Hotelier Green Issue

HUNGARIAN EDITION - A HOTELIER’S QUARTERLY INSPIRATION -THE GREEN ISSUE - HUF 1590

ISSUE NO. 4 - 2016

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Washrooms with sustainability built in Washroom products and systems that offer “built-in sustainability” help to control consumption, keep down costs and make life easier for staff – while also helping facilities to tick all the right boxes.

Reduce waste and usage

Making skincare accessible to all

High quality paper towels absorb more moisturequickly so you use less and waste less.

Cleaners can afford to make fewer maintenance checks to access refill levels, which mean lower transport costs and fewer emissions.

Tork foam soaps naturally reduce consumption since measured shots of soap are given out of the dispenser, which contain double the amount of foam as liquid containers. Tork skincare dispensers are easy to use for everyone, even for people with reduced hand strength like children or elderly people.

All Tork Elevation soap dispensers are certified „Easy to use” by the Swedish Rheumatism Association (SRA).

Reduce consumption and improve hygiene

Save time and effort with packaging that’s easy to handle

Tork SmartOne® sheet-by-sheet dispensing reduces consumption by up to 40%, because it makes it difficult for users to take out excess amounts of toilet tissue. It protects tissue and improves hygiene, it saves time and effort for cleaning staff, which helps to keep down costs.

It’s about working perfectly together

People Helping the community while also making life easier for staff and customers.

- Hygiene solutions - Sustainable innovations - Code of Conduct - Health & Safety

Tork Easy Handling™ packaging system comprises boxes and carry-packs with integral handles, and due to perforations it is easy to open without the need for knife and scissors. Packaging is designed ergonomically, which saves time and improves working conditions. Flattened boxes are easy to be recycled.

Nature “Environmentally-friendly” aspect of sustainability that includes forest management, water conservation and energy reductions.

- Climate & Energy - Fibre sourcing & Biodiversity - Water

Value Keeping an organisation’s finances sustainable in order to enable it to carry out good, ethical practices on an ongoing basis.

- Earnings - Cash flow - Growth

HOTELIERINTERNATIONAL.COM HUNGARIAN EDITION PUBLISHER: ABSOLUT MEDIA ZRT. 1075 BUDAPEST, MADÁCH IMRE ÚT 13–14.

TEL: +36 (1) 398-0344 PUBLISHER: THOMAS BOTKA CEO: BALÁZS ROMÁN roman.b@amedia.hu ADVERTISING: ERIKA TÖRSÖK torsok.e@amedia.hu DISTRIBUTION: SZILVIA IMRE imre.sz@amedia.hu PHOTO: ÁRPÁD PINTÉR HOTELIERINTERNATIONAL.COM PUBLISHER: INTERNATIONAL MEDIA GROUP, 17 HANOVER SQUARE, LONDON W1S 1HU EDITOR-IN-CHIEF: SARAH ANDREWS ART DIRECTOR: ERIC WITHAM DESIGNER: STEPHEN KELMAN CEO: SIMON GREVES simon-greves@intmediagroup.co.uk INTERNATIONAL LICENSING: KARL-HENRY EDSTRÖM karl.henry@intmediagroup.co.uk CONTRIBUTING WRITERS: NOÉMI LÁZÁR, LEVENTE HÖRÖMPÖLI-TÓTH, ETHAN GELBER, ANJA MUTIĆ, NICK BALL, MEG NOLAN VAN BEESEMA, BOYD FARROW COVER IMAGE: BUDDHA-BAR BUDAPEST KLOTILD PALACE ISSN: 2416-2949

The opinions expressed in this magazine are those of the authors and/or persons interviewed and do not necessarily reflect the views of Hotelier International Ltd. Advertisers or their representatives assume full responsibility for the content of their advertisements, and for ensuring that this content corresponds with the laws and other normative acts of Italy and the country where the magazine is being published. All rights reserved. No part of this magazine may be reproduced in any form without the written permission of the publisher.

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INSIDE

ISSUE NO.4 GREEN ISSUE – 2016 LETTER FROM THE PUBLISHER........................................................................ 9 CONCIERGE A HOTELIER’S HELP DESK........................................................... 10 Q&A WITH ÁKOS NIKLAI..................................................................................... 22 President of the Hungarian Hotel and Restaurant Association THE CONSULTANT............................................................................................ 24

By Hospitality Consultant Federico Michele Brilli, ITL Group THE QUESTION....................................................................................................26 We Asked The Gms Of Prize-Winning Entrants From The 2015-16 “Green Hotel”Competition Q&A WITH HOTELIER TAMÁS FAZEKAS............................................................... 28 General Manager Of Buddha-Bar Hotel Budapest Q&A WITH HOTELIER HERVÉ HOUDRÉ.................................................................44 Talking With The Champion Of Sustainability In Luxury Urban Hotels BOTTLED HARMONY IN HOTELS NEAR YOU.................................................. 52 Q&A WITH HOTELIER HANS PFISTER.................................................................. 56 Lessons From Costa Rica On Downplaying Sustainabil Ity, Finding The Right Partners, And Putting People First Q&A WITH ARCHITECT HITESH MEHTA ...............................................................64 Talking With The Guru Of Eco-Planning And Eco-Design.

THE BEST GREEN CONVERSIONS.........................................................................................74

ww.ravak.com GREEN BATHROOM DESIGNS..............................................................................84 LIVING WALLS.......................................................................................................94 PROFILES CAPE TOWN’S VINEYARD HOTEL .......................................................................104 LAST LOOK.........................................................................................................112 NEXT ISSUE .......................................................................................................114

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HUNGARIAN EDITION - A HOTELIER’S QUARTERLY INSPIRATION -THE GREEN ISSUE - HUF 1590

ISSUE NO. 4 - 2016

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LETTER FROM THE PUBLISHER

Demand grows for the hotel industry to represent green values, to reduce carbon footprints and to involve local producers as suppliers. As a result of this trend, there are ever more hotels in Hungary (and worldwide) that declare themselves environmentally conscious. Hotelier International’s fourth Hungarian issue discusses this key topic.

Our Concierge column introduces the winner of the Hungarian Hotel and Restaurant Association (HAH) 2015-2016 “green hotel” competition, the Art Hotel Szeged; reports on an innovative catering service offered

by Kempinski Corvinus Hotel Budapest; and welcomes The Ritz-Carlton Hotel’s new manager, Nicolas A. Kipper.

Elsewhere in the magazine we have an interview with HAH chairman Ákos Niklai, in which he tells us about the history and motivation for the “green hotel” competition, and also shares some of his work with us.

The staff of Buddha-Bar give us an insight into the hotel’s wonderful world: you can admire fantastic photos of the hotel interior, rooms and restaurants, and enjoy an interview with manager Tamás Fazekas.

Our international team has, of course, come up with many exciting stories for us. Hervé Houdre (Regional Director of Operations of the InterContinental Hotel Group (IHG) and General Manager of the landmark

InterContinental New York Barclay) tells us about the optimal sustainability of inner city luxury hotels. Hans Pfister (president and co-owner of Cayuga Sustainable Hospitality, a Costa Rica-based company) gives us advice on why it is vital to select suitable partners and colleagues from the very beginning.

Talking of partners, several will present themselves in this issue.

It is our goal, once again, to share the most innovative ideas and features with you in order to pass on the “green message”.

Please accept and read the magazine with pleasure!

S I N C E R E LY,

THOMAS BOTKA — PUBLISHER

CONCIERGE ISSUE NO.3 2016 A HOTELIER’S HELP DESK

TOURISM AGENCY AND IBM PARTNER UP IN STRENGTHENING HUNGARIAN TOURISM

Hungarian Tourism Agency and IBM signed a memorandum of understanding on World Tourism Day (27 September 2016) that aims to ease the market entry of startups.

The structural change in Hungarian governmental tourism management reflects a renewed approach. The primary goal is to improve the competitiveness of the sector, which the partners believe is “unimaginable” without innovation.

For its part, the state says it views the initial support and development of ideas as an investment that will help create new markets.

That will also create high added value job opportunities within the

sector, says Dr. Gusztáv Bienerth, the government commissioner for tourism, adding: “We expect further economic success stories from the agreement we have just signed with IT giant IBM.” IBM has been present in Hungary for 80 years. Over the years it has created an ecosystem in Hungary that successfully incorporates initial phase and mature enterprises, developers and students in higher education – all with the purpose of working together, finding new opportunities, establishing new connections and supporting innovation.

IBM initiatives on offers to tourism startups include the Global Entrepreneur Programme, providing support to innovative local communities

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worldwide, mentoring them via IBM Cloud, and granting access to developer tools and cloud services.

The government says the partnership with IBM will support Hungarian creativity in serving the growth of tourism.

The signing ceremony also saw the debut of an all-new installation by IBM called #helloHungary on Erzsébet tér (Elisabeth Square) in downtown Budapest.

The multifunctional “experience point” provides directions and experience sharing options to locals and tourists in ways new to Budapest.

It will remain in operation at the square until the end of the year, when it will start a roadshow tour around Hungary.

CONCIERGE

THE HUNGARIAN TEAM OF HOTELIER INTERNATIONAL WELCOMES THE NEW GM OF RITZ-CARLTON, BUDAPEST! Nicolas A. Kipper has been appointed the new general manager of The Ritz-Carlton, Budapest. He will be responsible for strengthening The Ritz-Carlton brand in Hungary and for making the Budapest hotel the first choice for those seeking the highest level of services in the Hungarian capital during their business or leisure travels – whether visiting for a business meal, a long-weekend urban retreat, or as a central meeting p o i n t .

K ip p er is a F re n c h p ro f e ssi o n a l wi t h 2 5 y e a r s of exp erien ce in t h e ho sp i t a l i t y i n d u s t r y. He h a s w or ke d in n u merou s locat ion s , i n c l u d i n g R u s si a , Mo ro c c o, Pola nd, Tu rkey, M e x ico, Eg y p t a n d S e r b i a . B e f o re joining The Ritz-C ar lton h e w or k e d f o r l e a d i n g h o t e l c h a i n s, a nd most recently w as ge n e r a l ma n a g e r a t t h e L o n d o n Ma r r iot t Pa r k L an e h ote l.

Referring to The Ritz-Carlton’s connection to the local community, the new GM said: “There is great potential in Budapest, where locals are becoming ever more eager to acquaint themselves with the unique experiences available in the city. Our hotel doors are open to them as well, so that they too can have their own Ritz-Carlton memories without needing to leave the Hungarian capital.”

Dilmah Conservation Dilmah Tea is founded on the philosophy of business as a matter of human service which is strengthened by the Six Pillars that underpin its enterprise: Quality, Tradition, Our Customer, Ethics, Integrity and Sustainability. These core values strengthen and guide Dilmah’s enterprise. Dilmah owes its success to the quality of Ceylon Tea. Our business was founded therefore on an enduring connection to the land and the communities in which we operate. We have pioneered a comprehensive commitment to minimizing our impact on the planet, fostering respect for the environment and ensuring its protection by encouraging a harmonious coexistence of man and nature.

We believe that conservation is ultimately about people and the future of the human race, that efforts in conservation have associated human well-being and poverty reduction outcomes. These core values allow us to meet and exceed our customers’ expectations of sustainability.” The environment is central to Dilmah’s business, and Dilmah Conservation was established as an affirmation of this core commitment to environmental sustainability. Since its inception in 2007, Dilmah Conservation has engaged in promoting sustainable environmental and social development initiatives geared towards four focal areas of sustainability, biodiversity, heritage and communications.

Integrity

Tradition

Quality

www.dilmahtea.hu www.mydilmah.com www.facebook.com/DilmahHungary

Ethics

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Our Customer

Distributed by: G.I.F.T. Kft. Gourmet International Food Trading • H-1112 Budapest, Sasadi út 134. • Tel.: +36 1 225 1093 • Fax: +36 1 201 2328

Sustainability

CONCIERGE

SHAKEN STIRRED AND DETOXED

W ith millennials drinking less than older generations and embracing healthier lifestyles, a new range of platforms is offering alcohol-free hedonism, such as yoga raves and

Redemption, a hip new alcohol-free bar in London. As part of this movement, cold-pressed juice bars are popping up all over the place, and this is proving to be a refreshing new revenue stream for hoteliers. London’s fashionable new Ham Yard Hotel has included an outlet of Press, where “cleansing” juices are cold pressed not blended, ensuring essential active nutrients, minerals and enzymes don’t disappear.

Across town in Shoreditch, the Ace Hotel—whose LA outpost opened a concession of popular indie brand Moon Juice last year—has opened Lovage, which it describes as a farm-to-street juice kitchen abiding by the principles of healing natural remedies. Lovage offers cleansing juices and shakes, teas and herbed waters, all made fresh in-house. The concept enables seasonal shifts, with ice creams, sorbets and granitas appearing in hot weather. Currently, expect to find this season’s trendy ingredient kale alongside fennel, squash, lettuce, apple and wild greens. The trend inevitably arrived from the US, where many hotels, particularly those in the growing “wellness” sector, have realised its potential.

