ENCINITAS, CALIF.—A year after receiving Platinum WELL Certification for her Inn at Moonlight Beach—the first lodging establishment in the world to do so—owner Shangwen Chiu Kennedy has no regrets about the investment. Well Certification is a result of the International WELL Building Institute’s collaboration with Green Business Certification Inc. According to the Institute, there are currently 4,421 projects encompassing over 623 million square feet that are applying WELL across 63 countries. There is at least one additional Well hotel project. The boutique Inn at Moonlight Beach consists of five modern suites, 10 distinct gardens, and an owner’s quarters. The Inn...

NATIONAL REPORT—According to the recently released J.D. Power 2020 North America Hotel Guest Satisfaction Index (NAGSI) Study, meeting guest expectations for cleanliness continues to be a strong driver of guest satisfaction. “In fact, satisfaction with guestroom cleanliness has been climbing steadily for many years,” says Andrea Stokes, Hospitality Practice lead at J.D. Power. With guest attention to cleanliness at a hyper level due to COVID-19, making sure guests need not worry about lingering cigarette or marijuana odor is even more critical. As far as the hotel industry has come in banning indoor smoking (97 percent of hotel rooms are nonsmoking),...

CALHOUN, GA.—Mohawk Industries is supporting safety precautions as local students, teachers and staff return to school. The company recently made several large donations in northwest Georgia prior to the beginning of the school year: Calhoun City Schools: 4,250 water bottles and 420 cannisters of disinfectant wipes; Dalton Public Schools: 500 gallons of hand sanitizer; Gordon County Schools: 6,700 water bottles, 840 cannisters of disinfectant wipes and 100 boxes to cover water fountains; and Whitfield County Schools: 500 gallons of hand sanitizer. “We reached out to our local schools and asked what we could provide that would best help students and...

NANTUCKETT, MASS.—GSN Planet (GSN) has recently partnered with the Esalen Institute to bring webinars to the wellness community dedicated to personal and professional healing and growth during the post-COVID 19 world. Esalen Healing Arts is introducing a selection of its faculty and partners to provide this conversational and thought-provoking webinar series to stimulate and raise awareness amongst our ever-changing wellness landscape. “We are very excited to collaborate with GSN for this opportunity. We are looking forward to bringing some unique perspectives to the discussion through our esteemed faculty and friends,” says Doug Drummond, Director of Healing Arts and Somatics at...

MIAMI, FLA.—The Global Wellness Summit (GWS), the foremost gathering of international leaders in the $4.5 trillion global wellness economy, announced that James Nestor, author of the new book Breath: The New Science of a Lost Art, will keynote at its conference being held November 8 to 11, 2020, at The Breakers Palm Beach. Nestor’s book has instantly become a New York Times best seller and is the result of his decade-long investigation into thousands of years of medical texts and new studies in pulmonology, psychology, biochemistry and human physiology. Breath turns our long-held beliefs about our most basic biological function...

Nearly 4,000 consumers from 48 countries and territories responded to the Wellness Tourism Association’s second consumer survey, revealing their motivations for taking a Wellness Vacation as the industry begins to recover. The three-month (April, May, June 2020) online consumer survey was administered in collaboration with WTA Member, Professor Danny Kessler Ph.D. from Youngsan University, Busan, South Korea. Respondents were 54 percent female with 73 percent between the ages 26 to 74 (Millennials and Baby Boomers), and with close to 78 percent indicating they already include wellness activities when they travel. President & CEO of the Wellness Tourism Association, Anne...

NEW YORK—The International WELL Building Institute (IWBI), the world’s leading certification body for healthy buildings, announced the establishment of the WELL Advisory for Hotels and Resorts to provide insights on the application of the WELL Health-Safety Rating for Facilities Operations and Management for hotels and resorts. The WELL Health-Safety Rating is an evidence-based, third-party verified rating focused on operational policies, maintenance protocols and emergency plans to address a post COVID-19 environment. IWBI will accept registrations for the WELL Health-Safety Rating from all building and facility typologies later this month. Leveraging guidance on the spread of COVID-19 and other respiratory disease...

LINCOLNSHIRE, ILL.—Addressing health concerns and confidence of American travelers, LG Business Solutions USA is offering hotel operators a free “Clean Remote” with every new LG hotel TV. The special remote control is designed to be safer thanks to a non-porous, sealed membrane surface that can reduce bacteria and germs by as much as 99 percent compared to traditional remotes, according to Clean Remote LLC. “The Clean Remote solution pairs perfectly with LG hotel TVs to provide guests a safer in-room experience and some peace of mind,” said Mike Kosla, Vice President of Hospitality, LG Business Solutions USA. “TV remotes are the most...

My family tested the waters of COVID-19 vacation land a couple of weeks ago and took a week-long road trip from Tampa, Fla. to Savannah, Ga., to Asheville, N.C. and back. We spent most of our time in the Asheville area. We loved the Asheville and Savannah areas. In recent months I have heard from one hotel and restaurant company after another about their plans to clean like crazy to make their guests feel welcome and safe. This was my family’s first test to see if the hotels were doing what they said they were doing. Our first stop was a Holiday...

SCOTTSDALE, ARIZ.—Known for their extensive body and skin care collection, Whish has now developed a new hand sanitizer to keep hands clean and help fight disease. The new 70 percent ethyl alcohol sanitizer comes in three different sizes—16 ounce, 33 ounce, 1 gallon—for both consumer and trade purposes. Key features: FDA registered facility cGMP facility Made in the USA (Scottsdale, Ariz.) Gel, not spray Denatured alcohol All packaging comes with a pump 70 percent ethyl alcohol Like all of Whish’s products, Leaping Bunny is certified, paraben free, sulfate free, DEA and TEA free, petrochemical free, phthalate free, naturally sourced, and made in...