CHICAGO—The American Hotel & Lodging Assn. (AH&LA) announced the winners of the AH&LA Achievement Awards, part of the annual Stars of the Industry Awards, which honor stand-out initiatives at hotel properties. In a ceremony held during the AH&LA Summer Summit at the Hilton Chicago, these awards, which have been awarded annually since 1966, distinguish individual hotels that have developed outstanding programs, events, and campaigns. Winners were chosen for awards in the categories of Good Earthkeeping, Guest Relations, Outstanding Community Service, Special Events (one-time event and ongoing), as well as exceptional diversity initiatives.
The environment and community service award winners this year include:
The Orchard Garden Hotel in San Francisco won the Good Earthkeeping award, small property category (less than 150 rooms), for making sustainability its guiding philosophy. As the first hotel in the state of California to earn LEED certification, its developers even selected the site location based on its proximity to public transportation and used building materials extracted or manufactured locally to build 77 percent of the hotel. Guestrooms feature recycled products, energy management, and recycling programs that function with or without active guest participation, and the entire property saves energy costs by making use of natural daylight in 82 percent of its occupied spaces. The hotel is constantly looking to improve upon their already succinct eco-friendly processes and engage their guests in sustainability measures, doing so based on environmental and in-depth consumer research.
The Sheraton Seattle Hotel is the winner of the Good Earthkeeping award in the large property category (150 rooms or more). The Sheraton’s green strategy focused on three major areas: building infrastructure and physical enhancements; associate awareness and involvement; and guest participation. Several successful green initiatives include giving guests the option to opt out of housekeeping service in exchange for a $5 gift certificate or 500 Starwood points; creation of a “compost only” associate cafeteria where all food waste and debris from meals is 100 percent compostable; use of green cleaning products in guestrooms and meeting rooms; and a 25 percent public transportation subsidy for associates. Energy and water conservation measures have saved more than 4,800 kWh of electricity annually, and through these and other initiatives, the Sheraton was able to reduce their energy index by 21 percent in the program’s first year and recycle approximately 12 tons of materials each month.
Sleeping Lady Wins Again
The Sleeping Lady Mountain Retreat in Leavenworth, Wash., won the award for Outstanding Community Service, small property category. The hotel, which won last year’s AH&LA Good Earthkeeping Award for a small property, has adopted a philosophy of encouraging its employees to be active in the community and donating to needy organizations. In addition to implementing an annual employee food drive, the property also hosts a variety of events including a Special Olympics cross country ski event; the “Chicks on Sticks” event, which raises money for breast cancer research; and a recycled art show that earns funds for a local recycling group’s initiatives.
The Doubletree Hotel Tulsa at Warren Place in Tulsa, Okla., earned the Outstanding Community Service award for a large property. The hotel’s employees, known as the CARE Committee, made a dedicated effort to help those in need all over Tulsa in 2008 via donations to local food banks, participation in the local American Heart Association Walk, time spent beautifying the campus of their adopted school and educating students about sustainability, and assisting their long-term nonprofit partner, the Hospitality House of Tulsa, which provides home-like lodging and support services for families of patients in Tulsa for medical care. The Doubletree’s hospitality extends overseas as well. After donating a stay to a soldier in town on unexpected leave from Iraq, the employees wanted to spread the goodwill to those in his unit who were not able to take the leave. They sent 10 dozen of their famous Doubletree cookies to his grateful company.
The Mandarin Oriental Washington, D.C., is the winner of the Prism award for diversity. This property creates a workplace where employees are able to break down the socioeconomic barriers in their personal lives. In 2008, the hotel took the initiative to create a truly motivated and synergized workforce through a community center concept called the Colleague Resource Center (CRC). This center takes into account how an employee’s personal life and external influences impact team unity and, in turn, the guest experience. The new CRC provides a convenient location where employees can obtain life skills they may not have access to on their own, such as Weight Watchers, yoga, fitness, budgeting, computer classes, credit awareness courses, and language software programs. As a result, the hotel has seen gender, racial, and religious differences melt away and employees begin to relate to one another in new ways and find new common ground.
Many of AH&LA’s partner state associations choose their own property award winners, which are submitted to the association for national judging. Making the decisions in this year’s competition were Bob Craycraft, vice president of industry relations for the American Resort Development Assn.; Phil Hayward, chief communications officer for the National Recreation & Parks Assn.; and Pat Maher, owner of The Maher Group, LLC, and AH&LA’s green consultant. The awards ceremony was sponsored by U.S. Foodservice.
For more information on AH&LA’s Stars of the Industry Awards program and a full list of this year’s property and employee winners, visit www.ahla.com/stars.