And it is becoming popular in not just the obvious places.

Take Las Vegas’s popular Reliquary Spa & Salon, where the Juice Bar offers a range of a protein-filled, vitamin-boosted drinks. This particular temple to the body is part of the Hard Rock Hotel & Casino.

BOOKING GREEN GAINS GROUND There’s been an upsurge in the number of greenleaning, online hotel-booking and review tools. Nearly twodozen websites, including a couple associated with major brands like TripAdvisor and Booking.com, have entered the fray, lending legitimacy and momentum to a rising tide of travel industry eco-consciousness. Interestingly, this is happening despite a paucity of economic data justifying the expansion.

“The figures I could give show that it’s fed by the aspirations of the Millennials generation,” remarked Alexandre Tsuk, Founder of BookGreener, a startup website dedicated to helping travellers find green hotels worldwide. “It’s mainly based on analysis of new customers and their profile, rather than trends in sales and volume.”

The elephant in the room is the TripAdvisor GreenLeaders Program, which showcases eco-friendly hotels and B&Bs. Launched in 2013 to assist TripAdvisor’s community of 315 million travellers in arranging greener trips, GreenLeaders has become “the largest green hotel program of its type in the world,” reported Jenny Rushmore,

who oversees the initiative. It presently counts nearly 8,000 participating properties and over 40,000 “green” user reviews across North America and Europe. Expansion is now underway into Australia, New Zealand, Latin America and the Caribbean through partnerships with Ecotourism Australia and Rainforest Alliance.

Other operations responding to and inspiring consumers’ ethical travel desires include reservation services like BookDifferent (now in league with Booking.com), Green Pearls, GreenHotels and Bedforest, with a more substantial collection of green-hotel listings such as Green Key Global, Eco Hotels of the World, environmentallyfriendlyhotels.com and market-leading responsibletravel.com.

However, even with TripAdvisor’s prominence and the high hopes of sustainable-travel entrepreneurs, some people believe more should be done to actively guide change, especially by TripAdvisor. Comfort Hotel, in collaboration with the Rainforest Foundation Norway, has therefore launched a campaign, called Dear TripAdvisor, challenging the travelindustry titan to introduce sustainability as a rating choice.

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CONCIERGE

WASTE NOT, WANT NOT Food waste costs the UK hotel sector alone £318 million each year, according to Green Hotelier. Innovative ways to cut down or reuse hotel waste are not a luxury, but a must.

Many hotels are converting food waste into fertilizer, such as the Hilton Hotel in Athens, which uses a Dehydra food waste dewatering system to produce compost produced to nourish the hotel grounds. Even more significant are the systems turning organic waste into energy (anaerobic digestion), used by, for example, all the Disney World hotels, which are partnered with Harvest Power to enable costeffective production of electricity.

Lancaster in London attempts to avoid generating food waste where possible, promoting ‘nose to tail’ eating in its restaurant. The approach is more ecological and a fashionable selling point in its own right.

In countries around the world, food banks and nonprofit distributing groups make it easy for hotels to send in food surplus. In the Middle East, Hilton Worldwide, Crowne Plaza and Style Hotels are all sponsors of the Food Banking

ECO EDUCATION It’s standard practise these days to give guests the choice of fresh towels, with a gentle reminder about environmental friendliness. Some hotels proffer ‘don’t clean my room’ hangers, again allowing guests to take control of being green.

However, some hotels go further, and all of the following have won awards for their efforts in sustainability.

Sal Salis (Australia), is located on the shores of one of the world’s greatest fringing coral reefs. A key eco-initiative, alongside all the practical green solutions, is for hotel guides to help guests

Regional Network, which operates in countries throughout the region. In the United States, Hilton, Marriott, Starwood and other hotel groups have partnered with food bank networks including Feeding America.

W ith food waste diverted from costly landfills, meals provided for the hungry, energy generation, compost creation, and cost savings from waste reduction, action on food waste makes perfect sense.

learn more about the local flora and fauna and understand challenges facing its precious ecosystem.

Nikoi Island in Indonesia is a luxury private island resort where guests don’t have air conditioning or televisions in the rooms. The hotel takes care to educate guests on the benefits of the policy, and it also promotes sea-turtle conservation.

The award-winning, feng-shui-designed Inspira Santa Marta Lisbon takes a more obvious approach, with sustainability tips in the rooms and digital environmental messages in the lobby.

In the Hotel Verde in Cape Town, customers are rewarded for sustainable behaviour and gym users work out on powergenerating equipment that shows how much energy they’re pushing back into the hotel.

13 The Sal Salis in Australia.

CONCIERGE

“GREEN” INNOVATION – A GOOD WAY TO IMPROVE COST EFFICIENCY IN HOTELS Recent research by a Hungarian professor has found that the innovation activity of the nation’s hotels mostly concentrates on technological issues, aiming at higher guest satisfaction and not prioritizing environmental innovations.

Dr. Petra Gyurácz-Németh, PhD, from the Department of Tourism at the University of Pannonia, in Veszprém, investigated the Hungarian hotel sector to discover its innovation activity and overall attitude to environmental innovation. (An innovation can only be called “green” if it contributes to environmental sustainability).

The results show that environmental protection as an innovation goal came only ninth of the ten goals hotel general managers had to prioritise. The top placed goal was increasing guest satisfaction and economy of scope.

The finding are surprising because the analysis proves environmental innovation and cost efficiency have a positive relationship, so that if a hotel introduces green innovation, its cost efficiency will be improved at the same time.

The research also revealed that the most essential obstacle to an innovation activity is its cost, so increasing cost efficiency would be a solution for these problems.

The results suggested that implementing other types of innovation – for example human resource innovation or organisational innovation instead of technological – would be beneficial, because they cost less and could contribute to cost efficiency as well.

Gyurácz-Németh’s research did not find any significant relationship between hotel chain membership and the level of environmental innovation in the Hungarian hotel sector, which is surprising when compared to international results, where this connection has been proven. Interestingly, in Hungary independent hotels are slightly stronger in environmental innovation than the members of hotel chains.

You can read more about research methods, international research and findings at the following (Hungarian language) website: http://szakmai.itthon.hu/2014/3_4.

NEW ITALIAN FAN-COIL DESIGN ON THE HUNGARIAN MARKET! Extra thin and quiet AirLeaf and Filomuro fan-coils developed by INNOVA of northern Italy have entered the Hungarian market.

The equipment, which is 13 cm deep, can be installed almost everywhere, from false ceilings, or from walls in vertical or horizontal positions. With their construction and size, the heating and/or cooling equipment has real design functions and can be ordered in several colours. As they are very quiet, the fan-coils can extremely well suited for use in bedrooms, hotel rooms or offices.

Their general character is to heat rooms up very fast in the winter and cool them down just as fast in the summer, while the set temperature is maintained with low sound operation. When the room temperature is about to reach the desired optimum level, the main ventilator will switch off gradually, in a controlled way. The operation thus ensures a high level of efficiency.

The AirLeaf fan-coil family can be ordered with five kinds of performance criteria, and size will differ accordingly.

The DC inverter Filomuro version can be installed in high places. It absorbs the air from above and releases it through a blow out hole on the lower part of the front panel.

AirLeaf equipment can be ordered with touch screen internal or wall control panels, 0-10 V analogue control or simple threespeed level room thermostat, while Filomuro equipment can also be requested with an infra remote control.

The trade company for AirLeaf fan-coils is HotJet Kft. • Phone: +36209254726 • E-mail: info@hotjet.hu • www.hotjet.hu

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CONCIERGE

THE KITCHEN CATERS ON EARTH, WATER AND AIR – A NEW APPROACH TO THE CATERING SERVICE The Kempinski Hotel Corvinus Budapest launched its new catering service brand in September 2016 under the name: The Kitchen Caters.

The hotel’s aim is to enhance traditional culinary event delivery. It wants to combine the service with a bespoke restaurant quality experience in order to create a heightened level of catering.

The plan is to do both small- and large-scale events, be they corporate events, spectacular weddings, large family get-togethers or intimate parties. The key is to have professional, creative and very responsible staff.

Every catering service knows what is needed for good service: an appropriate location and venue, and suitable furnishings, table settings and decorations that create the right ambience. A good staff is well trained and understands the theme and the whole purpose of the event.

The Kitchen Caters says it has the necessary comprehensive infrastructure, complete with provisions for any eventuality. As in a master chef’s kitchen, whatever the guest might need is right there at hand, be it an unplanned extra special meal or ingredients off the menu.

The expertise of The Kitchen Caters is undoubtedly vast but that does not mean it believes it alone has all the answers and can cover everything. As the brief is carefully interpreted, The Kitchen Caters meticulously matches the requirements with the best possible chef to deliver them, even if that means borrowing the chef from another restaurant, be it Nobu or Fausto’s.

The Kitchen Caters also insists on sourcing the freshest seasonal ingredients from trusted suppliers. The hotel’s head bartender will manage the drinks. W ines will be recommended by the hotel’s sommelier.

Introducing the new brand, Stephan Interthal, General Manager of Kempinski Hotel Corvinus Budapest made a simple, if ambitious promise: “We do not want anything less than to be the best catering service in Hungary,” he insisted.

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CONCIERGE

SINK OR SWIM Floating hotels have long been disregarded by serious hoteliers as gimmicks, but if the success of Finnish company Sunborn is anything to go by there may be a future for the concept.

Sunborn’s 180-room yacht hotels offer the ‘super-yacht experience’ to non-billionaires. Their rooms are more like hotel rooms than cabins, and the bespoke service is equivalent to that in a 5-star hotel.

They currently have hotels moored in London, Gibraltar and Finland, and Barcelona is next on the list. Sunborn

has shown that simply mooring a luxury cruise ship in a harbour will not cut it.

Floating hotels can be easily relocated for economic reasons or when a location becomes politically unstable, and they can be positioned where there is no available land – next to a luxury marina for example. According to Sunborn’s executive director, Hans Niemi, they are also very green: “As movable hotels, there is no long-term impact on the environment, our hotels discharge nothing into the water, and we have created our own version of a water heat pump system, which provides green air-conditioning and heating from the sea water.”

Apart from the ‘flotels’ used by the oil

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and gas industry, Niemi is not aware of similar products currently in use, although there are numerous projects in the pipeline. Dutch Docklands is set to open floating hotels in Tromso and the Maldives, while Qatar plans to use futuristic floating hotels to house visitors to the country during the 2022 FIFA World Cup. The Burmese capital Yangon will also welcome a floating hotel sometime soon.

Niemi believes there is definitely a future for the concept: “Floating hotels can take advantage of market opportunities where a permanent hotel would not be possible,” but, he warns, “This requires quick deployment and flexibility in business models.”

CONCIERGE

TAPPING INTO THE CHINESE TRAVEL BOOM The author of “The New Chinese Traveler: Business Opportunities from the Chinese Travel Revolution”. journalist Gary Bowerman shares tips on how hotels can better appeal to Chinese travellers.

WIFI WITHOUT COST OR CONDITIONS: Hotel-wide free and fast W iFi is not just a desired amenity; it’s considered an essential part of the travel experience for Chinese guests.

Hotels failing to offer unlimited W iFi access will miss out.

DESTINATION PRESENTATION: The coveted demographic is young independent travellers, particularly couples in their late 20s and early 30s. Unlike in Chinese group tours, these are increasingly experienced travellers, more eager to explore museums, art galleries, and local sites.

They relish authentic local dining, wine, history and culture.

Hotels can offer Chinese guided tours to wineries and food markets, or visits to see local craftsmen and galleries with up-and-coming artists. Guided limo city tours (particularly for honeymooners) are a fast-developing trend.

MORE CREATIVE CHINESE AND FINE DINING: Guests want authentic Chinese regional dishes and restaurant settings that mirror their expensively designed counterparts at China’s best hotels. For international dining, drop the unfocused “Western menu.” Better to have recognisable inhouse Japanese, Italian or Korean restaurant brands. And highlight wine-pairing options not only at dinner but brunch, too.

SHOP TILL THEY DROP: Shopping is a key part of the Chinese travel experience. Many travellers want to visit the “it” store (ie, Harrods in London, Gucci in Rome and Hermes in Paris).

But quirky, chic local brands appeal as well. Hotels can partner with small brands to create bespoke shopping visits for Chinese guests. Offer discounts for UnionPay cardholders, private in-store showings or brand showcases right in your lobby or lounge.

SHOW-STOPPING ‘SELFIE’ OPPORTUNITIES: Create Instagram-friendly backdrops all over the hotel, like art installations in the lobby, historic detailing, VIP imagery or a festive Chinese New Year tapestry. Focus on clever touches (a bottle of Chinese wine, or an in-room Xiaomi smartphone with Chinese apps, perhaps?) to make guests feel at home.

