ANNAPOLIS, MD.—In an era of smoke-free spaces, green energy, eco-friendly products and environmental health, Thayer Lodging Group, a privately held real estate investment company with a portfolio of 14 hotels and over 2,800 guest rooms, recently announced it will offer allergy-friendly guest accommodations at 10 of its hotels and 99.9 percent allergenic-free meeting facilities at four of its Executive Meeting Centers (EMC) and Conference Centers.
“Thayer Lodging Group has emerged as an industry leader in offering travelers healthy alternatives to meeting and sleeping accommodations,” says Haley Payne, director of wellness for Thayer Lodging. “By offering PURE allergy-friendly hotel rooms and conference spaces, we offer our guests and meeting attendees the benefit of being in healthy, more productive environments.”
Utilizing the PURE Room system, Thayer Lodging will offer guests an environment where surfaces are treated to minimize contaminants and irritants—such as mold spores, yeast, bacteria, pollen, dust, dust mites and chlorine—as well as their odors.
Partnering with Pure Solutions NA, a company of experts from the indoor air quality industry, Thayer Lodging will designate 10 percent of guest rooms in their hotels as allergy-friendly. The PURE system covers the entire room—from the walls to the bedcovers to the air itself.
“We’re looking for things in our hotels that are extraordinary and that will give you a wow factor,” says Tom Kammerer, a managing director at Thayer Lodging Group.
Enhanced Air Filtration
In Thayer Lodging Group “Pure Conference Rooms,” air will be purified at greater intensity and will be filtered eight times more frequently than standard air handling systems. Featuring a 99.9 percent non-allergenic treatment of air and surfaces, and frequently recycled air to lower levels of sleep-inducing carbon dioxide, these International Association of Conference Centers (IAAC)-Certified Conference Centers will aim to increase meeting attendee productivity. As poor indoor air quality can affect attentiveness, responsiveness and performance, these Pure Conference Rooms have the possibility to drastically increase meeting efficiency.
“Thayer Lodging is committed to providing the meeting industry with the highest quality conference venues that meet or exceed IACC’s Universal Criteria,” says Chuck Ocheltree, vice president at Thayer Lodging Group. “The Pure Conference Center is the logical next step in delivering highly productive learning environments.”
Affecting as many as 50 million Americans, allergic diseases are among the major causes of illness and disability in the United States. In a recent study, employees with allergies who reported using no medication showed a 10 percent decrease in productivity.
“With the spotlight on personal wellness these days, we feel we are providing an option to travelers that they are looking for and have been unable to find,” Payne says. “What meeting planners like most about this procedure is that better air quality means a more attentive attendee throughout the meeting.”
Currently, Thayer Lodging Group offers seven hotels with PURE allergy friendly rooms, four with PURE conference space and three more hotels scheduled to have PURE rooms by mid-July. These hotels include:
• Annapolis Marriott Waterfront, (Md.);
• Doubletree Hotel & Executive Meeting Center Bethesda, (Md.);
• Bethesda Residence Inn, (Md.);
• Doubletree Hotel Palm Beach Gardens, (Fla.);
• Wyndham Hotel & Conference Center Miami Airport;
• Wyndham Hotel & Conference Center Lisle-Chicago;
• Wyndham Hotel & Conference Center Peachtree City, (Ga.);
• Sarasota Hampton Inn, (Fla.—coming July 2007);
• Sarasota AmericInn, (Fla.—coming July 2007); and
• Sarasota Hilton Garden Inn, (Fla.—coming July 2007).
For more information on Thayer Lodging Group and PURE Rooms, go to www.thayerlodging.com.
