Over the years I have talked about numerous conversions of non-hotel buildings to hotels that have been lauded for their green efforts. The Nines Hotel in Portland, Ore. comes to mind. I toured the hotel at one point. It was once the famed Meier & Frank building where Portland residents shopped when they needed to dress “to the nines.” I have also written about the converting of hotels to other uses. In both approaches a huge number of resources is saved. This past week I learned about the future conversion of a former hotel in Seaside, Ore. CareOregon, which offers...

There has been a lot of talk about teeth in the Hasek household recently. My son just got his braces on (for the second time) and he just had his remaining three baby teeth removed in one dentist visit. At age 11, he still believes in the tooth fairy (I think) so he kind of hit the jackpot that night with his tooth fairy trifecta. I had teeth on my mind this past week thanks to the article I wrote about eco-friendlier toothbrushes. Most people, hoteliers included, don’t think much about the environmental impact of their toothbrushes, but it is...

The Asian American Hotel Owners Association (AAHOA) will meet for their annual conference and trade show from April 11 to 14 at the Los Angeles Convention Center. Already, AAHOA announced it has reached a record number of booth sales. Chances are that total attendance will be significant and even record breaking. For those of you not familiar with AAHOA, it is the largest hotel owners association in the U.S. AAHOA’s 20,000 members own 60 percent of the hotels in the U.S. More than one million employees work at AAHOA member-owned hotels, earning $47 billion annually, and member-owned hotels support 4.2...

Two important occasions and great opportunities for your properties are coming up in March and April—Earth Hour on March 25 at 8:30 p.m. local time and Earth Day on April 22. Please write to me at greenlodgingnews@gmail.com to tell me what you are planning. Since its beginnings in 2007, Earth Hour has been known for the “lights off” moment, with individuals from around the globe switching off their lights to show symbolic support for the planet and to raise awareness of the environmental issues affecting it. Hotels and hotel companies around the world have been participating for years. Last year for...

A big tip of the hat this week to Marriott for the opening of its 100th Element Hotel. Truth be told, Element Hotels was first launched by Starwood Hotels & Resorts Worldwide back in 2006. The Element brand was part of the merger of Starwood with Marriott in 2016. The Element Salt Lake City Downtown (hotel No. 100) is part of a dual-branded property. The other part of the development is Le Méridien Salt Lake City Downtown. Like Starwood, over the years, Marriott has consistently incorporated green features into its Element properties. In the press release announcing the 100th Element,...

Our industry has a lot of all stars who come up with great ideas. I spoke with one of them this past week. His name is Floris Licht, and he is the full-time General Manager of the DoubleTree by Hilton Amsterdam Centraal Station. He has an impressive side gig: He is Chief Planting Officer for Hotels for Trees, a nonprofit that has planted more than 105,000 trees since the program launched in July 2021. That is quite a patch of trees. What Hotels for Trees offers is an alternative for those hotels that incentivize guests to opt out of housekeeping...

This week I learned about a story of heroism at a convention center and a story of tragedy at a hotel in India. Lessons can be learned from both stories. First, the story of heroism and thanks to the folks at the New Orleans Ernest N. Morial Convention Center for sharing it. Michael and Katherine Diegan, of Daphne, Alabama, were attendees at the “New Orleans Blastoff” volleyball tournament on the weekend of January 14. On Saturday, they encountered an individual outside the convention center who had been jogging in the Pedestrian Park, experiencing a medical emergency. Quickly ascertaining that the man,...

This week I will be attending The NAFEM Show (North American Association of Food Equipment Manufacturers) in Orlando. The show runs from February 1 to 3 at the Orange County Convention Center. I am looking forward to it and will report on the event in next week’s column. There are currently 541 exhibitors. I will be on the lookout for new innovations and technologies—specifically ones that help hoteliers save energy and water and reduce waste. Within foodservice there has been a lot of chatter recently about the health risks of gas stoves. According to The New York Times, mounting evidence...

In recent years, Green Lodging News has published articles about companies that offer machines that transform moisture in the air to drinking water. It is a great idea of course and when matched with a glass bottling system can do a great job at eliminating plastic bottle waste. This past week, Accor announced that it is partnering with SOURCE Global, PBC to bring reusable glass bottled drinking water—water from the air—to key hotels in Singapore. Unique to this water is that it is made by SOURCE Hydropanels—a ground-breaking solar-powered technology that harvests the pure, endlessly renewable water vapor in the...

On a typical day in the U.S., there are thousands of requests for emergency shelter that are unmet. There are different reasons folks need such housing—domestic violence, human trafficking, sexual assault, and other crimes. Fortunately, an increasing number of hotel companies are stepping up to provide rooms for those victims in need through the Safe Stays by ReloShare alliance. According to ReloShare, there are now more than 13,000 hotels participating. A big supporter of ReloShare has been Choice Hotels International, which, as of January 10, had more than six thousand U.S. hotels activated with ReloShare to provide safe housing solutions. Choice...