Postings on Weibo and WeChat – with more users in China than Twitter – will provide invaluable word-of-mouth buzz.

CHEAP AND CHIC: THE POSHTEL ERA In the emerging 10th Arrondissement, a once derelict office block is being transformed into a chic array of stylish rooms and private terraces. This activity marks the ninth and largest venture from Generator, the fastest growing hostel brand in Europe. The company, which aims to reach 12,500 beds spread across 15 properties by 2018, fits squarely in the booming category that has been dubbed the “poshtel”—a cross between the hostel of old and the small boutique hotel.

Their small size often means these sort of properties can often offer incredibly central locations, which are more important to budget-conscious Millennials than large guestrooms. At the same time, they chime with design-oriented travellers who may not want the boutiques, which are often marketed as romantic boltholes. Tellingly, Generator Venice recently won the European Hotel Design Award in the lobby, lounge and public areas category, beating Ian Schrager’s boutique London EDITION. Another growing design-focused mid-market hotel chain, Meininger, plays up the social aspect of this new hybrid by saying it “combines the best that hostels and hotels have to offer.” With the Dutch chain CitizenM also planning to further

roll out its well-designed room concept throughout Europe and the US and enter Asia, and the UK’s capsule chain Yotel readying properties in Singapore, Paris, Miami, San Francisco and Miami (and negotiating for others in Boston, Los Angeles, Seattle and Toronto), it seems that this new sector will continue to expand over the next few years.

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CONCIERGE

INTRODUCING ART HOTEL SZEGED: WINNER OF THE “GREEN HOTEL” COMPETITION 2015-16

Art Hotel Szeged entered the “Green Hotel” competition in 2014, won first prize, and has been able to use the title ever since.The hotel has proved that it takes responsibility for the environment, leading by example other hotels in Hungary.

The following factors helped convince the jury to make the award: The hotel management operates Art Hotel Szeged in a spirit of environmentalism and social responsibility, according to the CERTOP ISO 9014 standard.The hotel has an environmental manual that corresponds to ISO 14001 specifications. It defined its Environmental Management System so as to guarantee efficient operation within the relevant applicable laws and regulatory frameworks, and to suit the requirements of the environmental policy of the MSZ EN ISO 14001:2005 standard.

All through the planning and building of Art Hotel Szeged, the most important expectation of the owners was that the hotel be in harmony with both the ecological and the built environment.The engineering designs of the building follow the guidelines of the European Union in terms of using renewable energy sources: the hotel has 17 solar collectors which produce a significant part of the hot water for the building.Reducing the environmental load of the hotel, it has used thermal water for heating throughout the building and

in related commercial and catering units since 15 October 2014, having joined a project called the “Developing Szeged Downtown Geothermal Cascade System”.

Thanks to the configuration of the new heating system, the hotel can further reduce its use of natural gas, which effectively decreases the air load in the area, helping diversify the energy use of the region and reducing the overall carbon footprint of 2013.W ith the help of all of the above, the extent of saved natural gas reaches more than 100,000 m3 a year.

During the operation of the building the hotel keeps in mind energy saving by following sustainable development ideas, such as water-saving showerheads and taps, energy-saving lights, and motion sensors.It should also be mentioned that the hotel’s waste is selectively collected, removed and recycled, and there is selective garbage collection throughout the building.

Thanks to the use of a water meter, the amount of wastewater has been reduced, thereby also decreasing environmental impact.I t is re a sona ble for the hotel to cal l it se lf gre e n, giv e n t ha t t he a bov e fa c t or s are al l kept upt o- da t e , a s prov e n by t he fa c t t ha t t he CER TOP IS O 9014 re gula t ion is v a lida t e d e v e r y y e a r. The Art Hotel S zeged ha s prov e n t ime a nd a ga in t ha t it is a bl e to ful fi l the re quire me nt s of t his le gisla t ion.

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CONCIERGE

“GREEN HOTEL” CONTEST RETURNS Green Hotel 2017-18 Award and Quality Mark applications are already in! The award focuses on how efficiently hotels use energy and water, if they use naturefriendly chemicals and/or cleaning products, if they prefer the nearest suppliers, and many more aspects of environmental friendliness and sustainability.

The contest is organised by the environmental section of Hungarian Association of Hotels and Restaurants (HAH), and was first launched more than 20 years ago, back in 1993, in a bid to accelerate environmentally friendly thinking in Hungary. Up to now, more than 100 hotels countrywide have participated in the “Green Hotel” awards. Hotels that apply must be a member of HAH, should be aware of the Hungarian environmental regulations and must comply with them. This covers numerous fields such as waste management, water protection, air protection, noise protection, chemical safety, landscaping, built environment, environmental exposure, etc. The hotel should possess a written environmental policy, demonstrating how it implements the environmental regulations. It should contain how these regulations are implemented in the hotel, and which department is responsible for them. Each hotel must attach its carbon footprint (for more information see HES.net: www.hotelenergysolutions. net), and must have selective waste management. They also have to prove energy efficiency in the hotel.

One other condition of applying is that the authorities have taken no action against the hotel for a breech of environmental protection regulations in the past two years.

The HAH jury verifies the applications and awards each hotel “points”; based on the final tally a ranking of the competing hotels is established. To gain the “Green Hotel” quality mark, the applicant must complete at least 60% of the minimal requirements. All applicants who do so can use the “Green Hotel” quality mark for two years. The top three hotels will be given a “Green Hotel” award and title. The decision for 2017-18 will be made during the autumn of 2016.

Unique and Unmistakable

www.pellinicaffe.hu | hotelier@pellinicaffe.hu | +36 1 477 7020

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CONCIERGE

LIGHTBULB MOMENTS The NH Collection’s flagship property in Madrid has not only enjoyed a recent design makeover, it has signed up to become part of the Living Lab, the industry-wide initiative to see how guests react to new technology. As well as 100-percent recyclable furniture materials, and other eco-essentials, the hotel features all-LED lighting. The good news for hoteliers seeking imaginative lighting to reduce energy costs and hit sustainability targets is that advances in LED field enable them to enhance their atmosphere as well as save money.

The historic Hotel Adlon Kempinski in Berlin claims to have reduced energy consumption by 80 percent after

YOU KILL, WE COOK Getting the freshest food from farm to fork has become a competitive sport at some hotels, and activity breaks are on the rise, so it’s not too surprising that visitors are increasingly urged to gather their own food. Celtic Manor, the Welsh retreat best known for golf courses, now allows guests to catch salmon and trout to be cooked in its restaurant. Likewise, the K CIub in Kildare, Ireland encourages guests to go fly-fishing for trout, pike and perch on the three lakes in its 550 acres.

If warmer climes are preferred, the Hyatt Regency Sarasota is one of several hotels in Florida currently offering “You Catch ‘Em, We’ll Cook ‘Em” offers. For $40, the hotel chef will grill, blacken, sear or fry a fisherman’s cleaned and filleted catch and serve it as part of a three-course meal. If shooting holds more appeal, the Viceroy Snowmass, near Aspen, Colorado, has just added a “you kill/we cook” option to its menu of

switching over to LED two years ago, and new projects are increasingly integrating LED lighting into designs. For the ME London, the first hotel to be fully designed by Foster + Partners, LED light sheets illuminate various features and surfaces in the hotel’s funky bar area. One practical benefit for surfaces, says the hotel, is that as well as being versatile the material stays as cool as it looks.

The “wow” factor is something the just-opened Kempinski Beijing has definitely gone for, with the circular hotel’s exterior lit up entirely with LED for maximum impact.

Of course, this low-cost technology can be applied to any hotel. Architects and lighting designers at the new Hyatt Place hotel in Portland, Oregon, for example, used LED lighting outside the property simply to make it stand out from the surrounding buildings, giving it a kind of glow.

leisure activities. Guests can hunt pheasant, duck and goose with specialist guides. With foraging so trendy in European restaurants, many hotels organise truffle and mushroom hunts, but this practice is spreading further afield. The luxe Nita Lake Lodge in Whistler, British Columbia, helps visitors find edible plants, shoots and lichens in Canada’s great outdoors. The Fat Hen in Cornwall is even more ambitious. Its Gourmet Wild Food Weekends allow guests to select their own pigeon, squirrel or deer, or create rock samphire fritti, nettle ravioli and seaweed panna cotta.

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Professional waste process and low costs – is it possible?

Controlling time, space and costs are the great every-day challenges for hotel operators. One of the top priorities for all hotels and restaurants is to look clean and attractive to their guests. Let’s look at how you could make serious cost cuts, create space and free up capacity, while also keeping both maximum order and a clean environment. Effective waste handling is a key factor. In order to keep the same high level every day, hard work is required in the background.

Using the example of the Corinthia Hotel Budapest, let’s look at how this is all possible. Hotel F&B manager, Imre Turák shared his experiences with us.

What problems did you have concerning waste management previously?

The monthly cost of waste management was extremely high.

Despite frequent emptying, more waste collection bins were necessary, but as the area established for waste collection was limited, the number of bins could not be increased.

Selective waste collection did not go smoothly, because human labour duties required too much space and resources.

How did you create your new waste management process?

ORWAK’s specialists helped us from the planning phase to the end. We managed to establish a waste management process that is ideal from all points of view. The two ORWAK machines that have working for us now are responsible for the waste management of the entire hotel. Our favourite is a baler that compacts cardboard boxes. This little machine can erase mountains of cardboard; it is compact, easy-to handle and transport, and prepares bales that can be sold at a high price.

ORWAK’s large rubbish press has reduced the cost of waste transportation, the work of management staff, and the number of dustbins required.

What preparations and staff are necessary to operate this equipment?

There is no need for special measures. The machinery is easy to operate, works with 230V power, and no special training is required. They are safe, fast, simple and silent machines, and efficient at managing all waste processes.

What was the result of the introduction of ORWAK waste compacting machines?

Today, waste management is carried out in the smallest possible area in the fastest and most efficient way possible, and with the inclusion of the least human labour necessary.

Due to the low operating costs, our monthly waste management costs have been cut significantly. But beyond its low operating costs, the equipment also offers a cleaner environment and more order too. And what is more, our safe, efficient and “green” image will generate more satisfied guests. Continuous operation is ensured. I have become convinced that we made the right decision when we chose ORWAK waste compacting machines.

• • • • •

Save space, time and personnel Minimise hotel operating costs Increase hygiene and guest satisfy Create the highest level of cleanliness every day Be “Green” and a significant environmental protector

Q&A ÁKOS NIKLAI

ÁKOS NIKLAI PRESIDENT OF THE HUNGARIAN HOTEL AND RESTAURANT ASSOCIATION

AN INTERVIEW BY: LEVENTE HÖRÖMPÖLI-TÓTH

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Q&A ÁKOS NIKLAI

Hotels are being pushed to go green not only by ever-stricter legal requirements, but also by guests who increasingly make sure that their choice of accommodation does all it can for the environment. Dr. Ákos Niklai, president of the Hungarian Hotel and Restaurant Association (HAH) says, its green hotel award serves as an incentive for facilities to stick out of the crowd, but environmental awareness as such has been spreading in the Hungarian hotel industry regardless.

How would you evaluate the degree of green awareness in the Hungarian hotel industry?

More than 20 years ago a so-called green hotel programme was initiated by the Hungarian Hotel and Restaurant Association, and back then it was a brand-new phenomenon, although the presence of international chains helped a lot from the beginning on. Thinking green has always been a big issue in our industry, since environmental-friendly policies score highly with customers whose choice is increasingly influenced by such factors. Now, in Hungary, around 200 hotels out of the existing 800 have acquired our green certification at least once, but since it needs to be renewed at regular intervals, at the moment 40 hotels hold a valid title.

How difficult is it to comply with the criteria of the green hotel accreditation?

If the management is committed, it is doable without any major difficulties. There are guestrelated communications issues whereby the management’s sensitivity towards the topic can be put on display. When guests’ active involvement is sought, they become part of the effort, so whenever they are asked to save water or not to request that towels are exchanged that often, they wouldn’t perceive it as a burden at all. At five-star hotels, daily exchange of bed sheets is the norm; therefore, visitors may be approached to refrain from taking advantage of this privilege for the sake of the planet. More problems may arise when applying adapters to taps, by which water pressure may considerably drop. But thorough explanation and presentation surely does the trick and guests will play along.

What other measures are typically taken by hotels to make their environmentally aware clientele happy?

For waste management, recycling is key, but in Hungary we have a long way to go to fully benefit from it, since the whole effort is worth nothing if selected waste gets dumped into the same pile at the end. In turn, collection of used cooking fats and oils already takes place under more regulated circumstances with frequent authority checks in place. All-inall, it’s fair to say that the greener the image

increases its green surroundings, or what it does in order to promote processing of local food stuffs.

What about food wastage? It has become a hot topic recently.

