Guests love taking advantage of cheap vacation packages and discount hotel rooms. Hotels hoping to address the growing desire of many guests to stay in eco-friendly lodging are bumping up against the reality of an extended poor economy that has hit the hotel industry particularly hard.
Average occupancy for all domestic hotels in the second quarter of this year fell short of 61 percent vs. exceeding 69 percent in the third quarter of 2000.
During good economic times eco sensitive hotels were embracing touches likes roof gardens, floors of reclaimed wood, and solar panels. Some hotels were only purchasing furniture made from sustainably grown wood.
Now faced with falling revenue and reduced operating budgets, many hotels are postponing costly environmentally friendly initiatives and focusing on less costly environmental steps, some of which save money. Hotels are now focusing on small scale affordable, often profitable, conservation programs including:
Training staff to turn off lights and televisions
Encouraging guests to request less frequent sheet and towel changes
Installing more efficient fixtures such as water conserving showerheads, low flow faucets and toilets, and energy efficient lights, with an emphasis on natural light
Water conserving landscapes
Starwood Hotels & Resorts has been one of the leaders in finding ways to save money and resources. By installing energy and water efficient products like compact fluorescent light bulbs, Energy Star rated appliances, and low flow plumbing fixtures in guest rooms at the Element brand hotel in Lexington, MA, Starwood has been able to save approximately $52,000 annually.
Hotels face a balancing act in that they do not want their green initiatives to inconvenience their guests yet these initiatives need to be visible enough to satisfy environmentally sensitive guests.
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