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NEWS:
November 1st, 2004
51
BUCKINGHAM GATE & CROWNE PLAZA
51
Buckingham Gate and Crowne Plaza London St James have been awarded both “Considerate
Hotelier of the Year 2004” award and “Environmentally Friendly
Hotel of the Year 2004” presented at a sumptuous breakfast meeting
in the historic and down to earth surroundings of the wine cellars at The
Stafford Hotel, St James on Wednesday 27th October 2004.
Grevile
Bridge, Chairman of the Considerate Hoteliers Association and a Director
and former Chairman of Beales Hotels commented: "I
would like to congratulate the winners of the Considerate Hoteliers Awards
on their commitment to 'considerate' hotelkeeping and on going out of
their way to promoting best practice in their day-to-day operation.
With the spotlight more and more on measures required by us all to
preserve the environment, and with massive increases to hotel energy bills
from high tariff rises, these winners stand out as an example to all
hotels as to what can be achieved, without major investment, but with real
commitment and involvement of their staff. We hope this will
encourage more hotels to join Considerate Hoteliers."
Crowne Plaza London St James
The
Crowne Plaza received awards for both categories: Considerate Hotelier of
the Year and Environmentally Friendly Hotel of Year! (*please refer to
“notes to editors” for full details)
Independent
judge, Dr Rebecca Hawkins of Oxford Brookes University, said, “It
has been a great pleasure to judge the awards. The dedication of the
people involved in each of the short listed hotels to make them truly
considerate is amazing. The range of innovative programmes – from
organic gardens in city centres to the development of green teams for
schools – shows great ingenuity. They illustrate that enthusiastic staff
combined with enlightened managers can ensure that any hotel is a real
asset to the community and environment.”
Bernard
de Villele, Vice President Operations Europe and the Americas and General
Manager, Taj Hotels, Resorts and Palaces, was delighted, “Unless
every individual pays their fullest attention to green issues, our future
generations are due to witness a disaster on a global scale. As an
industry we are not doing enough and we have a corporate responsibility to
continue to set targets and constantly review and update our green
practices. Commitment to environmental issues can often be achieved
without financial investment through simple action plans – and the great
thing is that the benefits are not only environmental but financial in
terms of real savings”.
Runner
up in the category of Considerate Hotelier was The Lowry Hotel in
Manchester (a considerable achievement having recently joined the
Considerate Hoteliers Association) and runner up in the category of
Environmentally Friendly Hotel was The Buckingham Beales Hotel.
Notes
to editors:
For
further information including photographs please contact Claire Lalaguna
at Satellite MPR, tel: 020 8361 3754, mobile: 07973 314 594, email:
Claire@satellitempr.com
The
Considerate Hoteliers Association. www.consideratehoteliers.com
Considerate Hoteliers
purpose is to protect and improve the environmental quality of life
locally and globally. It does this through: events and information for
members; an awards scheme; and advice on environmental and sustainability
issues.
The Association began in
central London and membership is open to hotels and guesthouses
nationwide, of all sizes and grades, which commit and conform to the
Association's Mission Statement and Environment Charter/Policy. The
Association is particularly proud of its recent links with CESHI (Centre
for Environmental Studies in the Hospitality Industry) at Oxford Brookes
University and looks forward to a long and mutually beneficial
association.
The Association has also
recently announced automatic registration for all Considerate Hotelier
members to Hospitable Climates. www.hospitableclimates.org.uk,
which promotes energy efficiency to the hospitality sector and is a HCIMA
(Hotel and Catering International Management Association) led, Carbon
Trust supported programme.
New Considerate Hotelier
members include: Glenmorangie Highland Home, Le Manoir Aux Quat Saisons,
Harbour Heights (Poole), Sanderson, St. Martin's Lane, Careys Manor Hotel
& Spa (New Forest), The Lowry Hotel
Further
information from honorary secretary, John Firrell on tel: 01308 482 313 or
email rogerson@evemail.net
The
Crowne Plaza was commended particularly on the following grounds:
Considerate
Hotelier 2004
- Comprehensive
approach to the development of disabled facilities including the
provision of dog kennels for guide dogs, investment in equipment to
improve the stay of guests with hearing difficulties and the
implementation of a comprehensive training programme (95% of staff
have now been through a DDA awareness programme)
- Excellent
attention to detail in the appearance of the hotel and its facilities.
The garden, which is totally organic, is particularly impressive and
the innovative approach of the hotel has paid dividends with the hotel
forming useful partnerships with other businesses such as Chelsea
Flower Show. Plants for the garden are sourced from nurseries and
local
growers and biological controls have successfully been introduced over the
last 12 months to eliminate the need for chemical pesticides - The
use of a hawk to reduce the pigeon population around the hotel,
resulting in the adoption of this practice by other businesses in the
area
- The
innovative way in which the hotel makes a contribution to local
charities and works with other local businesses to develop programmes that emphasize the importance of the environment of London.
Environmentally
Friendly Hotel 2004
the impressive programme for reducing energy consumption and the
preparations that have been made thus far following the recruitment of a
new chief engineer 4 months ago. The hotel aims to reduce energy
consumption by one-third over the next 12 months and is investing in
appropriate systems (including a can-fix team) to help them achieve this
saving
The implementation of new preventative maintenance systems that ensure
faults, leaks and excessive consumption is detected and addressed
The comprehensive approach to waste recycling and the development of systems to reduce paper wastage in back of house areas- this commitment has driven a continual improvement in performance
The way in which the commitment to the environment pervades purchasing decisions. The hotel asks suppliers to change their practices to favour more benign substances, purchases cleaning products only from a supplier that has its own comprehensive environmental programme in place, the change in the range of products offered by the spa and work in progress with the new supplier to ensure bottles containing products are re-used and the development of an organic breakfast offer.