I’m sure food wastage will be high on the agenda at a Hungarian and a European level for a long time to come. Facilities must assess what they can do in order to keep it to the minimum, and it’s in their best interest to do so since whatever is not paid for by guests pushes their losses up. However, if leftover food is earmarked for donation purposes, elevated health safety measures must be applied so that it is kept fresh in spite of having been put out on, say, the brunch buffet before.

Entities have the opportunity to be recognized as “evergreen” in Hungary.

What does it take to gain this accreditation?

Hotels that permanently excel at pursuing green policies can apply for the title on a yearly basis. Sofitel, Flamenco from Danubius, Thermal Hotel Visegrád, and Accord’s Mercure Hotels all are proud evergreen facilities. The Accord chain’s related efforts are exemplary globally in regard to this.

It is true that green expectations have been shaping hotels’ policies. However, in the Does going green matter when crediting meantime legal requirements have also the candidates for the HAH annual got stricter as regards the environment, awards? not least after Hungary’s New concepts have EU accession. entered the mainstream, Indeed, regulation has including the issue DR. ÁKOS NIKLAI become tougher, authority of Corporate Social Dr. Niklai is one of the most renowned figures of the Hungarian checks more frequent. You Responsibility (CSR), hotel sphere. Apart from being the president of HAH, he is, among others, vice president of HOTREC, the umbrella can’t even compare the which environmental association of Hotels, Restaurants and Cafés in Europe as current situation to that 20 or awareness is an important well as MGYOSZ, Hungary’s main organization representing 30 years ago. For instance, part of. Our ”Hotel of the business owners. He gathered experience in various senior decades ago kitchen waste, Year Award“ has been executive positions at four- and five-star-hotels in Hungary in particular leftover food, around for four years now, and Australia such as Intercontinental (formally known as was not cooled, which and one of the categories the Forum Hotel Budapest), Marriott (formally known as the caused terrible smells concerns CSR, the winner Duna InterContinental Hotel), Ansett Australia Airlines Group, around kitchens.

Now, with of which is expected and Hayman Island Resort, Great Barrier Reef, Australia. His the cooling obligation, this to demonstrate great achievements have translated into several prestigious awards unpleasantness is gone.

This sensitivity in green matters. and recognitions for the facilities he was in charge of. is another example that the True enough, many hotels Hungarian hotel industry is are located in cities where headed in the right direction it’s harder to stick to such principles, but with permanent commitment it a place can project of itself, the better its as far as eco-friendly efforts are concerned. should work, and employee training is key in chances of winning guests’ hearts by showing Even if it still requires a lot of work down the the measures it uses to save energy, how it road, it is destined to embrace green. this regard.

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THE CONSULTANT CONCIERGE

BY HOSPITALITY CONSULTANT FEDERICO MICHELE BRILLI, ITL GROUP

In its largest sense and etymological the word tourism and the consequences on the overall cost-effectiveness is arising from the French “tour”, which itself derives from the of investments. Global environmental responsibility to be Latin word “tornare”, to turn, rotate. Rotate in the direction understood as maintenance of the environment, preservation to move from place to place, and The Grand Tour was indeed of culture, preservation of the local economy. A necessary the “voyage” that was part of the education of wealthy young Think Global and Preserve local. Invest in tourism could mean people that allowed themselves to know other countries, not only invest in property that allows the tourist to sleep, their languages and cultures to enrich their knowledge and but going behind the physical boundaries of the building and becoming at the end of the eighteenth century, a status achieve a meta-economical return on investment, a moral return on investment that can create a symbol. We start talking about “modern virtuous circle of possibilities. The tourist tourism” in the late nineteenth century wants to visit to increase this knowledge, , when more and more people feel the to maintain and preserve the visitable necessity to know about what surrounds and protect the local culture as it is. them and want to visit other places. Visit, As investor be part of the industry other important words for our thoughts, that for its necessity of development must watching without touching! be the most environmentally friendly and These two words bring us to more inclined to invest with the minimal approach that should be the “tourism” green footprint. Also to allow the tourist and what should be the “visit”. Tourism to growth knowledge has to preserve as an organization and safeguard of the the uniqueness of places and cultures world’s resources that can be visited for allowing to maintain the “product to the purpose of knowledge. A beautiful visit” the most original and unmodified. slogan, and these three concepts are All the potentials to be the leading the umbrella to the future of tourism green industry sector of the world ar by taking this idea from its origins and given!. Tourism is one of the most labor bringing it to the needs of a sustainable intensive industries in the world (every 11 industry as a whole. Even the experts occupied in the world one is working in are unclear about the responsibilities tourism), Tourism produces 10% of world and the potentials of the tourism duty GDP, 30% of the World export services on preservation of the visitable, the FEDERICO MICHELE BRILLI, and 7 % World export. (UNWTO). global environmental responsibility CONSULTANT

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CONCIERGE

Being green not only for market presenting themselves in an alternative manner and attract new market share related to environmentally conscious customers but being the proactive vehicle of change of environmentally sustainable investments in their most wide meaning. Tourism as a whole also draws necessity by industries related to it, such as the construction industry, the furniture industry, the industry of road infrastructure, the food industry, the necessity of highly educated workforce. All of these industries could be induced to change the approach that the sustainable tourism could or should require and allow an evolution of consumption of culture as a hit and run behavior towards a more slowculture appreciation. In Italy since 1986 and nowadays in 160 country worldwide, there is a cultural movement linked to food that promotes the recognition of the slow culture, respect of traditions of culinary culture. The Slow Food Foundation which can be defined in this sense a precursor of the concept so far highlighted, a concrete example of what can be in a more broad term the concept of tourism morally liable.

For a sustainable cultural and attitude assessment of investing in international hospitality it is also appropriate to rely on specialists who can broaden the vision by mere financial budget and accompany the investor towards new return on investment hypothesis in the long run. In Since several years in Hungary a company with Italian roots and international experience has developed advice that is based not only on the economical outcome in the short term but leads to a moral recognition of the work with different cultures. In over 20 years ITL Group with its staff of

ALESSANDRO FARINA, MANAGING DIRECTOR

hospitality specialized advisors has helped many investors to understand the cultural investment advantage, not only in Hungary but in other parts of Europe.

The moral investment in tourism will help to appreciate with the right time the beauty of the surrounding and the search of beauty will never be enough because more somebody appreciate the beauty more will search it.

25 WWW.ITLGROUP.HU

WWW.ITLGROUP.HU

CONCIERGE

THE QUESTION

WE ASKED THE GMS OF PRIZE-WINNING ENTRANTS FROM THE 2015 -16 “GREEN HOTEL” COMPETITION THE FOLLOWING QUESTIONS: “WHAT KIND OF GREEN SOLUTIONS AND INNOVATIONS DO YOU USE AT YOUR HOTEL? WHAT ARE YOUR FUTURE PL ANS REGARDING GREEN INNOVATIONS?”

ISTVÁN GÁL, GM OF ART HOTEL SZEGED, FIRST PRIZE WINNER “Although we won the first prize of the “Green Hotel” competition for 2015-16, our hotel will not participate in the contest this year. In my opinion we have already proved ourselves and we would like to pass the opportunity on for other establishments to compete for the prize. I believe it is crucial that more and more hotels participate in this competition and emphasise the importance of environmentally friendly operation. At the moment it is difficult for us to implement new renewable energy sources given that our location is already present; however, we do pay attention to environmental issues when purchasing equipment or other resources. We believe that small changes like changing light bulbs from power saving to LED, or using glass bottles instead of plastic, can make a difference when talking about saving the environment.”

GÁBOR ERDŐS, GM, CASATI BUDAPEST HOTEL, SECOND PRIZE WINNER “We started implementing environmentallyfriendly initiatives for three reasons. First, we wished to do something in order to be green and environmentally conscious, and with the co-operation of the entire team a hotel can really do something. Secondly, we made it a point to save energy and thus to reduce costs and improve our profitability at the same time. Thirdly, we are communicating the “Green Hotel” award we won last year on all of our social media platforms to be more attractive in the eyes of the green travellers.

What we have done so far is the following: we exclusively use materials made from recycled paper not only in the guest rooms or in the office, but also in the bathrooms. We have changed

all of our bulbs, now there is only LED lighting everywhere, with motion sensors wherever possible. The housekeeping staff uses eco-friendly, biodegradable detergents, which are more expensive but still affordable. Our bed linens and textiles are washed at an ISO 14001 certificated laundry.

We are determined to decrease the quantity of the waste materials we produce, therefore we pay close attention to what we purchase, and we prefer local suppliers for the breakfast buffet.

For the future, we are planning to produce a certain part of our hot water by means of solar panels. As the hotel is located in a 200-year-old building, our possibilities are somewhat limited.

After four years’ experience in hotel management, I can confirm that it has been worth undertaking the extra efforts and the initial extra costs, because the staff can take ownership of these ideas quickly and the guests are really grateful. “ KISS GERGŐ – GENERAL MANAGER OF AIRPORT HOTEL STACIO, THIRD PRIZE WINNER “The most important aspect of our green programme is our cooling-heating system operated by heat pumps. Thus we use the earth’s heat energy. The hotel does not have a chimney, consequently neither does it have emissions, and accordingly we do not pollute the air. In the summertime – as long as the weather is not extremely hot – our system can function using cold well water (the temperature of which is 15ºC), and we are therefore able to cool the building without the use of electricity.

Obviously we also accumulate waste matter selectively, and recycle the office paper waste as well. We take pay particular attention to water and electricity consumption.

We apply a modern building supervision system that does not allow waste. Lately we have had a new dishwasher installed that operates on the principle of heat retrieval, and it can even do so from used washing-up liquid!

We have further plans for the future: in our parking lot we would like to have a service station built for recharging electric cars.”

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Best up- and cross selling tool in daily hotel operations.

The most effective marketing tool in the hotel industry Hotel newspaper offers fresh news of the world in print and electronic format with the name and logo of your hotel on top of the front page. As for the content, hotel newspaper is selecting the news of leading news agencies: top news, international

and European news, regional, business, science and sport news, as well as programme offers. It is a great opportunity for you to bring your own services closer to your guests, supporting marketing results with up- and cross-seling functions.

27 www.hotelujsag.hu

Q&A HANS PFISTER

Q&A WITH HOTELIER

TAMÁS FAZEKAS G EN ER A L M A N AG ER O F B U D D H A- BA R H OT EL B U DA PEST

AN INTERVIEW BY: LEVENTE HÖRÖMPÖLI-TÓTH

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Q&A HANS PFISTER

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Q&A TAMÁS FAZEKAS

Welcome to the hotel of five senses!

See, hear, taste, smell and feel. The oneof-a-kind Buddha-Bar concept targets your five senses all at once. Luckily, Budapest also hosts one of the chain’s hotels, which gives visitors the chance to maximize their experience. As Tamás Fazekas, general manager of Buddha-Bar Hotel Budapest

says, the facility has such a unique atmosphere that many come to visit the Hungarian capital just to be able to be part of this rare adventure.

How was the Buddha-Bar concept created and how did this hotel branch evolve out of it?

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The first restaurant was set up in Paris by restaurateur Raymond Visan back in 1996.

His idea was to create an exceptional mélange of Asian cuisine, interior design and music, whereby Asian lifestyle as such could be promoted. The venture was a hit; word spread fast, and now BuddhaBar is present in more than 30 countries.

Q&A TAMĂ S FAZEKAS

Buddha-Bar Hotel Budapest is located at the beautiful historical building of the Klotild Palace and is operated by the Mellow Mood Hotels. At the very beginning, when it was not yet decided under what brand name they would operate their hotel, they had the idea to open a Buddha-Bar Restaurant on the ground floor. But when talks about

the specific plans started with the Paris headquarters, the French quickly signalized that they had a whole concept on the table to get a hotel chain going and that the location would be perfect for that purpose.

The building was altered accordingly, but works suffered delays, which allowed Prague to become the first city where a

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Buddha-Bar Hotel was opened. Budapest came next in 2012.

And Paris was the third location. What are the plans for expansion?

An opening is scheduled next year in Yerevan, Armenia, and three more contracts have been signed to open one hotel each

Q&A HANS PFISTER

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Q&A HANS PFISTER

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Q&A TAMÁS FAZEKAS

in Italy, Turkey and the Dominican Republic by 2018.

What inspired you to take up the general manager duties of the Budapest facility?

I worked at Hilton in various countries for ten years, and then I joined the Corinthia chain as an executive. At one point Corinthia became partners with Wyndham, which operated hotels in Dubai. That’s where I ended up, with the aim to coordinate the opening and running of two hotels. It was after that project that I was presented with the opportunity to take up the director’s duties of Buddha-Bar Hotel Budapest in February 2013, nine months after its

launch. At the time there wasn’t really any thematic hotel like that in town. I had been familiar with the concept from before and when I saw this beautiful classical building and the location, I knew it was destined for success.

the dishes, the tailor-made treatments of our Buddhattitude® Spa, or to chill out in the bar while listening to the one-of-a-kind lounge music, which genre, by the way, has become more popular with the release of the Buddha-Bar compilation albums.

