Quite a few years ago I had the opportunity to stay at one of the first Hilton Home2 Suites hotels. Every now and then while traveling with my family I stay at the property. I like the fact that Hilton has made many of the features of the brand sustainable and brand standards. I also like the spaciousness of the rooms—part of the appeal of the brand in the extended-stay niche. About two years ago I wrote about a Hilton Home2 Suites that reached the rare LEED Platinum level. While not a green brand through and through, Home2 Suites...

It was a busy last week with Earth week peaking on Earth Day, Thursday, April 22. There were numerous newsworthy announcements worth mentioning. First, Hilton released its Environmental, Social and Governance Report. The ESG Report highlights the company’s environmental and social performance during a tumultuous year. Among the report’s highlights: The company took steps to increase sourcing of renewable energy at hotels around the world, in line with the company’s science-based targets. In 2020, most Hilton-managed hotels in the United Kingdom began procuring 100 percent renewable electricity. Fairmont Hotels & Resorts announced it is celebrating the 30th anniversary of its award-winning...

This April 22 we celebrate Earth Day, a day to not only celebrate our planet but also to recognize and act on the precarious state it is in. Each in our own way can make a difference—whether we run a lodging establishment, sell a product or service, plan events, or are otherwise involved in the industry. One example of an Earth Day activity: Environmental stewards from Fairmont San Francisco and Fairmont Heritage Place, Ghirardelli Square will honor Earth Day by sponsoring a local beach clean-up at Aquatic Park from 11 a.m. to 1 p.m. The event is open to the...

If there is one thing that is clear about this pandemic we have been going through, the rules and guidelines can change overnight, and those changes can impact a lot of people and businesses and confuse the heck out of hoteliers or someone sitting in the corporate office of a hotel company. Chalk it up to us all—even scientists—learning how to deal with an ever-changing pandemic. This past week the CDC (Centers for Disease Control and Prevention) said regular cleaning of surfaces with soap and detergent is enough to reduce the risk of spreading COVID-19 in facilities and homes. The...

If you did a search on shipping container on Green Lodging News, it would turn up several pages of articles. In the coming week I will be adding yet another article. It is quite an interesting story, but Michigan developer, businessman and visionary Darius Smith just launched ASJ Homes. His company will break ground on the first shipping container home in the next two months. Now the really interesting (or confusing if you, like me, get confused by crypto currency) part: Smith is also introducing a new cryptocurrency called Container Tokens, which will be used to raise funds for...

Over the years I have written about suppliers that are not only offering outstanding products and services but also doing incredible things at home. One such company I just wrote about is Melink Corp. They are not an advertiser of mine. They have been around since 1987 and you may know them best for their Intelli-Hood kitchen hood controls that dually monitor the level of cooking activity and automatically adjust the kitchen’s exhaust fan and supply fans to operate only as needed. I first wrote about that system in 2007. Today, Melink does much more than kitchen hood controls. Their...

My family and I vacationed in New Orleans this past week. It is certainly one of my favorite cities. I had not been there for a long time and really enjoyed visiting the National WWII Museum and New Orleans Museum of Art. If you have never been to the Museum of Art there, they have an outstanding outdoor sculpture garden. Of course, walking through the rich, cultural neighborhoods downtown close to the Mississippi River was a great experience as well. We stayed at the Hilton Riverside—a great location right next to the River. There did not appear to be much...

Certainly one of the hottest topics prior to the pandemic was the trend toward eliminating individual-use plastic items. I recently featured Dr. Megan Morikawa, Global Director of Sustainability for Iberostar Hotels & Resorts and she told me one of the three main goals of her company’s Wave of Change movement is eliminating the consumption of single-use plastics. In fact, in 2020 Iberostar reached its goal and is now 100 percent free of single-use plastics. With a combination of more than 100 owned and managed hotels around the world, that could not have been easy. Thank you Iberostar for showing...

Years ago I had a trip that took me from the United States to Iceland to Denmark. I must have come close to flying over the Faroe Islands. They are located about halfway between Iceland and Norway and are an autonomous territory within the Kingdom of Denmark. I come across quite a few new and cool green hotel projects each week—even during this pandemic—and the Hilton Garden Inn Faroe Islands was one that caught my eye. It opened last October. I recently corresponded with Kate Mikesell, VP Corporate Responsibility, Hilton, and Martin Restorff, General Manager of the hotel, to learn...

In the development of tourism and new hotels and resorts, to what extent should the consideration of human rights come into play? I have often thought about this and I know it is a complex topic. Should tourists travel to places where human rights abuses are prevalent? Should investors invest in and build hotels or resorts, or should a franchisor franchise its brands in countries notorious for the abuse of human rights? As a supplier should you sell your products or services? In Green Lodging News I have run several articles about The Red Sea Project, a development in Saudi...