cleaning services are trained and instructed in a special cleaning protocol that includes the use of ultra-violet light wands to sterilize specific high touch surfaces where bacteria are known to accumulate. Cleaning products used in Stay Well rooms must not contain harmful elements that are outlined in the Stay Well cleaning product red list.
What kind of soap, shampoo, lotion is given to guests? Are they all-natural?
Yes, the Stay Well rooms feature all-natural, hypoallergenic lotions, soaps, shampoos and bath salts.
Part of what makes a guestroom healthy is protection from dust, mites, etc. that reside in pillows and mattresses. Is anything done in the Stay Well rooms to address these issues?
The Stay Well rooms feature hypoallergenic bedding—all pillows, sheets, linens and blankets are made of hypoallergenic material. The mattresses and pillowcases in the Stay Well Rooms are also encased within special protective casings designed to reduce the risk of bed bugs and allergen-inducing dust mites. Closets also contain cedar material that may also repel insects.
The new Stay Well rooms also feature a healthy mattress that incorporates key criteria such as pressure point relief, proper spinal support, non-VOC emitting and breathable materials. Here are further details on what the mattress entails:
• No harmful VOCs (volatile organic compounds). Spending eight hours a night just inches from a mattress surface makes this feature particularly important. The mattresses in the Stay Well rooms are made from natural materials and don’t incorporate VOC emitting materials, glues or adhesives.
• Pressure point relieving surface: Most mattresses create pressure points that limit blood flow and create discomfort that can disturb or otherwise limit the quality or duration of sleep. The Stay Well mattress eliminates these pressure points and delivers a surface that optimizes blood flow and comfort.
• Optimal spinal support: Through a patented, multilayer manufacturing process, each mattress is designed to deliver optimal support where it is needed, allowing the spine to remain in a neutral position throughout the night, thus eliminating morning aches and pains in the neck, shoulders or back.
• Ventilating mattress material: Air flow within a mattress is very important as it creates a breathable and fresh sleep surface that won’t act as a heat trap. Temperature regulation is an important element of restorative sleep.
• Hypoallergenic/allergy friendly: Through the use of natural materials and the organic cotton mattress cover, Stay Well mattresses don’t contain materials that are allergy triggers and they are also naturally resistant to dust mites.
Floor coverings (carpets, matting) can off-gas VOCs. So can furniture. To what degree is this addressed in the Stay Well rooms?
Stay Well will assist the hotel operator in the specification of low-emitting furniture, carpeting and interior finishes.
Stay Well rooms, similar in some ways to the PURE Rooms offered by PURE Solutions, are a great idea. There are millions of travelers with breathing difficulties and chemical sensitivities looking for a healthy place to stay every day. I often hear from them about their struggles. It would be great to see more lodging establishments create these types of healthier room alternatives for their guests. As the MGM Grand Hotel & Casino and many other properties have shown, these types of rooms can bring in more guests, more dollars and create positive publicity.
Have any thoughts on the Stay Well room concept? I can be reached at editor@greenlodgingnews.com, or by phone at (216) 848-1406.
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Green Lodging News has added an Onity case study to its Vendor Case Studies section. The case study details Onity’s installation of an energy management system at the CoCo Key Hotel and Water Resort in Orlando, Fla. In early 2013, CoCo Key converted to Onity SensorStat EMS thermostats integrated with the InnGENIUS monitoring system by EcoLodgix and Dr. PTAC packaged terminal air-conditioning units. The resort experienced a 20 percent decrease in energy consumption in the first three months after installing the energy management system. For more information on Onity, call (866) 866-6489, e-mail steve.lyons@onity.com, or go to www.onity.com for more information. To read the entire case study, click here.
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