It was in the early 1990s that I was staying at New York’s Essex House Hotel in order to attend and cover the International Hotel/Motel & Restaurant Supply Show. It was a thrill for me as a young editor to be staying at a hotel on the edge of Central Park. My boss called me one evening and told me to come down to the hotel bar. “Kojak,” the TV actor Telly Savalas, was at the bar and on the phone with someone he called “baby.” Telly’s most famous phrase in his show was “Who loves ya baby?” It was a pretty surreal moment, and I still have Telly’s autograph. While on a stroll in Manhattan that same year I saw Tony Randall shooting a TV commercial. I am dating myself here, I know, but back then it was pretty cool to see “Kojak” and “Felix Unger” in person.
When you have gone to just about every fall New York hotel show since 1989—now known only as Boutique Design New York (BDNY), of course—you accumulate a lot of memories.
When I attend this year’s BDNY—November 9 & 10 at the Javits Center—I will be kept busy visiting with the many vendors who have intriguing sustainability stories to tell. Be sure to watch for coverage of BDNY in the coming week on Green Lodging News.
A Biodegradable Vinyl & More
I have posted several press releases highlighting this year’s product introductions. Nassimi, for example, will be rolling out Hyphyn—a breakthrough biodegradable vinyl and a faux leather for hotels, restaurants, and public spaces. Shaw Contract Hospitality will unveil its latest hospitality collection, Reverie. Each construction within the collection aligns with Shaw Contract’s People Together, Planet Forever initiative and is Cradle to Cradle Certified. The line is intentionally engineered to reduce environmental impact. Very cool.
POLYWOOD, a featured supplier this year, manufactures lumber from recycled and reusable plastics. The lumber is used to make furniture strong enough to handle harsh climates and high-traffic spaces. Another example: Stern Engineering will showcase its touch-free faucets, automatic soap dispensers, flush valves for urinals and toilets, and related accessories. In recent years the company has introduced touchless restroom cubicles with occupancy indicator, that is available floor to ceiling, with automatic or manual door system.
You can view a complete list of this year’s exhibitors by clicking here. Be sure to search by “Sustainable Product Offerings.”
Those attending BDNY will also have access to numerous conference sessions of interest. Two examples: “NEWH Green Voice: Designing with Nature’s Genius, Designing for Whole-Person Wellness: Hospitality’s Expanding Horizon;” and “Green Is the New Gold: Making the Business Case for Sustainable Design.”
Never Forget
While the fall hotel show has typically been a great time, with memorable dinners, productive networking, and an annual opportunity for this Floridian to see the leaves changing, the show in 2001 was the exception. It took place just a couple of months after the 9-11 attacks. I will never forget watching the police checking the trunks of cars entering the Lincoln Tunnel and viewing the many posted photographs of the men and women who heroically gave their lives on that terrible day.
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