With a goal of creating an eco-friendly image amid the drought, many properties are replacing exotic flower beds with native plants, recycling water for laundry and irrigation use, and removing superfluous fountains.
With California in the worst drought in state history, some hotels have gone beyond installing low-flow shower heads and urging guests to reuse towels, with a goal of creating an eco-friendly image to appeal to environmentally minded guests, the Los Angeles Times reported.
The Intercontinental Los Angeles Century City Hotel is removing draping ivy plants from the balconies of all 361 rooms, replacing them with drought-tolerant succulents. “It’s not a huge savings,” General Manager Steve Choe said. “I think it’s about sending the right message.”
The Courtyard by Marriott in Torrance tore out 900 sq. ft. of turf and flower beds, swapping them for native California grass to help cut water use by 15%, the Times reported.
Nearly 60% of travelers say they plan to make eco-friendly choices when booking hotels, with half saying they would pay extra to stay at an environmentally friendly hotel, according to a 2012 survey by the travel website TripAdvisor. An Earth-friendly image is also important because many corporate travel managers insist that their workers stay at hotels that do their part to improve the environment, the Times reported.
“The best thing hotels can do is say ‘look at what we are doing'” to help the environment, said Patricia Griffin, founder of the Green Hotels Assn., a Houston-based group that promotes green policies for hotels.
No government agency keeps track of how many hotels have adopted water-saving measures. Still, Griffin and other water experts say low-flow shower heads and other in-room measures are common in hotels because local utilities and government agencies offer rebates for water-saving equipment, the Times reported.
Bathrooms are the biggest drain, accounting for about 30% of hotel water use, followed by landscaping and laundry, each with 16%, and kitchens with 14%, according to the Environmental Protection Agency.
The Bacara Resort & Spa in Santa Barbara drained its decorative fountains and planted succulents and agave plants in a large fountain near the entrance. The water saved from the drained fountains was “insignificant,” but it sent a message about the hotel’s environmental efforts, said General Manager Kathleen Corchran.
When the Bacara posted a photo of the agave-filled fountain on Facebook, it got a mixed reaction from guests, with some declaring the fountain “beautiful” and others saying “Put the water back” and “Sorry you made the change,” the Times reported.
The Intercontinental Hotels Group plans next year to give all 4,700 of its hotels access to an online tool that lets managers track how much energy and water they are using. The group hopes to use the system to cut water use by 12% over the next three years in water-starved areas like California, the Times reported.
During a multimillion-dollar renovation three years ago, the Hotel Bel-Air in Los Angeles installed a filtering system to reuse bathroom water from a dozen hotel suites to irrigate its 12 acres of gardens, the Times reported.
The Loews Santa Monica Beach Hotel plans to install a system to recycle about 70% of the water used for its laundry operation. The project, which is expected to be installed by mid-December, will cost about $96,000, after water and gas rebates, according to hotel officials.
Hotel officials expect the investment will pay for itself in 17 months, the Times reported.
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