Sustainable living has become more apparent in home life. As such, it isn’t surprising that consumers are choosing to take this lifestyle with them when travelling.
Those committed to leading a greener life want to engage in these practices wherever they are and it’s the hotel’s responsibility to cater for this market by engaging in their own environmentally friendly practices.
Not only does embracing environmentally friendly practices attract this market, it helps hotels to remain competitive and save money. Here are some easy fixes to leading a more sustainable hotel:
Involve your guests
Perhaps the best way to change your hotel’s fortunes is to make your guests responsible for their choices. Guest involvement creates a better-connected relationship.
When guests are given the choice, most will choose the environmentally friendly option when given prompts around the room explaining how much energy is saved in each decision. For example, many will turn the air-con off when they go out and keep their towels for a couple of days instead of having them washed and changed unnecessarily every night.
Utilities are one of the biggest operational costs for hotels and by promoting reuse programs, energy usage is minimised.
Serve local food
In your hotel’s restaurant area, stock food from local suppliers. By using local suppliers, the carbon emissions associated with long-range transportation are minimised. Whilst the cost might be slightly more, consumers are often willing to pay more for local and organic food. Doing so will bring travellers closer to the community and can, in fact, act a USP.
Recycling
When it comes to being environmentally friendly, a recycling program is what most people first envisage and it’s important to have one in place. Ensure you have a recycle bin in communal areas as well as in the guest’s individual rooms. Recycling won’t necessarily help a hotel save costs, but it will help to establish you as an establishment that cares about the environment.
To take it further, your hotel can also use products that are recycled or partially recycled such as bedding, towels, toilet paper and stationery.
Sustainable furniture
Furniture is everywhere in a hotel. From the hotel rooms and corridors to the reception area and bar. For a hotel that is trying to present itself an environmentally friendly, the choice of supplier for furnishings is massively important.
At Trent Furniture, we believe in looking after the environment's future, that is why all the wood used in our furniture comes from sustainable and properly managed sources. In addition, most of our waste products including wood, cardboard, plastic and waste metal are recycled - or if in a suitable condition, the furniture is given to our local shelter charity.
Furniture for hotels
Our hotel furniture is selected to incorporate a wide range of tables and chairs in both traditional and modern designs, meaning that no matter what the décor of your hotel, we will have something to match. All our products are hard wearing and durable meaning that you don’t have to replace often.
Take a look at our hotel furniture here.