Tag: 2022

Quartz Inn Hotels adds “bubble hotel” to sustainable portfolio

SPAIN: Quartz Inn Hotels has announced the addition of the bubble hotel Miluna Open Nature Rooms to its Spanish portfolio.

SPAIN: Quartz Inn Hotels has announced the addition of the bubble hotel Miluna Open Nature Rooms to its Spanish portfolio.

The hotel will be one of nine independent and sustainable hotels in Spain for Quartz Inn Hotels.

The rooms of the hotel are the unique bubble type structures (see image) so guests can stargaze and feel connected to the immediate environment. The ethos of the hotel is to be connected to nature, and take action for the environment.

Sustainable measures at Miluna – which tick some of the UN’s sustainable boxes – include projects for reforestation and conservation of natural spaces, support for local producers and artisans, support for social projects and NGOs, and reduction of the carbon footprint.

Miluna recycles, “shops local”, offering local artisans and producers the chance to supply the hotel (as well as having a vegetable garden of its own). The hotel also offsets all the emissions produced at the complex using a company called REFLORA which studies and analyses the emissions annually and then offsets them in sustainable rural developments and projects such as tree planting. Miliuna has planted more than 500 trees on site but also has projects in other countries like Peru.

Quartz Inn Hotels co-founder Lidiia Tkachenko said: “It is a pleasure to welcome Miluna to our community of sustainable and independent hotels. Their constant commitment to the environment is admirable.”

Miluna’s co-founder Alejandro Bosch says: “At Miluna we are committed to people and the planet. Our hotel is focused on health, sustainability, recycling, social action and care for the environment.”

Quartz Inn Hotels is the first European hotel collection formed by independent and sustainable hotels and properties. The London based startup was founded in 2021 by Ignacio Merino, Lidiia Tkachenko and Alexander Zawadzki. Quartz Inn Hotels also runs the European Sustainable Tourism Awards, which are now open for entry.

Image: Miluna

Second European Sustainable Tourism Awards open for entries

EUROPE: Entries are now open for the second edition of the European Sustainable Tourism Awards “GrINN Awards 2023”.

EUROPE: Entries are now open for the second edition of the European Sustainable Tourism Awards “GrINN Awards 2023”.

Run by Quartz Inn Hotels, the main objective of the awards is to promote good sustainable practices and environmental awareness

All types of tourist accommodation, professionals and companies in the sector can apply to be recognised for their efforts in sustainability, by completing the nomination form found on the website.

Applicants may enter up to five categories within the 100 available.The jury is made up of experts from the sector, promoters of sustainability in the industry and with extensive experience in the hotel industry.

Alexander Zawadzki, organiser of the awards and co-founder of Quartz Inn Hotels said: “We are pleased to present this new edition of the GrINN Awards with the commitment to continue promoting good sustainable practices in the industry. The last edition was a resounding success in terms of participation and awareness and we are sure that this year will be even better. Our mission is to give small businesses a voice so that they can show their sustainable progress and encourage other hotels, clients and workers to follow in their footsteps in favor of the environment.”

Quartz Inn Hotels is the first European hotel collection formed by independent and sustainable hotels and properties London based startup, founded in 2021 by Ignacio Merino, Lidiia Tkachenko and Alexander Zawadzki. 

Last year’s full list of results can be found here.

Four Seasons Punta Mita conserves Olive Ridley sea turtles

MEXICO: The Four Seasons Resort Punta Mita in Mexico is doing its part for the sea turtles on its beach by helping to release the hatchlings to increase survival rates.

MEXICO: The Four Seasons Resort Punta Mita in Mexico is doing its part for the sea turtles on its beach by helping to release the hatchlings to increase survival rates.

Olive Ridley sea turtles, the second smallest sea turtle in the world, are intentionally released as a group at the shoreline at sunset, giving them the best chance of survival. 

The hotel has been working with Red Tortuguera AC MEX in support of its conservation efforts for the sea turtles for eight years, conducting assisted releases, which increases the survival chances of hatchlings by 300 per cent.

John O’Sullivan, regional vice-president and general manager, Four Seasons Resort Punta Mita, Mexico told Sustainable Hotel News: “As part of Four Seasons Resort Punta Mita’s commitment to the preservation of the environment and leaving a positive, enduring impact on the local community, eight years ago we partnered with RED Tortuguera A.C, a local organization dedicated to the conservation of sea turtles in Jalisco and Nayarit, Mexico. Since then, along with our guests, we’ve released close to 1 million sea turtles into Banderas Bay.”

More than 980,000 hatchlings are saved during the August to February hatching season.  The turtle eggs are collected and then protected and incubated for 45 days until they hatch. 

These hatchlings “imprint” on the beach and will be back to that same beach in 15 years to lay their own eggs.   

The partnership between The Four Seasons Resort Punta Mita and Red Tortuguera AC MEX that contributed to the opening of 12 sea turtle hatcheries along Banderas Bay.

The releasing of the turtles can also be part of meeting and events itineraries and corporate team building activities.

