ODESSA, FLA.—Green Lodging News has added Donastar Enterprises LLC to its Green Product & Service Directory in the Cleaning & Maintenance/Ozonated Water category. Donastar is a North American leader of hot and cold beverage service and installations. Donastar is working with Enozo (see video). The Enozo is a perfect way for any business to stop using plastic bottles and aerosol cans. The EnozoPRO is a portable spray bottle that replaces six cleaning products and kills 99.9 percent of all viruses and bacteria including the virus that causes COVID-19.* One need only fill it up with tap water and then recharge...

RANCHO MIRAGE, CALIF.—Forbes Travel Guide (“FTG”), a global authority on genuine Five-Star service, and Sharecare, the digital health company that helps people manage all their health in one place, announced that Agua Caliente Resort Casino Spa Rancho Mirage is the only resort casino in the United States to successfully become Sharecare Health Security VERIFIED. The newly established Sharecare Health Security VERIFIED with Forbes Travel Guide badge is addressing the critical need to establish confidence with guests and travel planners in the age of COVID-19. The recognition seal will be on display throughout Agua Caliente Resort Casino Spa and on the...

In next week’s column I will be highlighting the 10 most read Green Lodging News articles of 2020. It will be interesting to see how many had to do with COVID-19. While the article I just posted on Hotel Marcel may not make it because of its posting late in the year, it certainly deserves consideration as one of the most important hotel stories of both this year and 2021. Be sure to read the article. Hotel Marcel is the project of architect Bruce Becker, Founder and Director of Becker + Becker, Westport, Conn. Becker purchased the New Haven, Conn. building...

NEW HAVEN, CONN.—When the Hotel Marcel opens next summer in New Haven, Conn., it will be a shining example of sustainability and what every hotel could and should be. The 165-room boutique hotel will be the result of the renovated Armstrong Rubber Company Building, aka Pirelli Building, originally designed by Marcel Breuer in 1967. It will be run by 100 percent solar power, meet net-zero energy standards, and will target LEED Platinum certification. There will be many other bells and whistles that will make the building highly efficient. Hotel Marcel is the project of Bruce Becker, Founder and Director of...

Tourism may have a big impact on the air quality of popular destinations, but it works the other way around, with pollution having potentially harmful effects on the competitiveness of chosen destinations—as reported in a study by C. Eusebio and colleagues. Whether your B&B accommodation is located in a busy city center or it is ensconced in a natural zone, there is plenty you can do to make it more appealing to health-conscious travelers. The Environmental Protection Agency has warned that many homes have air pollution levels that are two to five times higher than the air outside. The good...

If real, achievable, disinfection measures increase confidence, the public will return. People are placing health as a top priority. Almost 85 percent make their travel decisions based on health safety. Some 40 percent are unsatisfied with the communications they’re currently receiving about safety protocols according to PWC. Half of consumers are also willing to pay extra for more safety. To get the public back, business has to have high level safety protocols and make people aware of them. The devastation to the hospitality industry due to the COVID-19 pandemic is illustrated in a survey by the American Hotel & Lodging Association...

I am currently working on an article on the Hotel Marcel. It is expected to open next year in New Haven, Conn. The hotel will have many unique features—net-zero energy, LEED Platinum, etc. One of the most unique features about the hotel is that it is expected to be the first Passive House certified hotel in the United States. I just came across the certification in another article I read so I thought I would share a bit about the certification. The Passive House certification program is run by PHIUS (Passive House Institute US, Inc.) It is a nonprofit 501(c)(3)...

CHICAGO—Blueair, a leader in air purification for home and professional use, announced it has donated more than $1 million in cash to U.S. hospitals, schools and a Chicago nonprofit in alignment with Giving Tuesday 2020. The company is also donating air purifiers to organizations it is supporting, extending clean indoor air access to the communities they serve. At a time when more than ever people are in need, a recent Gallup poll found that fewer people are able to provide support through charitable giving—with giving expected to be down nearly 10 percent this year. Blueair was founded on the principle...

NATIONAL REPORT—For safe, non-toxic cleaning you cannot get much better than water—but it first must be converted to aqueous ozone. The cleaning and disinfection properties of ozone have been known for a long time, but it has often been inconvenient to access. At least two companies have recently introduced sleek rechargeable, reusable spray bottles, however, that make using aqueous ozone portable and easy. The first company is Donastar Enterprises, LLC. Its EnozoPRO, after an AC charge, detaches from its base and kills 99.9 percent of most harmful bacteria and viruses on hard surfaces in 30 seconds.* “Ozone is capable of...

PALM BEACH GARDENS, FLA.—Carrier Global Corp., a leading global provider of healthy, safe and sustainable building and cold chain solutions, announced that its OptiClean Dual-Mode Air Scrubber & Negative Air Machine has been named as one of TIME’s 100 Best Inventions of 2020. The OptiClean was developed through rapid innovation in early 2020 to help support infectious isolation rooms in hospitals. TIME featured OptiClean in the Medical Care category of its prestigious annual list that recognizes 100 ground-breaking inventions that are making the world better and smarter. “We are honored the OptiClean is being recognized by TIME for a product...