A big tip of the hat to Summit Hotel Properties, the Austin, Texas-based REIT, for landing in the No. 1 spot in the Hotels, Dining & Leisure category on Newsweek’s list of America’s Most Charitable Companies. Newsweek just announced its list this past week. Following Summit in the Hotels, Dining & Leisure category: Caesars Entertainment, No. 57; Vail Resorts, No. 98; Travel + Leisure, No. 105; Las Vegas Sands, No. 115; Marriott International, No. 136; Hilton, No. 155; Boyd, No. 171; MGM Resorts International, No. 193; Choice Hotels, No. 256; and Soho House & Co, No. 258. Newsweek compiled its...

World Water Day is coming up on March 22. According to the Planet Water Foundation, 2.2 billion people on our planet live without access to safe water. How are you helping to make clean water more accessible to those in need? As reported on Green Lodging News, Kalahari Resorts & Conventions is celebrating World Water Day the entire month of March. Since its partnership with charity: water began in September 2023, Kalahari Resorts and its guests have helped raise $12,289,883 to support sustainable clean water solutions across Africa. As of Q4 2025, those contributions have funded 1,476 water projects including...

March 3 to 4, I will be attending the AHLA Responsible Stay and Food & Beverage Summits at the Hilton McLean Tysons Corner (Va.). Green Lodging News is the media sponsor. An impressive lineup of speakers will be there with educational sessions in Responsible Stay and F&B. Also planned are crossover sessions that touch on both Responsible Stay and F&B. Be sure to watch for coverage of the Summits on Green Lodging News in the coming days. No other event in the U.S. lodging industry is so focused on corporate social responsibility and no other event attracts such a high...

Each year, Green Lodging News reports on the recipients of the National Restaurant Association Restaurant, Hotel-Motel Show’s Kitchen Innovations (KI) Awards. I posted a press release about the awardees this past week. Several of the awardees have been particularly innovative. Here are just a few of the awarded innovations that caught my eye: BDGR LLC’s OiLChef device doubles the life of cooking oil in deep fryers and enables operators to reduce cooking times. When the life of that cooking oil is over, BDGR has figured out a way to transform it into a biodegradable degreaser—a safe cleaning solution that biodegrades within 31...

I have reported on different systems hotels and resorts have employed to reduce/eliminate the use of plastic water bottles on property—water bottle refill stations, water systems that provide filtered water or sparkling water for settings such as restaurants or meetings, the giving away of reusable bottles to encourage use of refill stations, and even water-from-air systems. It is imperative that the lodging industry do its part to remove single-use plastic water bottles from the waste stream. Globally, 5 billion plastic water bottles are consumed each year. This past week I had an opportunity to chat with Rob Duffin, founder and CEO of...

A tiny home to live in? I don’t think so. But for a short-term stay? Yes, I would consider it, and probably love it, especially if located “away from it all” but with easy access to good food and recreation options. Two recent Green Lodging News articles on developments with tiny homes got a lot of reads and for good reasons. Tiny homes have little environmental impact from a materials and operational standpoint but offer significant profit potential. In late December, The Preserve Sporting Club & Resort in Richmond, Rhode Island was featured. Its $88 million Cozy Cabin Village includes...

This week’s column and e-newsletter are very special to me because they are the 1,000th that I have produced since launching Green Lodging News in July 2006. A big thank you to every person and business who has helped me along the way—suppliers, consultants, public relations professionals, association representatives, students, professors and of course the many thousands of hoteliers and innkeepers who read Green Lodging News and who have reached out to me to share their stories over these almost 20 years. Together we have made it through dips in the economy and of course the COVID-19 pandemic when...

According to the U.S. Green Building Council (USGBC), LEED is the most widely recognized green building rating system in the world. LEED certification offers a framework for healthy, efficient, and cost-effective green buildings, providing environmental and social benefits. It serves as a globally recognized symbol of sustainability leadership, supported by a committed community of organizations and individuals driving market transformation. Each year I take a look at the progress of LEED certification in the lodging industry. This year, I am focusing on the United States. A big thank you to USGBC for providing the latest data. As of the end of...

One of the advantages to living in Florida is the easy access to wildlife. Near my home there are bobcats, alligators, coyotes, smaller critters such as armadillos, turtles and tortoises, and I don’t have to travel far to see dolphins. While visiting one of my favorite local towns, I watched a fisherman pull in a hammerhead shark. Of course there is an incredible amount of bird life, including bald eagles. One of the gentlest creatures around these parts is the manatee (aka “sea cow”) and Florida has a lot of them. They attract a lot of tourists and November 15...

In my reporting for Green Lodging News, I often come across impressive environmental protection activity by our industry in The Maldives. For those of you not geographically savvy, The Maldives is an archipelagic country in South Asia, located in the eastern Arabian Sea, within the northern Indian Ocean. The country is comprised of 1,192 islands that stretch along a length of 871 kilometers. The Maldives has an average ground-level elevation of around 1.5 meters (4 ft 11 in) above sea level, and a highest natural point of only 2.4 meters (7 ft 10 in), making it the world’s lowest-lying country. The Maldives is very vulnerable to sea level...