MIAMI—Seventeen-year hotel industry veteran Tatyana Li first started working as a butler for the St. Regis New York. She worked her way up to Director of Sales for several hotel brands and is now founder of LSW Hotels. LSW stands for luxury, sustainable and wellness hotels. Li is still in the process or raising funding for her first hotel—to be in Miami.
“I have approached investors, but it is challenging,” Li says. “We are getting closer. The toughest part is finding the right investors.”
Li estimates the cost of her first 100-room hotel at $375,000 per key. The property will also include a 90-seat restaurant.
Li was inspired to develop a luxury green brand seven years ago. “The idea to merge hotels and sustainability was born after I saw gigantic food waste, unfair treatment of hotel employees, very high turnover ratios, and irresponsible use of water and energy,” she says.
Development Team in Place
An architectural firm is in place to design the hotel and Li has lined up a team including a Director of Business Development, Director of Aesthetics and Purchasing, and Director of Brand Technology and Neural Networks Development.
Wellness and happiness will be top priorities for the hotel brand. LSW Hotels will be built in full compliance with LEED standards. Solar panels will generate electricity and heat for domestic hot water. Waste oil will be converted to energy, food waste will be composted, and the goal will be to have zero plastic with zero plastic bottles of water. Li says she wants to be paperless as well. Food will be locally sourced and organic.
Treating employees right will be a priority. “If we take good care of our employees, they will take good care of our guests,” Li says.
“Our standards and norms are aimed at having a positive impact on the environment, generating a more profitable bottom line, becoming part of a local community and being recognized as a genuinely sustainable hotel brand,” Li adds. LSW Hotels will host events to benefit the local community.
Green Meeting Practices Planned
LSW Hotels will have meeting space. LSW Meetings and Events will follow Sustainable Meetings Practices from the menu items to furniture and bamboo papers.
There will be a movie theater, guestrooms outfitted with sustainable furniture and textile products, sustainable mattresses and beds and bamboo linens. An I Bloom Spa will feature organic skincare products, massage oils, customized massage therapies, and yoga classes.
LSW Business Intelligence and Sustainability Reporting will measure the benefits of sustainable hotel standards. The comprehensive analytics will prove the value of sustainable operations to hotel owners and investors.
Glenn Hasek can be reached at editor@greenlodgingnews.com.
