It takes a lot for me to call a new product or process a game changer in our industry but the new recyclable—yes recyclable—sheets, pillow cases and duvet covers being produced by Pürlin, LLC are just that. Can you imagine reducing your laundry load and related costs by about 50 percent? Offering your guests linens that are high quality, hypoallergenic and that have never been used by any other guest—every single time a guest stays in that room? My article posted this past week explains these new products. I had a chance to sit down and chat with the lodging...

Close your eyes and throw a stick at just about every trade show lately and you are bound to hit somebody selling mattress and box spring encasements. A bit of an exaggeration I admit but there are a lot of folks selling these items and you would be wise to ask suppliers what makes their product “the right fit” for your property. I contacted a bunch of companies that sell encasements for information, but response was limited; I only managed to interview one person but there was ample information available on the companies’ websites. Mattress and box spring encasements can...

During my recent vacation in Ohio I had an opportunity to spend Christmas at a cousin’s house. Something was quite different this year. My cousin and his family had all become vegans. My cousin’s daughter had been having food allergy issues for quite some time and had become a vegan, so to make things easy the entire family switched diets. More than a year ago my wife had half of a cancerous thyroid removed. Thankfully, she is doing fine now and is cancer free. What she has noticed since the surgery is that her body reacts differently to certain types...

What does Starbucks Corp. have that Marriott, Hilton, Wyndham and every other company in our industry does not have? The top spot in the Hotels, Restaurant & Leisure category of Newsweek’s recently released Green Ranking 2017. Newsweek sorts its list into several sub-lists: U.S. Top 10, Global Top 10, U.S. 500, Global 500, Best in Industry U.S., and Best in Industry Global. The methodology for the report can be found here. It was in the Best in Industry U.S. category that Starbucks took the top spot. I will be posting an article about the Green Ranking 2017—a number of U.S....

It most definitely will not be your typical hotel. As reported on Green Lodging News in late December, a new global brand—Eaton Workshop—will debut in Washington, D.C. early this year. I reached out to the company to land an interview with the brand’s Founder and President, Katherine Lo, but was told she is not currently available. Eaton Workshop’s business model is a bit complex, but each location will offer the physical resources of a hotel, modern day social working club, radio station, cinema, wellness center, restaurants and bars, retail, art gallery, event spaces, and more. According to the brand,...

Palau is an island country located in the western Pacific Ocean. It contains approximately 340 islands and has an area of just 180 square miles. The population is about 21,000. As with other Pacific island nations, rising sea level presents a major environmental threat. Illegal dynamite fishing, inadequate solid waste disposal facilities and extensive sand and coral dredging also threaten the health of the environment. I bring up Palau in this column because the country is doing something very unique—something worth replicating around the world. Palau is the first nation on earth to change its immigration laws for the cause...

With the year winding down and many of you on vacation in the coming weeks I wanted to wish you all a very safe and happy holiday season and a great new year ahead. The past year has been a year of significant readership growth for Green Lodging News. Almost 10,000 more people visited my website each month than did last year. I owe thanks to the many sponsors that make Green Lodging News possible each year. Be sure to do business with them and tell them you found them here in my publication. The new year will see the...

It was more than six years ago that my son was born. Those folks who told me kids grow up fast were exactly right. Just yesterday my son got his blue belt in karate. Now I am a little more careful around my son when his hands or feet are flying! I thought of my son a lot this past week while beginning an article on eco-friendly amenities for kids. I have visited a lot of hotels with my son since he was born and not once were we offered any kind of amenities kit for kids. Truly a missed...

I recently chatted with Kurt Bjorkman, General Manager at California’s Ranch at Laguna Beach. A good portion of the results of that conversation appear in my article about the property posted this past week. Be sure to check it out. There were several things that really caught my eye as being unique about the resort. First is the use of a GL Sand Machine that turns wine and beer bottles to sand. The resort is the first lodging establishment in the continental United States to use the machine that pulverizes the glass. That sand can then be used to...

As referenced in last week’s column, the World Wildlife Fund (WWF), the American Hotel & Lodging Assn. (AHLA), with support from The Rockefeller Foundation, recently released results from a set of projects demonstrating innovative strategies aimed at reducing food waste in the hotel industry. I believe it is one of most worthwhile sustainability projects in which AHLA has participated. Based on the results of the project, a website—an online toolkit—was launched. You can find it at www.hotelkitchen.org. Ten hotel properties participated in the 12 weeks of demonstration projects, including a mix of full-service branded hotels and several independent operations across...