Ask the expert... Sustainable hotel stays

Fernando Vives, Chief Commercial Officer, NH Hotel Group

each year in our hotels. Plastic waste is reduced by 40% worldwide (45 tons), equivalent to 364 tons of CO2. Likewise, the elimination of 5 million bars of soap means not wasting 70 tons of product per year. We have also started to install showers that reduce the volume of water used by 40% thanks to their savings technology, which has reduced the water consumption per stay by 24% compared to 2021.

How important is it for hotels to source local F&B produce?

If a guest opts out of a daily room clean, what difference does that make to the environmental footprint of their stay?

At NH Hotel Group we offer a complete room cleaning service but guests who stay for more than one night can decline it thanks to our ‘Green Stay’ initiative. The difference in one isolated case could be slight but let's think of every person who opts for this. Together it accounts for a significant contribution to the environment as it means using less water and electricity for room cleaning and for bed linen and towels that are not going to be washed. Even more significantly, 64% of the electricity consumed by the group now comes from completely renewable sources. In hotels in the Southern Europe, it's 100% and the overall energy consumption per stay has been reduced by 35% compared to 2021.

What is the environmental benefit if guests use automated check-in?

Since 2020 we have offered several tech tools to automate check-in and check-out with Fast Pass. With Mobile Guest Service, our guests can manage everything related to their stay from any electronic device, such as a request for extra amenities or booking a table in a restaurant. These initiatives provide an improved customer experience but also help us to play our part in the fight against deforestation and climate crisis. It has allowed the group to reduce the consumption of 2 million sheets of paper, translating into 30,000 kg of wood saved, 500 m3 of water not consumed, 100,000 kWh of energy saved and 11 metric tons of CO2eq not emitted into the atmosphere.

How significant is a switch away from miniature toiletries?

New amenities in our hotel bathrooms allow us to eliminate all single-use plastics in our room set-up, replacing them with new 100% recycled and recyclable PET, complemented with a new line of bathroom accessories made using biodegradable materials presented in 100% recycled paper packaging. New larger-capacity containers make it possible to eliminate more than 14 million individual containers that were used

This can make a big impact. Some of our hotels have spaces to install urban gardens. Cultivating these spaces enhances the landscape and gastronomic value of the dishes and also reduces the environmental impact, since it eliminates the need to transport produce. It also generates a sense of community among employees. Some NH hotels in Austria and Germany offer a home for bees on their roofs, aware of the limited space in cities for biodiversity, the important role of bees in ecosystems and the critical situation of bees in Europe.

What else can business travellers do to reduce the footprint of their stay?

There are several things our guests can do. Some of them are the same as in their homes, such as reducing energy waste, turning off the lights and air conditioning when leaving the room, unplugging any electronics that are not in use, re-using towels, taking shorter showers and not letting the water run while brushing teeth or shaving. Guests can also choose green transportation. For example, in our hotels we offer green mobility services such as carsharing, bike rental and charging points for electric cars. For travel buyers, it's vital in RFPs to ask for details about a hotel’s sustainability policy, measures being taking to reduce carbon footprint, percentages of renewable energy consumption and numbers relating to water usage.