O’Sullivan added: “The Sea Turtle Release is an unforgettable and beautiful experience that our guests carry with them long after they’ve departed. To be able to educate guests about this natural wonder and have them participate in the conservation of sea turtles is extraordinary and continues to be one the most sought after activities at the Resort for couples, families, and groups alike.”

Hotels supporting sustainable practices is something future travellers are keen to champion – as reported by Bloombery Media last year.

Image courtesy of The Four Seasons Resort Punta Mita.

The Eden Hotel Collection achieves zero waste and launches Green Champions

UK: Boutique hotel chain, The Eden Collection, has achieved its green goal of zero waste going to landfill over the last year.

UK: Boutique hotel chain, The Eden Collection, has achieved its green goal of zero waste going to landfill over the last year.

The group is now taking steps to get the accreditation by Green Tourism.

The Eden Collection recycled 313 tonnes of waste across all of its hotels in 2022. Of that 30 per cent was recycled, and 50 per cent was converted into renewable energy through incineration. The final 20 per cent of the group’s waste was food waste and this was broken down to create organic matter through the process of anaerobic digestion – where the bacteria breaks down waste in the absence of oxygen.

The group has also announced the launch of its ‘Green Champions’ at every hotel, which achieves the Green Tourism accreditation this year. One member of staff from each of those hotels has volunteered to be responsible for taking the lead on environmental initiatives. This includes using more energy-efficient light bulbs, sourcing local produce, and encouraging paperless bills. 

Jayne O’Malley, group operations manager at The Eden Hotel Collection said: “We are so proud of the work that has taken place across the Group over the past 12 months and we’re really looking to build on that in 2023. We are aiming to be a collection of environmentally responsible hotels, providing intelligent luxury and to assist in achieving a cleaner, safer and healthier world for ourselves, our families and that of future generations.”

The group is working with the Carbon Trust and 1st Waste Management Consultants Ltd, as well as in tree planting and wind turbine projects in the UK.

The Eden Hotel Collection has hotels across the UK, including Bovey Castle in Devon, The Greenway Hotel and Spa in Cheltenham, Brockencote Hall Hotel in Kidderminster, Mallory Court Hotel and Spa in Leamington, and The Arden Hotel in Stratford.

In other UK hotel news, Kent’s first eco hotel opened late last year.

Image: Bovey Castle, Devon – The Eden Collection

Relais & Chateaux publishes first sustainability report

FRANCE: Relais & Chateaux, the French association of 580 luxury hotels and restaurants, has just published its first sustainability report.

FRANCE: Relais & Chateaux, the French association of 580 luxury hotels and restaurants, has just published its first sustainability report.

The document, which has been written after analysing results from half of the 580 properties which took part in the report, looks at the environmental, social, and societal impact the group has on the world, and defines 15 goals for 2025 and 2030 based on three core pillars: environmental conservation, sustainable cuisine and social and societal empowerment. 

The 89-page Sustainability Report: In Search of Hospitality in Harmony with the Natural World (baseline year 2021) aims to measure and share the association’s progress, as well as focusing on the positive impact its independent chefs, hoteliers and restaurateurs can have on sustainability.

Philippe Gombert president, Relais & Chateau and owner Chateau de la Treyne said: “I am deeply proud our association of 580 independent hoteliers, restaurateurs and chefs appreciates that hospitality must operate in harmony with the natural world. We have been working regeneratively long before that became a buzzword. Now, as the world faces the grim realities of climate change, it is time to consolidate our progress and accelerate the pace of change as we enter a new, critical phase in humankind’s relationship with nature. Against this context, our first sustainability report is published so that we can openly and transparently share our successes, acknowledge our challenges, set ambitious new goals for all our properties and showcase to the world the positive contribution that hospitality can–and must–make for future generations.”

The report provides a comprehensive snapshot of members’ sustainability practices and has sections on progress, such as how many of the United Nation’s SDG’s the group is meeting with a score against the ones they are committed to.

Page 23 of the report also has a detailed map – that of a tree dissected, with the growth rings showing the complexity of the process to cover all aspects of the groups’ impact on the environment. 

Not all properties in the 580 have replied to the first round of sustainability questions for the report and it is the hope of Oliver Roellinger, vice president, Relais & Chateaux, cook and owner Les Maisons de Bricourt that all properties will be part of the process for future annual sustainability reports.

Roellinger said: “It was a great success that half of our 580 properties responded to our first questionnaire, which measured activity in 2021. But it’s our ambition that all member properties respond each year, to reach the goals we are setting for ourselves. We want the data to be accurate and as robust and reflective of the association as possible– that way we can drive the necessary transition into a regenerative future.”

With the adoption of their sustainable development action plan, Relais & Chateaux will measure the progress of its members in a comprehensive annual report developed with engineers and sustainable development experts. 

The full report can be found in full on the Relais & Chateau website’s Sustainability section.

In September luxury hotel group Kempinski also published its first ESG report.