ISLAMORADA, FLORIDA KEYS—Concrete modular, pre-greened, luxury hotel guest suites were recently topped off at the Florida Keys’ Cheeca Lodge, reopening December 15. “The precedent was set for luxury construction in multimillion dollar homes, and now we’ve brought this innovative construction to the hospitality industry, as a first in the United States and possibly a first in the world,” said Jerry Johnson, owner of Cheeca Lodge & Spa. “We have been able to put up a guestroom wing in an unheard of 90 days, from pilings to topping off, and with a quality superior to that of conventional construction.” The...

ATLANTIC CITY, N.J.—Atlantic City’s casino/hotel leadership and the new trend toward “going green” will be among the featured programming at the Atlantic City Hospitality Trade Show, to be held on Thursday, October 22, 2009, in the Etess Arena of the Trump Taj Mahal Casino Resort. The “no charge” for admission annual trade show brings together casino/hotel buyers and vendors in the areas of food and beverage, hotel operations, construction, housekeeping, uniforms, and marketing/advertising. The exhibit floor, with more than 100 exhibit booths, will be open 9:30 a.m. through 3 p.m. A presentation, “How to Green Your Company,” will be presented...

AVON, COLO.—Colorado’s Westin Riverfront Resort & Spa announced that it has been awarded Silver Leadership in Energy & Environmental Design (LEED) Certification from the U.S. Green Building Council. The Westin Riverfront is the first hotel in Colorado to achieve this coveted green accolade and only the ninth hotel in the country to earn Silver LEED status. The Beaver Creek resort, which opened a year ago this week, is also the first Silver LEED Certified hotel in the Westin brand, which includes more than 160 hotels around the world. “East West Partners is proud to have been a leader in...

BROOMFIELD, COLO.—Vail Resorts announced that concurrent with its announcement of its leadership role in the Hayman Restoration Partnership, the company would not be renewing its three-year commitment to purchase wind energy offset credits. “Our Company is very proud of the leadership stance we took on alternative energy and climate change in August of 2006,” said Rob Katz, chairman and CEO of Vail Resorts. “We are very pleased to see all of the progress that has followed us both in terms of new corporate commitments to clean energy and the political progress our country has made on climate change. As a...

LOS ANGELES—The 2009/2010 International Restaurant & Hotel Awards (IRHA) are now accepting submissions. In the 2007/2008 awards season, IRHA received submissions from more than 50 countries around the world. The jury reviewed submissions from properties ranging from bed and breakfasts and boutique hotels to six-star luxury resorts, as well as the world’s top restaurants. Top brands and hotel groups that participated in the 2007/2008 awards season include The Ritz-Carlton, Marriott International, Accor Hotels, The Peninsula Hotels, Hilton Hotels, Kor Hotel Group, Four Seasons Hotels & Resorts, Starwood Hotels and a host of others. The awards were presented at...

BROOMFIELD, COLO.—Vail Resorts announced the renaming of its comprehensive efforts aimed at protecting the environment, social responsibility and community engagement as “Vail Resorts ECHO.” Vail Resorts ECHO will encompass three core efforts—charitable giving, volunteerism and environmental stewardship—and replaces the prior name for the program, “Vail Resorts 360.” “As part of our almost year-long process in putting together our recently announced Hayman Restoration Partnership, we learned more about the goals and ideals of our entire corporate responsibility efforts,” said Rob Katz, chairman and CEO for Vail Resorts. “We realized that these efforts are aimed at mitigating our ‘footprint’ on the environment...

ATLANTA—“It’s not the heat, it’s the humidity,” is often used to explain the less-than-comfortable temperatures in Florida. With that in mind, there seems to be no better place to discuss ASHRAE’s winter’s conference theme: “Building Sustainability from the Inside Out.” Whenever the temperatures outside are too hot or humid to handle, ASHRAE ensures that indoor environments are comfortable and, most important, sustainable. ASHRAE’s 2010 Winter Conference will be held in Orlando from January 23 to 27 at the Rosen Shingle Creek hotel. The International Air-Conditioning, Heating, Refrigerating Expo, held in conjunction with the Conference, will run January 25 to 27....

HORSHAM, PA.—The State of Indiana has announced it will adopt the Green Key Eco-Rating Program as its official statewide environmental initiative for the lodging industry. Indiana is the first state to make this designation following the launch of Green Key in the United States on September 17. The program will be managed via a partnership between the Indiana Hotel & Lodging Association (IHLA) and Green Key Global, whereby the IHLA will promote the program to lodging properties within the state. This partnership will provide IHLA with a customized, branded version of the Green Key website, allowing IHLA to promote the...

SAN FRANCISCO—Kimpton Hotels & Restaurants, the largest boutique hotel company in the United States, announced a national partnership with The Nature Conservancy to support its ambitious Plant a Billion Trees campaign. Once completed, the campaign will remove 10 million tons of carbon dioxide annually, reducing the impact of climate change on biodiversity and human communities, and ensuring that 30 million acres of Brazil’s Atlantic Forest are restored or preserved by 2015. Kimpton will help grow a greener future and play a vital role in bringing life back to the most threatened tropical forest on Earth in the following ways: • “Giving...

ORLANDO, FLA.—It is official. As reported in Green Lodging News in July, in response to growing member interest in green hotels, AAA has launched a program to highlight AAA Approved lodgings that have been eco-certified through a well-established government or private program. A bright green “ECO” symbol makes it easy to identify eco-friendly lodgings in the new 2010 editions of the AAA TourBook guides and on AAA.com. Additionally, travelers will be able to customize their hotel searches on AAA.com to show green properties first in their search results. “The new ECO symbol serves as a notice to AAA members that a...