MIAMI—The Miami Airport Marriott recently donated more than $100,000 worth of furniture and household goods to benefit the Miami Rescue Mission and recycled more than 300 tons of building materials to help the environment. The upscale, 366-room hotel, which will undergo a major renovation next year, is part of a unique concept from Marriott, in which three different Marriott properties—the Miami Airport Marriott, the Courtyard by Marriott and a planned Residence Inn—are located together on one campus for business and leisure travelers. When the Fairfield Inn on the campus was demolished earlier this year to make room for the Residence...

NORTHERN KACHIN STATE, MYANMAR—Silks, rattan, teak and bamboo embellish the brand new luxury wilderness Malikha Lodge which recently opened for its first full season in Northern Kachin State, Myanmar on the border of Tibet and Northern India. Designed by architect Jean Michel Gathy, whose artistry is displayed at several Aman Resorts, this is one of the last great areas of subtropical and mountain rainforest in the Himalayas and is home to both Lisu and Rawang hill tribes. Its opening heralds the highest possible level of commitment from its owner to provide opportunities for guests to view local community projects...

AVON, COLO.—The Westin Riverfront Resort & Spa, Vail Valley’s newest luxury resort scheduled to open next summer, is doing everything possible to be sensitive to the environment and “go green” for guests. Situated on a 19-acre site bordering the Eagle River at the base of Beaver Creek Mountain, the property has brought sustainability to new heights with the ultimate in public transportation: its own Riverfront Gondola that will bring guests to the ski area. “We are building this hotel from the ‘green up’,” says Bob Trotter, general manager of The Westin Riverfront Resort & Spa. “The new gondola literally at...

FORT LAUDERDALE, FLA.—Greater Fort Lauderdale officials have named Hilton the winner in a competitive field of hoteliers seeking to build a 1,000-room anchor hotel for the Greater Fort Lauderdale/Broward County Convention Center. Scheduled to be built on the northern edge of Port Everglades adjacent to the 600,000-square-foot convention center, the much-anticipated property will be Greater Fort Lauderdale’s largest hotel and increase its attractiveness as a destination for large conferences, trade shows and other events. The hotel is scheduled to open in 2012. The Broward Convention Center hosts approximately 280 events per year, and the new hotel is seen as...

PHILADELPHIA—ARAMARK, a professional services organization and leading concessionaire of parks, resorts and hospitality services, has helped secure a $1 million grant to the National Park Foundation as the initial and lead sponsor of the Foundation’s newly unveiled First Bloom project. First Bloom was created in conjunction with the Lady Bird Johnson Wildflower Center, for children to participate in hands-on natural resource protection activities in national parks. The First Bloom project, honoring the work of Lady Bird Johnson, was launched by the National Park Foundation and Honorary Chair, Mrs. Laura Bush. The donation is the first investment in the First Bloom...

NEW YORK—The International Hotel/Motel & Restaurant Show may have seen its greenest collection of products in its history, as this year’s collection of exhibitors featured everything from towels with organic cotton and bamboo blends to touch-activated faucet systems that allow one to choose hot, warm or cold water with the touch of a button. Environmental concern was evident in exhibitor booth marketing as well, as vendors used green themes to catch attendees’ attention. The following are just some of the product announcement highlights from the show this past week. HD Supply rolled out its ideallygreen campaign, which emphasizes the environmental...

DUBAI, U.A.E.—The Grand Hyatt Dubai has converted its main water heating system from diesel oil-fired to solar powered in a bid to reduce climate change and running costs. With the UAE’s carbon footprint spiraling, causing the country to be one of the largest emitters of carbon dioxide per capita in the world, the Grand Hyatt Dubai’s new solar panel heating system will reduce its own emissions dramatically. “This is the first commercial installation of its kind in the U.A.E., and probably the largest in the whole of Europe, the Middle East and Africa,” says Phil Barnett, Grand Hyatt Dubai’s director...

BALTIMORE—The term “groundbreaking” took on double meaning earlier this week when J.W. (Bill) Marriott, Jr., chairman and CEO of Marriott International, Inc. picked up a shovel to herald the construction start of the new, 154-room Fairfield Inn & Suites by Marriott-Inner Harbor at Historic Brewers’ Park. The hotel is slated to open in the spring of 2009. The first LEED (Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design)-certified hotel in Baltimore and one of several green Marriott hotels planned for LEED certification company-wide over the next five years, the hotel’s three-pronged ownership includes minority-owned A&R Development, a division of A&R Companies of...

DENVER—Xanterra Parks & Resorts announced that it will install one of the largest solar photovoltaic (PV) energy systems in the country—and the largest system in the U.S. tourism industry—in Death Valley National Park, the sunniest place in the country. The one megawatt (MW) system will harness the sun’s energy to generate more than one-third of the annual electricity needs for Xanterra’s operations there, comprised of the Furnace Creek Inn, Ranch, golf course and employee offices and housing. Xanterra’s system in Death Valley will be one of the largest privately owned PV energy systems in the country, and easily the largest...

NEW YORK—Industry experts chimed in on the state of the lodging industry and panel discussions provided valuable insights into green building design and operations at this year’s International Hotel/Motel & Restaurant show held at New York’s Jacob K. Javits Convention Center. The event wrapped up on Tuesday, November 13. The lodging industry had a good year in 2006, said Mark V. Lomanno, president of Smith Travel Research, with 75,000 new hotel rooms added to U.S. inventory (net growth of 10,000 rooms). There are currently 200,000 hotel rooms under construction. The luxury and mid-scale without food and beverage segments are experiencing...