VICTORIA, B.C.—The Huntingdon Manor Hotel and Pendray Inn and Tea House was awarded the 2019 Ecostar Award for Greenest Lodging. This award acknowledges a lodging business that has demonstrated initiatives to reduce waste, energy consumption, water usage, pollution and greenhouse gas emissions in their daily operations. Sponsored by Destination Greater Victoria, previous winners include Nimmo Bay Wilderness Resort, and Parkside Hotel in Victoria. “We are incredibly proud of our entire team for their hard work in 2019 and ongoing commitment to social responsibility, with special thanks to our Sustainability Manager, Julia Canton,” says General Manager, Erin Cassels. “We realize there...

REDMOND, ORE.—Soul Community Planet (SCP) announced the newly-renovated New Redmond Hotel reopened December 6 as the SCP Redmond. The 41,000-square-foot property features 49 rooms and suites, coworking, The Rooftop garden and conservatory, fitness center, along with a number of other food and beverage venues, including the Provisions Market. “The vision of Soul Community Planet is to make the world around us a better place by serving those who value personal wellness, social good and the environment. We’re pleased to bring this concept to Redmond, Oregon—a community that clearly embodies the values of Soul Community Planet,” said Soul Community Planet Co-Founder...

HAMBURG, N.J.—Crystal Springs Resort announced it has commenced commercial operations of the largest resort based solar farm in the Northeastern United States. Developed in partnership with New Jersey based Marina Energy, the 25-acre solar field has over 19,000 solar panels and has the annual capacity to generate 3.5 megawatts of electricity, which is more power than is consumed annually by the resort’s two hotels. Development of this solar farm aligns with other efforts taken by the resort in pursuit of ongoing environmental stewardship, such as its recent partnership with Jersey Central Power & Light (JCP&L) and the New Jersey Audubon Society...

MINNEAPOLIS—As part of the company’s Responsible Business strategic initiatives, Radisson Hotel Group announced its partnership with ECPAT-USA, the leading policy organization seeking to end the commercial sexual exploitation of children through awareness, advocacy, policy, and legislation. Radisson Hotel Group will join ECPAT-USA’s Tourism Child-Protection Code of Conduct (The Code), a worldwide network of organizations working to end the sexual exploitation of children around the world. “Our company has long supported efforts against human trafficking, especially programs to protect children against sexual exploitation,” said Inge Huijbrechts, Global Senior Vice President Responsible Business and Safety & Security, Radisson Hotel Group. “We are proud to...

MCLEAN, VA.—The Global Sustainable Tourism Council (GSTC) announced that Hilton’s corporate responsibility management system has achieved “GSTC-Recognized Standard” status. Hilton is the first major hotel company to achieve this recognition. In 2009, Hilton launched LightStay, its award-winning platform that enables the company to track its environmental and social impact across its entire global portfolio of nearly 6,000 managed and franchised hotels. Originally designed to track environmental data, LightStay has evolved to measure, manage and report all of Hilton’s environmental and social metrics. LightStay tracks energy, carbon, water and waste data, as well as social impact metrics including local sourcing, youth training...

NATIONAL REPORT—In July, IHG announced that its entire hotel estate of almost 843,000 guestrooms would switch to bulk-size bathroom amenities, with the transition to be completed during 2021. Not included in the announcement was whether IHG had committed to refillable or non-refillable dispensers. In response to a Green Lodging News query, an IHG spokesman said, “Given that the team is currently in the process of working to establish the best bulk-amenity solutions for each brand based on market availability, brand expectations and environmental impact, it’s a bit too early to speak.” In August, Marriott International announced that it’s expanding an...

ORLANDO, FLA.—A research study conducted on behalf of Clean the World by the University of Arizona (UA) showed a 100 percent bacterial contamination rate in refillable dispensers that contain shampoo, body wash, conditioner, hand soap, or lotion. Of 82 samples taken, 63 (76 percent) yielded bacterial numbers greater than 1,000 colony-forming units per gram of product (CFU per gram), and 40 samples (49 percent) exceeded 10,000 CFU per gram. According to The Center for Food Safety and Applied Nutrition, for non-eye-area products, counts should not be greater than 1,000 CFU per g or mL. An Executive Summary of the...

LONDON—The Commonwealth of Dominica is “carving a niche of its own” in the international tourism industry by establishing an inspiring ecotourism sector, a new Financial Times documentary reveals. Six brand new eco-conscious luxury hotels have already opened or are being developed on the ‘Nature Isle of the Caribbean’, all of which raise foreign capital via the Citizenship by Investment (CBI) Program. Jungle Bay owner and native Dominican Sam Raphael successfully rebuilt the beloved resort after Storm Erika, by attracting select investors seeking second citizenship via the CBI Program. Through CBI, Dominica allows certain investors and their families to obtain its coveted...

PHILIPPINES—Hotel of Asia, Inc., the hotel arm of DoubleDragon Properties Corp., has engaged Barone International as its sustainability consultant in its application for the LEED Gold certification of Hotel 101 Resort Boracay which is poised to become the largest green hotel to rise in the Philippines. “In this day and age when most modern buildings are built to have customary green features, DoubleDragon looks to go a step further in developing Hotel 101 Resort Boracay to become a true beacon of sustainability in the hospitality industry. With its 1,001 hotel rooms, it is poised to become the largest truly green...

MCLEAN, VA.—Hilton has announced the creation of 700 new full-time work-from-home positions, significantly expanding its remote career program and flexible work opportunities across the United States. As part of the Hilton Reservation & Customer Care (HRCC) team, these new reservation and customer care specialists are the first point of contact to support guests with travel and reservation-related questions, often going above and beyond to deliver personalized service to customers. In addition to working from the comfort and convenience of home, Team Members enjoy stable, year-round work, as well as opportunities to grow and advance their career through moves across departments or...