HOUSTON—The new Embassy Suites Houston-Downtown is making a case for being among the most environmentally-friendly hotels in Houston. The urban high-rise hotel has earned LEED Silver certification for its sustainable design, construction and operation as recognized by the U.S. Green Building Council. It is the first LEED certified hotel in downtown Houston, the first LEED certified Embassy Suites in Texas and the only Hilton branded, LEED certified hotel in Texas.
The downtown hotel is also the first in the city to cater to electric vehicle owners by installing charging stations in partnership with ECOtality and The EV Project.
Overlooking Discovery Green Park and the George R. Brown Convention Center, the 262 all-suite hotel’s sustainable features include suites fitted with a “smart switch” that turns off all the lights when a guest leaves the suite. A hotel-wide recycling plan, water and energy conservation programs and a nonsmoking program, making the property 100 percent smoke free, complement the hotel’s eco-friendly approach.
“Before we broke ground on this hotel project, our goal was to achieve LEED certification,” said Nick Massad, CEO of Houston-based American Liberty Hospitality. “We couldn’t have done it without the help of our partners Linbeck, Kirksey, Mitchell Carlson Stone, Inc., Portfolio For Hospitality and ECOtality.”
EV Charging Stations Offer Free ‘Fill-Up’
To further its commitment to the environment, two blink Pedestal electric vehicle charging stations were recently installed in the hotel’s valet-parking-only garage. These stations are now available for complimentary use through December 2012 to hotel and non-hotel guests driving electric vehicles equipped with the standard J1772 connector including the Chevy Volt, Nissan LEAF, Smart ED, Ford Focus and Mitsubishi I.
More than 200 blink electric vehicle chargers will be installed in the Houston area in the coming months as part of The EV Project, the largest rollout of electric vehicle infrastructure in history as funded through the U.S. Department of Energy.
Just steps from Toyota Center and Minute Maid Park and two blocks from shopping, dining and entertainment at the Houston Pavilions, Embassy Suites Houston-Downtown is developed and managed by American Liberty Hospitality, a Houston-based hotel company. It also contains 6,000 square feet of flexible function space.
The hotel features spacious, two-room suites with a separate living area, private bedroom and wet bar fitted with a microwave, mini-fridge and coffee maker. Suites are equipped with complimentary high-speed Internet access, two flat-panel, high-definition televisions, in-room safes and two, dual-line phones.
Go to the Embassy Suites Houston-Downtown.
