LOS ANGELES, CA.—The Élan Hotel—a recently renovated boutique property located in the heart of West Hollywood—has partnered with AllerWell Travel—a division of the Wellness Hospitality Association International—to implement eight allergy-friendly guestrooms within the hotel. The only AllerWell Certified hotel, the Élan is the first property in the nation to offer AllerWell accommodations. AllerWell rooms eliminate more than 95 percent of the room allergens that trigger most allergy symptoms, and as more travelers look toward allergy-friendly accommodations, AllerWell and the Élan Hotel aim to make allergy-friendly rooms as common as smoke-free rooms. The three central components installed in all AllerWell rooms include: Hypoallergenic Bedding—Hypoallergenic...

ATLANTA—Full-service digital public relations and marketing firm, Trevelino/Keller, has been engaged by Pure Wellness to help secure the company’s position as a leader in hotel guestroom wellness solutions. Trevelino/Keller is spearheading digital marketing, creative, and public relations that align with Pure Wellness’ focus of enabling hotel partners to better serve the growing wellness-minded business and lifestyle traveler market. The stress and wear of frequent travel are tied to detrimental health outcomes—from long-term conditions such as obesity and cardiovascular disease to more immediate physical, behavioral and mental health issues. Pure Wellness, via its Pure Room service offering, offers a guestroom experience that promotes...

Unfortunately, I have written about carbon monoxide deaths in hotels far too often—most recently last November. The past few weeks I have read about two more incidents at hotels. First, in late June, two men were found dead by a third guest staying in the room at the Best Western Hotel in Asheville, N.C. Police suspect the cause of the deaths to be carbon monoxide poisoning. According to an unsealed warrant, Asheville fire chief Shane Mackey suspects a utility room behind the room was the source of the carbon monoxide. The utility room contained two water heaters and two...

ALMAZORA, SPAIN—Neolith by TheSize has formed a new partnership with PURETi, a leading manufacturer of water based photocatalytic preventative maintenance solutions, to offer architects and designers a sustainable architectural surface treatment for exterior facades. The eco-friendly PURETi surface treatment will be available for the first time for use on Neolith’s 6mm slabs, transforming the Sintered stone façades into self-cleaning air purifiers—consequently reversing pollution, dramatically improving air quality, and enabling the Neolith slabs to stay cleaner for even longer. This technology has the ability to reduce air pollution by destroying nitrogen oxides (NOx) and volatile organic compounds (VOCs) that contact the treated...

DELRAY BEACH, FL.—GSky Plant Systems, Inc., a global industry leader in the design and production of interior and exterior green walls, announces that its interior Versa Wall living green wall for San Francisco’s McGuire Building is the Grand Award Winner, Green Walls, for I-Plants/Urban Horticulture Magazine’s International Design Contest. GSky’s award-winning Versa Wall design for the McGuire Building in San Francisco marks the first living green wall of its kind to include three free-hanging columns. Completely suspended with no physical connection to the ground, the columns enliven a two-floor atrium space with a variety of colorful tropical plants. The three...

OTTAWA, ONT.—DewAir Corp., an Ottawa-based, leading manufacturer of HVAC and IAQ products, has introduced the RH-Cube 18, the HVAC industry’s first split-system mechanical dehumidifier using a compact, energy-efficient counter-flow heat exchanger for dedicated humidity control. The RH-Cube 18 reduces air-conditioning energy costs up to 55 percent and increases indoor air quality (IAQ) for restaurants, hotels, schools, healthcare clinics, athletic facilities, offices, grow-ops, factories, museums, warehouses, residences and many other applications with small to medium spaces requiring humidity control. The 18,000-BTU/hr, 600-CFM unit independently supplements any air-conditioning system by removing up to 206 lbs and 273 lbs (93 or 123 kg) of...

MONTREAL—​​​​​​​​​Canadian company BlackStuff has launched a Kickstarter product campaign for its PILO Purifier, an odor-eliminating and air-purifying throw pillow. Considering the pervasive menace of indoor air pollution, with furniture, heaters, boilers and construction materials all trapping toxic air particles inside, PILO’s launch into the consumer market comes at a critical time. This sustainable throw pillow is filled with a special activated-charcoal-embedded foam that filters a space of unwanted odors, allergens, pollutants, moisture and other harmful chemicals like formaldehyde. The origin story of PILO goes back to a trip BlackStuff President and founder Peter Khoury made to a trade fair in...

According to a recent report published by Allied Market Research, the global market for air fresheners could reach $12 billion by 2023. One of the areas that is expected to see the most growth in this area is hotels and hospitality, which, more and more, have started to develop “signature scents” as part of their brand marketing strategy, in lieu of more generic, commercial air freshener options. Signature scents are nothing new; in fact, hotel chains pour millions of dollars into developing these formulas, often enlisting the help of high-end perfumers to do so. However, there is a dark side...

The national parks in the United States are a huge magnet for tourists—330 million visitors each year—and the lodging industry benefits greatly from them. That is one of the reasons our industry should be concerned when the national parks are not so nice to visit. The National Parks Conservation Assn. recently released its “Polluted Parks” report. The subtitle: “How America is Failing to Protect Our National Parks, People and Planet from Air Pollution.” Be sure to give the report a read. The report assesses the damage from air pollution by evaluating four categories: unhealthy air, harm to nature, hazy...

The definition of an allergy-friendly room has often been in flux in our industry. More than a decade ago, PURE Allergy Friendly Rooms were introduced. At that time, the PURE process included steps ranging from ozone shock treatment to an air purification system to a showerhead with a chlorine filter. PURE Allergy Friendly Rooms have since evolved and are now called Pure Rooms as part of a Pure Wellness experience. The current seven steps include: ozone shock treatment, sanitize air handling unit, deep clean soft and hard surfaces, apply Pure Shield Barrier, install air purification system, install antimicrobial tea...