And your instinct has turned out to be right?

Absolutely, since Buddha-Bar Hotel Budapest made it to the top five-star places both in terms of average rates and visitor numbers for 2014 and 2015.

In fact, certain guests come to Budapest with the very specific intent just to be able to stay here and have the so-called fivesenses experience. They come to enjoy

Demand for luxury suites has been exceptionally high worldwide; in cities like New York, London or Paris you must book well in advance if you want to get one. Do you see the same trend around here?

We have 27 luxury suites, which is a lot. But they sell just as well as standard rooms. Of course, we must present added value by placing VIP gifts in the rooms or offering

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Q&A TAMÁS FAZEKAS

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Q&A TAMÁS FAZEKAS

free drinks in the bar. I would be really happy if Budapest became a destination that attracts a client pool that is able to afford this kind of quality accommodation.

Is there a way to go even higher in terms of quality? I’m asking this because customer experience is a big issue now and even if a firm “only” maintains its level of service, customers would

perceive it as a negative, since they expect everything to improve all the time.

In the five-star hotel business, there are no real differences regarding product quality, because it’s pretty much the same everywhere. What does make the difference is what kind of service is provided and that takes place via personal interaction. If you fulfil a client’s wish, it is self-evident,

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but they will appreciate your engagement and remember you only if you make extra effort or even over-perform while doing so. For instance, we call each and every guest by their name, and for some VIPs the receptionists get in advance the profile of the guests – name, photo, preferences, allergies - etc, so that we can provide the best service to them from the moment they step into the hotel.

Q&A TAMÁS FAZEKAS

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Q&A TAMĂ S FAZEKAS

In order to accomplish this, you must have impeccable teamwork. How do you make this happen?

We are all humans, and so are the guests.

Employees should be engaged in the process as much as possible. Waiters get to taste every kind of food from the menu, while sales personnel and receptionists overnight here regularly and test the beds, the room service and the special features

of the room, because this way they can identify themselves with the place a lot more. They can also recommend everything with more confidence since they’ve all tried it. We also hold monthly sessions where I invite six people from different departments for an informal meeting where we can discuss together their suggestions regarding improvements. It may sound like a clichÊ, but this is really like a family. Steps

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like these help my employees get closer to me and vice versa.

What is your target group?

Our top sending countries are the UK, the USA, Italy, France and Scandinavian countries. Corporate clients are targeted personally, as are those concerned with conference tourism. Our desired age bracket is from 20 all the way to the 50

Q&A TAMÁS FAZEKAS

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Q&A TAMÁS FAZEKAS

somethings; they are the ones that can be addressed via social media. Keeping up with technical trends is therefore of key importance.

I saw a pocket Wi-Fi device at reception which perfectly shows that you mean it.

But to what extent does your technical equipment fulfil green requirements?

Our latest plan is to change the doors’

opening mechanism and allow guests to open room doors by the Bluetooth function of their cell phone. This way no more keycards need to be produced which not only is environmental-friendly, but also hot, and our customers appreciate it. Or take our beloved mobile tourist guide app. In a way it’s also a green solution, since guests are pushed to walk and no brochures need to be printed.

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Is seasonality still an issue in your business?

I wouldn’t say so. Winter months are gaining in popularity, former fluctuation curves have got rather flatter, and individual and conference tourism tend to have similar weight now. An additional venture, a high-end Lebanese restaurant, has been added to our portfolio, which helps too. We noticed that there was demand for a five-

Q&A TAMÁS FAZEKAS

star place for Middle-Eastern food. Baalbek serves local customers mostly, generating permanent revenues. And before you ask: it functions in perfect harmony with the Asian Buddha-Bar concept!

The Buddha-Bar concept has very peculiar features. In what way can you be different? In other words, if you go to a Buddha-Bar hotel in Paris or Prague, do you have the same experience as in Budapest?

The restaurant and the design are very similar, combining the Asian colonial style with French elegance. Every place has its own resident DJ, there’s always a signature dish but beyond that the chefs have liberty to use their imagination. However, before a new

dish is placed on the menu, approval by an expert from Paris must be sought. The cuisine mixes Indian, Chinese, Thai, Japanese and other Asian flavours. Buddha-Bar Budapest is Mellow Mood Hotel’s first five-star hotel in a beautiful old building and, in fact, the next top category Mellow Mood Hotels project is in the pipeline already at Párizsi Udvar, another centrally located place. The two hotels promise to complement one another fully, Buddha-Bar Budapest being thematic and the other one being more classical in nature.

Now that measuring the customer experience has become so big, you must be very much aware of feedback.

It’s important to respond to all kinds of remarks within 24 hours, especially given

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that our sector is the one that is probably most exposed to customer experience shared on social media. Therefore, evaluating clients’ needs is at the highest level in the hotel industry. As I said, I’ve worked for big chains before, whereas this one is not that huge, but I’ve got to tell you, in terms of service quality or standards, this is just as extraordinary. Customer feedback is very positive and the number of repeat customers is stunningly high. There have been cases where a guest was here on a business trip and they told us that they would return for many other occasions such as birthdays or anniversaries and they would certainly recommend us to their relatives and colleagues. This is the most compelling feedback you can get.

Q&A TAMÁS FAZEKAS

BUDDHA-BAR HOTEL BUDAPEST KLOTILD PALACE Member of Mellow Mood Hotels

Address: Váci u. 34, H-1052 Budapest, Hungary Phone: +36 1 799 7300 Web: www.buddhabarhotelbudapest.com General Manager: Tamás Fazekas Owner name: Mellow Mood Hotels Summer Rack rate for a double room: Approx. €500 per night Number of rooms: 102 supreme rooms, including 27 luxurious suites

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Q&A HERVÉ HOUDRÉ

Q&A WITH HOTELIER

HERVÉ HOUDRÉ TALKING WITH THE CHAMPION OF SUSTAINABILITY IN LUXURY URBAN HOTELS.

AN INTERVIEW BY: ETHAN GELBER

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Q&A HERVÉ HOUDRÉ

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Q&A HERVÉ HOUDRÉ

Hervé Houdré is the Regional Director of Operations of the InterContinental Hotel Group (IHG) and General Manager of the landmark InterContinental New York Barclay, now closed for major renovation.

As an award-winning luminary on integrating sustainability into large, luxury, urban hotels, Houdré is considered one of New York City’s greenest hoteliers and was instrumental in making the InterContinental Barclay an industry leader in responsible hospitality.

W idely published on sustainable hospitality, Houdré is chairman of the Hotel Association of New York City’s (HANYC) Sustainable Hospitality Committee, which recently announced the winners of its first Sustainability Awards, part of an effort to move New York City hotels toward a more sustainable future.

Hotelier International: Why do you believe hotels should think about sustainability?

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Hervé Houdré: Sustainability is about the triple bottom line – profit, people, planet. It’s about making money while taking care of the environment and the communities surrounding us. Hotels use lots of energy. Hotels create lots of waste – our own as well as what we collect from customers. Mitigating our very big carbon footprint is the “planet” part. For the “people” part, we also depend a lot on local communities, so it’s fitting to be socially responsible and give back. And, obviously, we have

Q&A HERVÉ HOUDRÉ

to deliver “profit” to be sustainable financially.

companies have sustainability.

incorporated

when we simply tackle the low-hanging fruit.

HI: How has IHG taken sustainability to heart?

HH: IHG has Responsible Business as one of its four strategic objectives.

It means we’re here to do business, but must embed the principles of sustainability in everything. Our internal sustainability certification, called GreenEngage, has 150 key indicators.

Most other hotel management

HI: Has it been easy to push internally for sustainability?

HH: The biggest issue is one of financial return on investment. The owners – and the financial world – don’t always see sustainability as a way to increase profit. I’m not blaming them. I think it’s up to us, the operators, to show them the value in being sustainable, even

HI: What is some of the low-hanging fruit?

HH: Bulbs! In 2006, we changed to energy-efficient bulbs at the W illard InterContinental Washington. We saved $120,000 and it cost only $45,000.

That’s the savings every year against a one-time cost. At the Barclay, after changing bulbs and being as energy efficient as possible since 2009, in

also

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Q&A HERVÉ HOUDRÉ

AT THE BARCLAY, A ROOFTOP GARDEN GREW HERBS, CHERRY TOMATOES, AND PEPPERS USED BY THE CHEF AND MIXOLOGIST. WE ALSO HAVE BEEHIVES, WHICH WAS COPIED

BY OTHER HOTELS.

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Q&A HERVÉ HOUDRÉ

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Q&A HERVÉ HOUDRÉ

2013 we saved $400,000 in electricity cost versus 2009 expenditures with the same occupancy. We saved $900,000 in five years. A huge return on investment!

HI: Are there other initiative?

HH: To be sustainable doesn’t mean spending lots of money. It’s opening your eyes and doing the right thing.

At the Barclay, a rooftop garden grew herbs, cherry tomatoes, and peppers used by the chef and mixologist. We also have beehives, which was copied by other hotels. We wanted to show our concern about the city’s biodiversity and ecosystem.

Breakfasts were based on organic, sustainable, and seasonal food, which was good for people’s health,

the environment, and local farmers and producers. We donated whatever we couldn’t use to City Harvest.

We were the first hotel to have an Enviro composter to convert organic waste to topsoil. The machine managed 40 percent on site, while the rest was sent away for processing.

We sent all used amenities to Clean the World, which processes it into soap bars for use in Africa.

Of course, there were lowflow showers and toilets, 100 percent biodegradable keycards, and we purchased renewable energy credits to show our commitment to renewable energy.

These are little things! You can go into bigger things like cogeneration

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and micro-turbines. We are always trying to find new ideas. It’s non-stop.

HI: What would you counsel other hoteliers to do when grappling with sustainability?

HH: Go through a sustainable certification process. If you have no clue what you should be doing, it’ll give you ideas. I recommend Green Key Global (there are others like Green Globe and EarthCheck) because it’s good return on investment. It’s not very expensive and even offers a great roadmap to follow.

Certifications are also marketing tools that draw attention.

HI: How has your work with HANYC’s Sustainable Hospitality Committee

Q&A HERVÉ HOUDRÉ

helped drive the sustainability agenda in New York City?

HH: We created this committee four years ago because we are concerned about being good citizens. One of our initiatives was to create a sustainable hospitality website. Another was to establish Sustainability Awards, given last year for the first time.

HI: How can we make the move to sustainability a speedier and more urgent process?

HH: Unfortunately, at the nation-state level, we don’t seem to get along.

Because governments can’t really settle, it’s up to businesses to make a big stride.

This is why, when it comes to the hotel industry, I’m trying to do as much as I can to influence it in the best way possible.

TO BE SUSTAINABLE DOESN’T MEAN SPENDING LOTS OF MONEY. IT’S OPENING YOUR EYES AND DOING THE RIGHT THING.

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BOTTLED HARMONY IN HOTELS NEAR YOU VIS VITALIS HAS BEEN ON THE MARKE T FOR LESS THAN T WO YE ARS, BUT HAS ALRE ADY ESTABLISHED ITSELF AS A DISTINCTIVE PL AYER IN THE PREMIUM MINER AL WATER SEGMENT. ITS RECIPE FOR SUCCESS RELIES ON E XCEPTIONAL PURIT Y, BACKED

BY UNIQUE PRODUCT DESIGN AND A THOUSAND YE AR TR ADITION.

BY: LEVENTE HÖRÖMPÖLI-TÓTH

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“T imeless heritage – 1238” is the motto of Vis Vitalis, one of the newest brands on the Hungarian mineral water market, and indeed, those tasting it should immediately feel they are becoming part of a legend. The source in Ravazd is located near the 1,000-yearold Pannonhalma Archabbey, the establishment of which dates back to 996, four years before the foundation of the Hungarian state in year 1000.

WATER AMBASSADOR’S CHOICE. “The first written record of the spring’s existence stems from 1238 and documents that King Béla IV, who fought the Mongols attacking the country at the time, drank from it,” says Gábor Karikó, director of sales. The Benedictine monks living in the abbey

discovered the purity and healing power of the spring early on, and ever since water has been taken from it on a regular basis. Thanks to co-operation between the archabbey and Hungarian entrepreneurs, this underground liquid treasure is now available to the general public in bottled form.

“We are talking about a 17,000-year-old water base. The fact that the well runs 106 metres deep ensures that no contaminated surface water can infiltrate it,” notes Roland Érsek, managing director of the water bottling plant. “Exceptional purity is coupled with extraordinary harmony in terms of minerals. No single mineral dominates, there is no aftertaste, which makes it an ideal accompaniment to wine: the water’s mineral content does not override one’s perception of the wine,” says Karikó. That balanced content has been certified

by Masaru Emoto, the late water ambassador of the UN and a renowned scientist, whose strict criteria could be met by Vis Vitalis alone of all the mineral waters in Hungary.

