MGM Resorts International’s announcement this past week that it would open its Park MGM/NoMad resort as a 100 percent nonsmoking resort was good news for travelers who prioritize good, clean air to breathe. According to MGM’s press release about the opening, it is the Las Vegas Strip’s first fully smoke-free casino resort. While a long time coming, I applaud MGM for taking this step and strongly encourage the company to repeat it at its other remaining properties around the world. (Listen up other gaming companies as well.) The announcement comes at a critical time—with the West experiencing its worst fire...

The Latino share of the U.S. population is about 18 percent, but Latinos accounted for about half of all U.S. population growth from 2010 to 2019. Yet, the percentage of hotels owned by Latinos in the United States is far from where it could be. According to Lynette Montoya, President & CEO of the Latino Hotel Assn., there are currently about 500 to 600 hotels in the United States that are Latino owned. Montoya told me she has led the association since 2015, previously working as a hotel broker. “Our job is to provide knowledge of opportunity of owning and/or...

It has been said that “crisis breeds innovation.” That has certainly been true in our industry and others since the onset of the pandemic. One of the innovations I have been seeing more often in recent months is portable or even robotic ultraviolet (UV) light machines that can be used by housekeepers or others in maintenance for guestrooms and public areas. They tend to use UVC light as compared to UVA or UVB. UVC light has a wavelength range of 100 to 280 nanometers (nm) and is widely acknowledged as the most effective light to eradicate germs. The machines...

Imagine if the windows on your hotel became electricity generators for your property. Not just the windows on the south-facing side but every side. A company called SolarWindow Technologies has developed a product called SolarWindow that it says could have a payback of one year and reduce your electricity costs by 50 percent. Capable of generating current and voltage while maintaining the transparent nature of ordinary glass, the company’s recently featured nine-square-foot SolarWindow was created using the company’s patented LiquidElectricity coatings. A new video demonstrates the Solar Window. It is very cool technology. The product is still not available for...

I recently had the opportunity to interview Jeffery Smith, Vice President Sustainability for Six Senses Hotels Resorts Spas. Click here in case you missed it. Six Senses made news this past week when it announced that it has become one of the first signatories of the Global Tourism Plastics Initiative, led by the UN Environment Programme and UN World Tourism Organization, in collaboration with the Ellen MacArthur Foundation. As a signatory of the Global Tourism Plastics Initiative, Six Senses furthers its commitment to eliminating and becoming plastic free in 2022. I have built the case for going plastic free many times...

While shorter showers and not letting the shower water run are encouraged in at least one article on the U.S. Department of Energy’s own website, and the U.S. EPA has its own long-standing and successful WaterSense label program to reward showerhead water efficiency, President Trump believes the time is now to get less showerhead efficient. Following numerous public complaints from the president about low-flow fixtures designed to save water, the Department of Energy has proposed to change the definition of a showerhead. In the new proposal, different components within a showerhead would be allowed to count as individual showerheads. This...

The Pandemic Action Network, WHO, Africa CDC, CDC and CDC Foundation, Facebook, Google, Global Citizen and 40+ partner organizations just announced the launch of World Mask Week from August 7 to 14, an effort to increase the use of face coverings in public across the globe. These organizations join many others, including hotel companies and hotel industry associations, that have committed to face mask wearing to wipe out COVID-19 as much as possible. Given the alarming exponential increase of infection rates across the globe, sustained community masking in public is critical to stop the spread of COVID-19, even as situations...

The wrong lists keep getting longer—the list of hand sanitizer products that are labeled to contain ethanol but have tested positive for methanol contamination, and the list of accidental poisonings attributed to hand sanitizer. The Federal Drug Administration’s list of improperly labeled hand sanitizer was up to 94 entries as of this writing. Every entry I saw on the list was made in Mexico. I am not aware of any improperly labeled sanitizer being sold to hotels but please be careful about what you buy and where you buy it. Some of the improperly labeled sanitizer was sold at Walmart...

A few different things this week: I am excited to announce the 14th anniversary of Green Lodging News. A total of 729 weeks of e-newsletters and more than 11,000 edited and written articles later, I am still here. A major thank you to the many hundreds of suppliers who have supported Green Lodging News over the years. Green Lodging News would not exist without you. And of course, a big thank you to the many thousands of readers who have utilized Green Lodging News as a source of news. Be sure to support our suppliers and be sure to tell...

Faced with the prospect of disinfecting a space for COVID-19, many are utilizing corded or cordless sprayers of one type or another. I understand the thinking. You can cover an area quickly, be thorough about it, and then move on to the next space. In press releases distributed by our industry’s leading companies in recent months, many have announced they will be using electrostatic sprayers to disseminate disinfectant. I wrote an article about that technology and other spray technologies this past week. Be sure to read my article. A big thank you to Green Seal for adding additional valuable...