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EXCEPTIONAL DESIGN MEETS BENEDICTINE HERITAGE. Such premium content deserves to be served in a premium bottle and Vis Vitalis meets the highest expectations in this regard. “People are truly amazed by the design, which was inspired by the original drawings of Benedictine monk and scholar Ányos Jedlik, who revolutionised the technology of making sparkling water,” Karikó explains. “Our PET bottle is not the average plastic bottle, it feels and looks quite like glass, and is similarly stable on the table. We find that customers like the form so much that they regularly take the bottle home from restaurants and hotels. Our bottles travel – for the time being we

only export to Slovakia, but we have had reports of our bottle showing up in Monaco.”

Non-standard sizes also aim at sticking out from the crowd, quite literally. “By opting for 0.4 and 0.8 litre bottles for the HORECA sector and 0.6 and 1.2 litre bottles for the retail sector, we were striving to kiss goodbye to ‘category conventional’ looks. This decision further strengthens our efforts to build a one-of-a-kind brand,” the sales director says. “Thanks to this elegantly unique image, premium hotels and restaurants welcome Vis Vitalis in growing numbers.”

GREEN COMES FIRST. But why use plastic instead of glass? “It was a rational decision based on an extensive comparison of the ecological footprints of the two materials. As a company highly committed to preserving the environment, we were more than glad to go with PET,” Érsek reports. Urban legends have made some customers prejudiced against PET, but actually, from a health and hygiene perspective, there is no difference between the two materials. On the other hand, a life cycle analysis of the full environmental impact of packaging materials from production to recycling shows glass containers to be 2.5 to 3 times more polluting than PET. The main differences lie in the manufacturing process, where

making glass requires a lot more energy and the emission of heavy metals, and carcinogenic materials are significantly higher.

Reusing glass bottles lessens this difference, but raises another problem, the pollution related to transportation.

Glass is heavy: with glass bottles, 50% of the weight of a bottle is dead weight.

Transporting it back and forth causes unnecessary pollution.

And that is even before we speak about the chemicals needed to clean the used glass bottles prior to refilling.

The key to the greenness of PET is recycling. In Hungary there is still plenty of room for improvement on this point, but in the EU more than 70% of PET containers are now recycled. “Luckily most of our customers are fully aware of the importance of this. Vis Vitalis helps in this by picking up the plastic bottles at regular intervals for recycling,” says Karikó. Sustainability is taken into account in other respects as well. “The capacity of the underground water

reserves has been carefully assessed by hydro geologists. The daily upper limit is therefore observed at all times so that the natural refilling process is not endangered,” Érsek adds.

This balance must be kept in spite of the ambitious growth plans of the firm, Karikó notes. “We have a number of highly prized partners, but there is plenty of room for growth here, both in Hungary and abroad. We already export to Slovakia, but have plans to extend that to other neighbouring countries in the not too distant future.”

GREEN COMMITMENT ON A WHOLE NEW (ARTISTIC) LEVEL The uncompromised dedication of Vis Vitalis to a greener future was elevated to a whole new level as a result of a project in association with Hybridart Management. Under the initiative, a statute of a dinosaur stomping on a Vis Vitalis bottle was built from 4,000 recycled PET bottles, with the aim of drawing public attention to the importance of recycling.

The extraordinary piece of art was first put on display in Pannonhalma, then in Vigadó tér in Budapest. Up next on the location list is Abu Dhabi, where the dino is to land at the F-1 circuit in order to generate even more publicity for the cause − and the green commitment of Vis Vitalis.

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Q&A HANS PFISTER

Q&A WITH HOTELIER

HANS PFISTER L ESSO N S F R O M C OSTA R I CA O N D OW N PL AY I N G SUSTA I N A B I L I T Y, F I N D I N G T H E R I G H T PA RT N E R S, A N D PU T T I N G PE O PL E F I R ST. ´ AN INTERVIEW BY: ANJA MUTIC

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Q&A HANS PFISTER

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Q&A HANS PFISTER

Hans Pfister, president and co-owner of Cayuga Sustainable Hospitality, a Costa Rica-based company that currently manages eight hotels in different regions of Costa Rica and Nicaragua, brings over 20 years of global experience in the hotel business. A frequent speaker at sustainability conferences, Mr Pfister shares his insights on how to develop a sustainable luxury hotel, make it stand out and make it thrive.

Hotelier International: Sustainability has been such a buzzword the last few years. Do you feel it’s falling out of fashion as a given property’s selling point?

you shouldn’t go out and say: we’re a sustainable property. When you say you’re sustainable, it’s dangerous because there are always areas where you are not.

Sustainability shouldn’t be used strongly in your promotional message. You should be doing the right things, and you can certainly tell a story about them, but

In our case, sustainability being in fashion or not doesn’t affect the performance of our hotels. That’s because sustainability is not really that important to guests in their

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decision-making process. Once they’re at the hotel, they appreciate it; it’s an added value. But when they’re making a decision on where to stay, it’s not in the top five decision-making factors. People are more interested in location, activities, price, food and service. Regardless, we’ve done sustainability in the early 1990s, and we’re still doing it now. And, frankly, whether it’s in fashion or not, I don’t care.

HI: Can you think of any revealing moments you’ve had recently that made you realize you’re doing something right with your sustainable journey?

There are two things that I’ve noticed over the years that make me think we’re doing the right thing. The first has to do with conservation.

I’ve been doing this for 15 years, and I see a lot more wildlife than I did then - more scarlet

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macaws, agoutis and forest turkeys. Private reserves and conservation activities are really having an impact.

What’s even more important and what makes me get up every day with a smile is to see the development of the people. To see a receptionist promoted to general manager, to see someone who has worked in construction at

Q&A HANS PFISTER

one of our properties become middle management. When I talk to our employees, when I hear their stories, I know that’s what it’s all about, seeing how their lives get better.

Another thing: There are a lot of people trying to copy us, and that’s good. For example, ten years ago we started offering sustainability tours at our properties and now a lot of hotels in Costa Rica are offering such tours to their guests. Also, we created a position of sustainability coordinator at Lapa Rios, someone in charge of sustainability at the hotel. Now many hotels have that position, too. That’s a good thing because overall it moves us all in the right direction.

HI: If you could start the endeavor again, what would you do differently and what would you repeat over and over again?

One of the things that we’ve done right is making sure we work with the right projects and the right owners. For example, we’ve been working with the owners of Lapa Rios for 15 years now and that’s definitely a great fit. The owners are committed to sustainability, to the community, to conservation. They have the right values, and we’re all on the same page. And that is the case with all of our current clients. Over the years though we got involved with some projects where either the owners didn’t have that commitment to sustainability or it just wasn’t the right project.

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What I would repeat over and over again is our focus on human resources.

We’re a people company. We talk to each other. We respect each other.

We spend money on training and developing people. That’s something that has worked very well for us.

As for what I would do differently… I’d make us more tech savvy. A lot of how we do things is old fashioned. There are easier ways if you apply technology. It’s partially due to our locations in remote areas and in a country that’s not that developed technology-wise. That’s an aspect where we have a lot of room for improvement, and we’re working on it right now.

Q&A HANS PFISTER

HI: What is your biggest dilemma and challenge as founder and torch-bearer of Cayuga Sustainable Hospitality?

It’s not easy to pick out that one thing, as there are many challenges.

Something we’ve tried to do in the past two years is to remove Andrea (Bonilla, the other owner of Cayuga) and myself from everyday operations.

But we’re probably still too involved and not taking a strategic enough role in the company. We’re still dealing with things that we really shouldn’t be dealing with at this point. For example, I’m running all the marketing at Cayuga, all the social media campaigns we do.

And really, I shouldn’t be doing this anymore. Don’t get me wrong, we’re hoteliers at heart, we love to take care of the client, to fix this and that. But at the point our company is right now and where it’s headed, we should refocus our attention on the more strategic big picture.

HI: What advice would you give to hotel owners and developers looking to boost their performance while keeping a green focus?

Invest in people. Offer training, boost motivation, give rewards. For example, we do training sessions where we bring all the employees to San Jose for two

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days of intensive workshops. But it’s not training people how to clean a room or do check-in. It’s about more general advice they can apply in their work lives.

This year we did a day called “Cayuga TED Talks: Expand Your Horizon,” where we invited seven people to talk about completely different things in 40-minute presentations. One was running an adventure race, another discussed healthy nutrition, yet another talked about finding your inner self. Hopefully these presentations get our people thinking and inspire them to make the right decisions on a different level.

We find that these events have a huge impact on motivation, performance and development of our staff.

Q&A HANS PFISTER

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Q&A HANS PFISTER

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Q&A HITESH MEHTA

Q&A WITH

ARCHITECT

HITESH MEHTA TA L K I N G W I T H T H E G U R U O F EC O - PL A N N I N G A N D EC O -D ES I G N. AN INTERVIEW BY: ETHAN GELBER

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Q&A HITESH MEHTA

Kenya-born Hitesh Mehta is one of the world’s leading authorities on sustainable tourism and ecotourism physical planning, especially as they apply to the architecture and landscaping of ecolodges. He is President and Founder of HM Design, a Floridabased firm that has built projects and consulted in over 57 countries on six continents and received numerous international accolades for its accomplishments in architecture, landscape architecture, environmental planning, urban planning and design, interior design and photography.

Mehta is the author of Authentic Ecolodges (Harper Collins), main editor of the International Ecolodge Guidelines, sits on the advisory board of The International Ecotourism Society, and has judged multiple major sustainable tourism hospitality awards.

In July 2006, National Geographic Adventure magazine named him as one of the planet’s five Sustainable Tourism Pioneers.

Hotelier International: Are people more aware of what ecotourism represents today?

Hitesh Mehta: A tipping point occurred several years ago.

The percentage of people aware of environmental issues and degradation, and what the human ecological footprint is doing to the planet, has become huge. It’s great to see, but there’s still a lot of work to do.

HI: As a result, has your worldview changed with regard to ecotourism?

HM: Now that ecotourism is not being looked at as a fad, I am focussing more on Authentic Ecotourism and embracing the Jain concept of Ahimsa, or “non-violence to your fellow humans and non-human beings.”

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HI: Has your work therefore gotten easier or harder?

HM: Clients have become more conscientious and are doing their homework before they seek me out. I’ve made a very strong statement: I only work on eco- and socially friendly projects. I don’t have to convince anyone about what I’m doing.

room hotel in an urban location. The local community needs to be identified and consulted. And the physical and cultural context should be considered in both locations too. It’s like the foundations of a building; whether you’re in a pristine forest or an urban lot, you still have to lay the foundations properly.

HI: But you’ve set a high bar for yourself.

HM: Yes, but that’s not a problem. Instead it’s protection against planners and designers who tout themselves as green when they’re really not, which is the equivalent of greenwashing.

HI: Surely there are differences too.

HM: Of course. In pristine settings you have to be extremely careful about respecting what exists, but in urban areas, most natural things have been destroyed. Urban hotels also tend to be larger because of the demographics. For the utilities, that means everything is huge compared to what an ecolodge would have. But still, a lot of the basics don’t change no matter where you are.

HI: What are some of the challenges you face when working in urban versus rural environments?

HM: The principles of design and planning are the same whether you’re building an ecolodge in a pristine natural area or a 200-

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LONG-TERM SUSTAINABILITY IS ONLY VIABLE IF THERE’S A GOOD BALANCE BETWEEN THE FINANCIAL, ENVIRONMENTAL, SOCIAL AND SPIRITUAL ASPECTS OF A PROJECT

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Q&A HITESH MEHTA

HI: How has the perception of ecotourism and ecolodges changed in recent years?

HM: I look at today’s perceptions in a more positive light than those of the 1990s. Back then, ecolodges were thought of as rustic places where you slept on the floor and shared toilets. Ecofriendliness was valued over aesthetics. But today, now that ecotechnology is better and cheaper, you can do ecolodge projects that are luxury and eco-friendly. The challenge is to make people aware that there are places for everyone, including affordable ones for the mainstream.

It means studying authentic ecolodges using alternative power, reclaimed-water systems and responsibly grown produce.

HI: What can urban hoteliers learn from ecolodges?

HM: I’ve said before that true green starts in the creation of the building. It’s not just about LED bulbs, low-flow shower heads and recycling programs. It means using low- or zero-VOC paints, chemical-free furniture, and natural cooling and heating systems.

HM Design - www.h-m-design.com Authentic Ecolodges - www.authenticecolodges.com International Ecotourism Society - www.ecotourism.org

Long-term sustainability is only viable if there’s a good balance between the financial, environmental, social and spiritual aspects of a project – a quadruple-bottom-line principle that all tourism accommodation should enforce in their design and construction phases. Then, in their operations, they need to provide guests with holistic experiences that connect their senses to urban ecosystems, local communities and their cultures.

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Q&A HITESH MEHTA

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LUXURY BUDAPEST 2017 TO UPGRADE THE VALUE ADDED SERVICES OF YOUR ROOMS

Luxury Budapest is a yearly published high-end table book featuring Budapest’s world-class luxury lifestyle hotels, exquisite fine dining recommendations, unforgettable sightseeing locations, high-end shopping experiences, selected aspects of modern and contemporary art and design, as well as a flavour of local culture and heritage. An affordable, exclusive and tailor-made hotel in-room media service, updated annually and available in digital format as well.

Luxury Budapest is a highly interesting sales tool to present your property and the destination. The service improves your in-room quality standards and offers a valuable gift for special guests and other important stakeholders. The publication becomes an Ambassador for your property, helps target potential new customers and creates additional income with existing customers.

Luxury Budapest is the ultimate hotel destination book in coffee table format available in hotel rooms.

Published in Hungary by Absolut Media Zrt. More information: publisher@luxury-cities.com www.luxury-cities.com

PROFESSIONAL TECHNOLOGY IN YOUR HOTEL ROOMS I N T E R V I E W W I T H ZO LTÁ N B U R O M, B2B B U S I N ES S D E V E LO P M E N T M A N AG E R, S A M S U N G H U N G A RY

Why choose a Hotel TV solution?

In today’s fast-paced world, it is a basic need for us (and our smart devices) to be “online” and to be able to communicate with each other. We can enjoy this comfort in our homes or our workplaces, so why would we give it up in a hotel? There is a huge amount of added value if a personalised, interactive system can help us relax, work or even communicate with hotel staff from the moment we set foot in a hotel, to the moment we leave.

Why is Hotel TV better than a line of of-the-shelf consumer TVs? Hotel TV and the front office are easily connectible, so guests can access relevant information, including their bill, at any time, or they can be greeted with a personalised message when they enter their room.

Premium Hotel TV devices can communicate with almost any device, so content can be shared back and forth. Moreover, the hotel can send a message to the guest at any time through the TV screen.

We can customize the TV contents and display, to better match the hotel’s identity. The guests’ devices can also be integrated into this, which means they can order services through them, such as food and drink. These devices could also function as a remote for the TV via an app. Another inviting aspect is that the TVs come with a two-year full warranty, which is provided by a nationwide premium service network.

Can you mention any large-scale projects that have already been completed?

We have had numerous large-scale orders recently that we are very proud of.

In the hotels operated by Danubius Hotels, guests can enjoy the Samsung TVs’ premium services in more than 1,500 rooms since 2016. These include the Danubius Hotel Arena, the Danubius Hotel Flamenco, the Danubius Health Spa Resort Bük, the Hotel Marina, and Hilton Budapest. I would also like to mention the 448 premium devices and related services that are installed in 402 rooms in the InterContinental Budapest Hotel.

Besides content broadcasting, the TV offers a whole new type of interactive and entertainment experience, once connected to the network. All the content can be personalised, and guests can choose from this at their leisure. Thanks to the interactive system, guests can contact staff swiftly and smoothly via the TV. In what way can guests connect their mobile devices to them and how can they benefit from this during their stay?

The technology makes it possible for guests to check in or out, get personalised offers or receive real time information via their phones, which could even replace entry cards if needed. Guests can connect with Hotel TV through WLAN, so they can share their own contents with it.

Is there a difference between the set-up of TVs and their menus depending on the rating of the hotel?

The Samsung Hotel TV system can be installed in motels or high-end luxury hotels, and we can provide you with various financial packages. Thanks to our wide range of products, we can be especially flexible regarding the number of rooms, screen sizes or the service package. We also offer an opportunity for individual rooms to be equipped with different TV’s and services ranging from the simpler to the premium solutions in a wide range of financial instruments.

Why is Samsung Hotel TV an ideal choice for hotels?

The system can seem costly at first, but Samsung Hotel TV offers an economically advantageous solution for everyone. Integrated into the HMS (Hotel Management System) network, the hotels can save even more, because the system continuously monitors if the rooms are occupied and adjusts lighting and heating accordingly.

The Samsung Hotel TV service is available to hotels with coax or IP based networks, thus eliminating the need for expensive set-top boxes.

This also makes instalment easier. A central computer is responsible for the management of the assets, which provides fast, economic and reliable results that, together with the premium Samsung Hotel TV, will increase guest satisfaction.

THE BEST: GREEN CONVERSIONS

THESE DAYS IT’S REL ATIVELY SIMPLE, ALBEIT E XPENSIVE, TO BUILD THE ULTIMATE GREEN HOTEL FROM SCR ATCH. BUT ONLY A SMALL FR ACTION OF HOTELS IN THE WORLD ARE NEW BUILDS. MANY OWNERS AND MANAGERS OF E XISTING HOTELS (OR OF NEW HOTELS IN OLD BUILDINGS) GIVE UP ON GOING GREEN BEFORE THE Y’VE E VEN STARTED, CL AIMING THAT ARCHAIC CONSTRUCTION ME THODS AND ANTIQUATED HE ATING AND COOLING SYSTEMS MAKE ENVIRONMENTAL SUSTAINABILIT Y AN IMPOSSIBILIT Y. THESE SHINING BE ACONS OF GREEN FROM ALL OVER THE WORLD PROVE THAT THE CONVENTIONAL WISDOM IS WRONG. OUTMODED BEHEMOTHS CAN BE TURNED INTO SLEEK GREEN MACHINES WHICH ARE KIND TO BOTH THE PL ANE T AND THE POCKE T. BY: NICK BALL

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THE BEST GREEN CONVERSIONS

HOTEL MILANO SCALA MILAN, ITALY www.hotelmilanoscala.it To say that creating Milan’s first zero-emission hotel in a historical mansion dating back to the 1800s was ambitious is an understatement. Of the original building only the ornate façade and the characteristic courtyard structure were retained – everything else was gutted and built from scratch. Between 2007 and 2010, €13 million was spent on creating a truly modern green hotel which – thanks to its reliance on state-of-the-art electrical networks – produces zero CO2. An automated system controls the energy consumption and temperature for each room while a combination of naturally hot water from the aquifer of Milan and extremely efficient water-to-water heat pumps keeps hot water costs to a minimum. The company car is electric; many of the vegetables come from the terrace gardens…the list goes on. The refurbishment will take 6 years to pay for itself, but the owners have no regrets as they are well on their way to achieving their goal of being “beautiful, unique and good.”

THE BEST GREEN CONVERSIONS

THE BEST GREEN CONVERSIONS

INTERCONTINENTAL BOSTON BOSTON, USA www.intercontinentalboston.com

On the face of it the 424-room InterContinental Boston is just another luxury hotel, but soon after opening in 2006 management decided that their hotel would break the mould. Between 2007 and 2014 the hotel increased the percentage of waste which it recycles from 8% to 41%. In addition to conventional recycling of paper, plastic and glass, they also engage in more creative programmes: used bed linen and toiletries are donated to local charities, while vegetable oil from the hotel’s kitchens is converted into biomass fuel which allows the hotel to produce clean renewable energy onsite. Sensors in the rooms control electricity usage and all plumbing fixtures are low-flow. But surely the hotel’s most attention-grabbing contribution to sustainability is its rooftop apiary. Started in 2010, the apiary now consists of 6 hives housing more than 150,000 bees that serve to pollinate inner Boston and provide more honey for the hotel’s restaurants and bars.

THE BEST GREEN CONVERSIONS

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THE BEST GREEN CONVERSIONS

DOUBLETREE BY HILTON ALICE SPRINGS

ALICE SPRINGS, AUSTRALIA www.doubletree3.hilton.com When this hotel was built in 1986, sustainability and energy efficiency were not really taken into account. But times have changed and the sun in Alice Springs – in the heart of the sweltering Australian outback – hasn’t got any cooler. In the early 2000s the owners started looking at ways of saving energy. In 2008, 1326 photovoltaic solar panels were installed along with 32 Quantum heat pumps and Jemflo water controls in all 236 guest rooms. Energy Eye was installed in all guest rooms to control electricity consumption for heating, ventilation and air-conditioning. A year later solar heating was installed for the main swimming pool, and in 2012 a low-load chiller was installed, which uses waste water from the air-conditioners to preheat the hot water. All in all the hotel’s energy saving measures have been responsible for electricity savings of 34 percent, gas savings of 47 percent and water savings of 23 percent.

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THE BEST GREEN CONVERSIONS

THE SAVOY

LONDON, ENGLAND www.fairmont.com/savoy-london/ Built in 1889, and a global icon ever since, The Savoy is accustomed to winning hotel awards. In 2007 it was closed to facilitate extensive refurbishments costing £220 million and taking three years to complete. Green thinking coloured the entire restoration, not least the extensive energy refit programme, and since then the hotel has added numerous green awards to its trophy cabinet. The jewel in their green crown is the combined heat and power plant that uses energy generated as a by-product of the heating systems to reduce the hotel’s reliance on the national grid by about 50 percent, but nowadays no aspect of The Savoy is not green: 100 percent of the waste produced by the hotel is recycled, all drinking water is bottled onsite using the Vivreau Water system and, inspired

by Fairmont’s Sustainability Partnership, the hotel has engaged with its community by adopting a stretch of the River Thames and establishing an award-winning herb garden on adjacent land.

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THE BEST GREEN CONVERSIONS

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THE BEST GREEN CONVERSIONS

ITC MAURYA

NEW DELHI, INDIA www.itchotels.in ITC is the ‘greenest hotel chain in the world,’ and ITC Maurya was the first hotel ever to be awarded LEED Platinum status in the Existing Building category. Built in 1976, the hotel’s WelcomEnviron programme was introduced in 1991 and was the first of its kind anywhere in the world. ITC Maurya has been at the forefront of green innovation ever since. In the last few years alone they have installed a Membrane Bio Reactor sewage treatment plant; replaced their steam tumble dryers with energy efficient direct-fired PNG tumble dryers; and installed an organic waste converter which converts food waste into manure that’s rich in nutrients, ready-to-use and non-smelling. This is used for in-house requirements and the excess is given away as a CSR activity. A write-up such as this cannot do justice to the myriad initiatives implemented by ITC Maurya, but suffice to say their triple bottom line of Profit, Planet and People is smiling.

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THE BEST GREEN CONVERSIONS

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THE BEST GREEN BATHROOM DESIGNS

THE BEST: GREEN BATHROOM DESIGNS FOR MANY, BEING GREEN IS AKIN TO BEING CLE AN. MAYBE IT’S THE CONNECTION TO THE E ARTH OR THE PURIT Y THAT ENSHROUDS THE IDE A OF ECO-CONSCIOUSNESS THAT CONNECTS THE T WO. ( THEN AGAIN, IT MAY ALSO HAVE TO DO WITH THE ENERGY AND FOOD INDUSTRY’S MARKE TING L ANGUAGE.) DISREGARDING ITS ORIGIN, THE IDE A THAT GREEN IS CLE AN AND SERENE IS E ASY TO ADOPT. HERE ARE FIVE E XCEPTIONAL CASES OF HOTEL BATHROOMS FROM AROUND THE GLOBE THAT E XCEED BOTH ‘GREEN’ AND ‘CLE AN’ STANDARDS. BY: MEG NOLAN VAN REESEMA

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FOUR SEASONS TENTED CAMP GOLDEN TRIANGLE CHIANG RAI, THAILAND www.fourseasons.com/goldentriangle At the Four Seasons Elephant Camp in Chiang Rai Thailand the rooms are veritable tents, making the bathrooms equally ensconced in canvas and exposed to the elements. Though rustic sounding, these bathrooms are anything but. From outdoor rain showers with views over the elephant grazing grounds and neighboring river, to handmade double-occupancy copper tubs, the open-plan bathrooms are decadent and perhaps more importantly, wonderfully absent of modern technology. Stereos, TVs or any other audio tool are purposefully verboten in an effort to protect the sounds of nature and the environment.

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THE BEST GREEN BATHROOM DESIGNS

RANCHO PACIFICO COSTA RICA www.ranchopacifico.com With his and hers rain showers alongside an outdoor Japanese soaking tub and a crushed shell vanity, the bathrooms at Costa Rica’s Rancho Pacifico take the idea of sustainability and pair it with indulgent bathing rituals, resulting in an overall relaxing and wonderfully guilt-free privilege.

Throw in the impressive fact that the resort manages to pump water more than 400 feet uphill from natural springs without the use of motors and the exceptional quality begins to ring ever louder.

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TIERRA PATAGONIA

TORRES DEL PAINE, CHILE www.tierrapatagonia.com Heralded for its eco-conscious architecture and locally sourced building materials, the design of Tierra Patagonia, which lies at the incredibly scenic gateway of Torres del Paine National Park, is profoundly environmentally sensitive. The entire building features low-energy LED lighting, high-grade insulation, and a layout that somehow negates the need for both air-conditioning and tremendous heating. The sleek bathrooms are paneled in locally sourced Lenga wood from a sustainable rain forest, while the linens are created locally and are 100 percent organic.

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THE BEST GREEN BATHROOM DESIGNS

ALILA VILLAS

ULUWATU, BALI www.alilahotels.com/uluwatu or www.designhotels.com With its jaw-dropping cliffside location, the luxurious villas at Alila Villas have garnered significant recognition for imaginative architectural style. Yet it’s the hotel’s recent Earthcheck Gold certification — which mandates annual measurements of energy, waste, water, emissions, community involvement and cleaning and pesticide use — that truly separates it from the pack. The guest villas and bathrooms feature naturally insulating, local lava rock for roofs and bamboo in the ceilings, while local plants are raised alongside the villas to encourage local bird and animal life. They are also outfitted with a waste water management system that includes soak and rain-water collection. The bathroom fixtures are implemented with water-conserving fixtures, while the teal walls simply add to the overall natural design style. Alila Villas is a member of Design Hotels.

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THE BEST GREEN BATHROOM DESIGNS

H2 HOTEL,

HEALDSBURG, CALIFORNIA www.h2hotel.com

Located in the heart of charming downtown Healdsburg, in California’s Sonoma County wine country, the H2 Hotel is a LEED-certified hotel whose mantra is environmental awareness – from the homegrown cocktails to the undulating planted roof. The hotel is sincere about its commitment to the environment; just ask the employees, who are clad in organic cotton uniforms and well-versed on all the property’s specific green amenities. And no more so than in its guest room bathrooms, which feature all-natural, refillable bath amenities, Coyuchi organic towels and robes, fair-trade felt rugs, locally-sourced heath ceramic tiles and sustainable bamboo flooring.

Author Bio: Meg Nolan van Reesema (www.megnolan.com) is a luxury travel writer and consultant.

She has authored three books published by Rizzoli on Hideaways around the globe and developed original content for online travel sites such as Tablet Hotels. Her writing spans both print and digital outlets, appearing in magazines such as Robb Report, NY Post and Connecticut Cottages and Gardens and custom content projects for hospitality websites, startup ventures, and individual hotels and resorts.

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THE BEST:

LIVING WALLS

HOTELS IN CR AMPED URBAN ARE AS OF TEN ARE UNABLE TO HAVE TR ADITIONAL GARDENS, BUT RECENT STRIDES IN THE TECHNOLOGY BEHIND VERTICAL GARDENS HAVE OPENED UP ANOTHER OPTION FOR INNER-CIT Y HOTELS. THE MAJORIT Y OF THE LIVING WALLS IN THE WORLD TODAY WERE DESIGNED AND BUILT BY ONE MAN, PATRICK BL ANC, BUT THE CONCEPT GOES BACK TO ANCIENT TIMES AND THE FAMOUS HANGING GARDENS OF BABYLON. IT’S NO SURPRISE THAT THESE SPECTACUL AR HOMAGES TO NATURE HAVE NE VER GONE OUT OF FASHION; LIVING WALLS PRODUCE OX YGEN, REDUCE AMBIENT TEMPER ATURE AND PROVIDE HARMONY, BAL ANCE AND RESTOR ATION TO BOTH GUESTS AND STAFF. BY: NICK DALL

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SOFITEL THE PALM

DUBAI, UNITED ARAB EMIRATES www.sofitel-dubai-thepalm.com Instead of opting for one enormous showstopper, Sofitel The Palm has chosen to spread the mental and physical benefits of living walls throughout its premises. In total there are 18 living walls at The Palm, the largest of which is 12 metres high. They cover a whopping total area of 800 square metres and are made up of 170 different species of tropical plants. Maintenance involves weekly doses of pesticide and fertiliser, and every six months the walls require a trim. The Palm goes to great pains to emphasise the therapeutic qualities of their green walls and the way that they contrast their desert surroundings: “green indicates the presence of water and little danger of famine.” And it works; guests have been flocking to what is the UAE’s largest green wall as they would to a real-world oasis.

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THE BEST LIVING WALLS

THE ATHENAEUM

LONDON, UNITED KINGDOM www.athenaeumhotel.com The Athenaeum is surrounded by some of the most well-known green areas in London, but this only served to inspire the hotel to add to the urban greenery. Their 22-metre living wall was built in 2009 as a stand-alone project to “provide a haven of biodiversity and to bring a fun, striking and intriguing design statement for guests to enjoy.” It was one of London’s first vertical gardens and it features yucca, lavender, jasmine, fuchsia, rosemary, juniper and numerous mosses as well as self-sown wild flowers. What really sets the Athenaeum’s living wall apart, though, are the red bird boxes which provide valuable nesting sites for the city’s blackbirds, starlings, tits and robins.

Discreet cameras in the boxes enable guests to watch a live video feed of the birds. Maintenance can be challenging but the positives far outweigh the negatives and the wall has received lots of excellent feedback from visitors.

THE BEST LIVING WALLS

PERSHING HALL PARIS, FRANCE www.pershinghall.com Named after the American WWII Commander-in-Chief John J. Pershing, who used the building as his campaign headquarters, Pershing Hall has a history which is almost as vivid and colourful as its ornate interiors. Somewhat predictably, the 30-metre-tall living wall in the elegant central courtyard is anything but understated. Built as part of a major renovation in 2001, the wall is made up of more than three hundred creepers, ferns, orchids, trees, plants and shrubs from places as diverse as the Philippines, the Amazon and the Himalayas. Hotel management view the living wall as the ‘spinal column’ of the establishment and careful maintenance has ensured that it continues to attract both local and foreign visitors.

THE BEST LIVING WALLS

THE BEST LIVING WALLS

THE BEST LIVING WALLS

THE RUBENS AT THE PALACE LONDON, UNITED KINGDOM www.rubenshotel.com The Rubens is located in a historic building in the Victoria area which has been used as a hotel for over a century. In 2011 the hotel took part in a Victoria Business Improvement District initiative to identify new locations for green space in the area. Thus the idea of a vertical garden was born, although the initial concept was far less ambitious than what we see today. The 350m² garden is made up of 10,000 ferns and herbaceous plants and 16 tons of soil. Species which flower at different times of the year were chosen, among them buttercups, crocuses, strawberries, spring bulbs and winter geraniums. Designed by Gary Grant and installed by Armando Raish and his team at TreeBox, it works a little bit differently to the other gardens in this feature – all of which are Patrick Blanc creations. The living wall greatly improves the aesthetics of both the hotel and the Victoria area, but there are other benefits to it being an outdoor wall: it relies solely on rainwater for irrigation and it greatly reduces the risk of urban flooding.

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HOTEL ICON

HONG KONG, CHINA www.hotel-icon.com

The Hotel Icon was built in 2011 with the dual purpose of impressing guests and serving as a learning environment for the students of The Hong Kong Polytechnic University’s hotel school.

Every aspect of the hotel epitomises style and design, and the 18-metre living wall in the lobby is no exception. Spanning 230 square metros and comprising more than 75 different species of flora, it is the largest living wall in Asia. But not only the size wows guests, students and passers-by; 8000 individual plants form exuberant swirls of varied texture and colour in a free-form mural. Monthly maintenance costs run to about $30 000, but according to management this is money well spent.

The living wall greatly improves the air quality in the hotel, but perhaps more importantly it gets people talking. The Hotel Icon lives up to its name, thanks in no small part to its living wall.

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PROFILES PROFILES CAPE CAPE TOWN’S TOWN’S VINEYARD VINEYARD HOTEL HOTEL

CAPE TOWN’S

VINEYARD HOTEL

BENEATH THE VINEYARD HOTEL’S OLD WORLD EXTERIOR LIES A COMMITMENT TO ENVIRONMENTAL SUSTAINABILITY THAT IS MORE IN TOUCH WITH THE FUTURE THAN THE PAST. BY: NICK DALL

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Dating back to 1799, the building which houses the Vineyard Hotel is one of the grand old dames of Cape Town and it has passed through many of South Africa’s most famous hands. In 1981 the Petousis family bought what was then a 30-room hotel in a magnificent location. Since then they have transformed the gardens and drastically increased its size to 207 rooms.

In 2006, inspired by the findings of an environmental assessment project undertaken in conjunction with the Western Cape government, the Vineyard Hotel decided to embrace a sustainable business model. The Petousis family had always lived close to nature, and when presented with the facts, “operating sustainably didn’t seem like a choice,

but a necessity for the future of the planet,” says General Manager Roy Davies.

From the very beginning “the hotel’s sustainability efforts have come from the heart. The focus on ‘living green’ has always come out of a genuine concern for our environment,” Davies explains.

Sustainability Manager Chris van Zyl, who has been on board since the start, echoes this sentiment. “We are more concerned about the long-term impact. In many cases some [green initiatives] are just ‘the right thing to do’, with the bottom line sometimes being of secondary concern.”

For example, the Vineyard recycles 98 percent of its waste, and its on-site sorting plant even serves as a

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recycling depot for the local community. “Some of the costs are recouped from the value of the recycled goods says van Zyl. “But the project still costs us money.”

For the Vineyard, though, it’s all about sending a positive message. In addition to traditional recycling, their used wine corks are put towards a project which installs cork flooring in underprivileged communities and their foil coffee bags are upcycled into coasters for the hotel’s conference centre.

Another costly intervention is the recent installation of 80 photovoltaic panels on the roof of the hotel’s gym and Splash Cafe. PV panels are still very expensive, and their efficiency is heavily dependent on the weather. To date they

have only been able to cover 1.2% of the hotel’s electricity needs, but every little bit helps. At the launch, CEO Lex Petousis commented that “through this initiative, the Vineyard Hotel has effectively become an electricity power station in its own right, and we’re enormously proud of the impact this noteworthy addition is making to our growing list of green practices.”

Last year, the Vineyard took advantage of a government rebate to convert more than 6000 lights to LED. The hotel saw an immediate 8 percent reduction in electricity costs. Other green initiatives which make good business sense include low energy heat pumps for the hotel’s hot water generation; reusing the hot water created by the air-

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YOU’LL NEVER ACHIEVE THE SAME KIND OF RESULTS AS A NEW-BUILD, SO THE SOONER YOU GET ON BOARD THE BETTER

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conditioners’ chilling unit; and sensors which switch lights off when an office is vacated and turn bedroom air-conditioners off when a window is opened.

There are also distinct business advantages to being one of the greenest hotels around. “Through a combination of keeping electricity consumption to a minimum, producing our own electricity and buying green energy credits we are able to run an energy-neutral conference centre,” van Zyl explains. “This has attracted numerous green conferences which wouldn’t otherwise have come here.” In addition,

some 5 percent of guests list the hotel’s green credentials as a major reason for choosing to stay there – a percentage which will only rise in coming years.

Communicating green policies to guests can be a bit of a balancing act, as there are always some people who view them as mere money-saving tactics. The Vineyard has gone for a subtle but persuasive approach; an in-house green channel is the default setting on the TVs in the rooms, and the hotel’s ‘living green’ logo appears on all sustainably produced products and projects they support.

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VINEYARD HOTEL Phone: : 27 (0)21 657 4500 Web: www.vineyard.co.za General Manager: Roy Davies Directors: Lex Petousis, Hilary Seymour, George Petousis Rack Room Rates: From ZAR 2200 to ZAR 8270 Number of Rooms: 207

When asked to reflect on the last decade’s work, van Zyl emphasises the difficulty of converting a historical hotel into a green establishment. “You’ll never achieve the same kind of results as a new-build, so the sooner you get on board the better,” he advises. “Luckily, going green is much easier these days. There’s lots of new technology and green hoteliers are always willing to share their knowledge and expertise. Not spreading the word just wouldn’t be green.”

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LAST LOOK

CHINA’S SHIMAO GROUP SETS ITS SIGHTS ON ECO-CONSCIOUS GUESTS BY: BOYD FARROW

Hong Kong’s Shimao Group has just opened the MiniMax Hotel in Shanghai. It’s the first in a planned chain aimed at an eco minded clientele. The property promises “ten game-changing innovations,” including a purification process to give room air “the quality found in a US national park,” a low-alkaline potable water system and energyefficient smartrooms. It is the first Chinese hotel to receive green stars from both the country’s ministry of construction and a US LEED Silver certification.

If this sounds ambitious, check out the rendering for another Shimao project—an extraordinary 400-bed luxury hotel being built inside a 90 metre quarry outside Shanghai.

The central vertical circulation atrium connecting the base to ground level forms a glass “waterfall.” The cliff will be overlooked by the guest room balconies while restaurants (one underwater) will be at the bottom. The lowest level will contain a leisure and spa complex and pool, and some guest rooms will face an aquarium. The project’s UK-headquartered architects Atkins Global says sustainability is high on Shimao’s agenda here too, with the project integrating geothermal energy, solar panels and solar heat energy within the tall “waterfall” atrium. When compete, the hotel will be operated

by Intercontinental Hotels Group.

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