The
development and reporting of progress in the staff magazine, on the notice
board and through department head meetings and the commitment to staff
training in environmental issues within induction programmes.
The
Crowne Plaza Hotel, www.london.crowneplaza.com,
or contact Bernard de
Villele, General Manager
on 0207 769 7766, email: bdv@dircon.co.uk
The
Lowry Hotel, Manchester as runner up in the category of Considerate
Hotelier 2004, was commended particularly on the following grounds:
The Lowry Hotel, Manchester
Runner
up - Considerate Hotelier 2004
The
way in which they have developed links with local schools – and
particularly with schools with learning difficulties - to introduce
students to the hospitality industry, the opportunities it offers and to
encourage students to pursue qualifications in the field.
The
investment in facilities for the disabled
The
development of the hotel with environmental responsibility in mind (e.g.
the use of a Building Management System)
The
development of partnerships to improve the quality of the surrounding
environment in an area, which is the focus of EU regeneration funding
(e.g. to develop and maintain the canal and to encourage the development
of pleasure craft to link the hotel to other areas of the city).
The
Lowry Hotel, www.roccofortehotels.com
or contact Alex Willats, Resident Manager on 0161 827 4023 email: awillats@thelowryhotel.com
Buckingham Beales Hotel
The
runner up in the Environmentally Friendly Hotel award is the Buckingham
Beales and it was commended particularly on the following grounds:
The
commitment and dedication of the Green Team to driving forward
improvements in the hotel's performance
The
impressive savings in water consumption and waste production, which
continue to be achieved and delivered via a comprehensive system of
benchmarking performance
The
way the hotel integrates with the community, specifically, the links it
has made with local suppliers of food stuffs enabling them to feature
regional products such as the Three Shires breakfast
The
plans the hotel has for a small dedicated herb garden and the outreach
activities with local schools to encourage them to help develop the garden
and decide what plants it should contain
The
outreach programmes with local schools to develop a Junior Green Team
Considerate
Hoteliers Awards Luncheon 2003
Thursday
23rd October at the Royal Lancaster
The
winners of the Considerate Hoteliers Awards 2003 are the Four Seasons
Hotel (Considerate Hotel of the Year) and the Buckingham
Beales Hotel
(Environmentally Friendly Hotel of the Year). The Crowne Plaza London
St James was Highly Commended in the Considerate Hotel of the Year
category, and West Lodge Park/Hatfield Lodge Hotels who entered a joint
submission were Highly Commended in the Environmentally Friendly Hotel of
the Year category.
Professor John Forte (Principal, HCIMA Hospitable Climates), was the
Independent Judge for the Awards. He commented "In general the
standards were high and it was pleasing to see how much good work has been
and continues to be done on all environmental issues".
Turning to the winners, he said "Because of the Four Seasons'
approach and current standards to the provision of disabled facilities;
their well-kept and generously planted garden and conditions of guest use
of external facilities; their stunning floral displays in the reception
areas and throughout the Hotel, I placed them first in the Considerate
Hotel of the Year category. The Buckingham Beales Hotel was notable for
the sheer enthusiasm of their "Green Team" which commits them to
a target of 90% recycling of all waste by the end of 2003, while their
participation in Hospitable Climates and the many initiatives on energy
conservation has resulted in reducing their energy consumption and cost by
some £14,000 in the last year".
The Awards, kindly donated by Waterford Wedgwood plc, were presented by Dr
Garry Felgate, Director, Action Energy, at a lunch at the Royal Lancaster
Hotel in London on Thursday 23rd October 2003. Dr Felgate said "It is
exciting to see that both the Winner and the Highly Commended prizes of
the 'Environmentally Friendly Hotel of the Year' have been awarded to
hotels which include energy efficiency as a major part of their
environmental efforts. I hope that this will encourage other hotels to
make energy efficiency a priority and take advantage of the free help and
advice offered by the Hospitable Climates programme run jointly by Action
Energy and the HCIMA".
The event was attended by member hoteliers, and partly sponsored by Euro
Property Services
For
further information contact
Grevile Bridge
Tel: 01727 835399
e-mail: grevilebridge@hotmail.com
Note to Editors:
Entrants in the Considerate Hotel of the Year category were asked
to provide information and evidence of achievements during the 12 months
to April 2003, and their plans for the following 6 months to October 2003
in one or more of the following categories:
Cleanliness and cleaning products - disabled facilities - pollution
control - flowers and plants - community-related or socially-responsible
projects - general environmental-related guest information.
Entrants in the Environmentally Friendly Hotel of the Year category
were asked to provide information and evidence of achievements for the
same period in one or more of the following categories:
Energy conservation - recycling - waste management - purchasing policies -
staff involvement and training - involvement of guests.
Considerate Hoteliers is a non-profit-making association started 13 years
ago in London's Westminster borough with sponsorship from Westminster City
Council. It has now expanded to include hotels further afield.
The Association's mission statement is: To encourage the adoption of
economically, socially and environmentally sustainable policies and
practices among hoteliers in a way which enhances the viability of their
businesses, the environment, and the quality of the experience on offer to
their guests, staff, and visiting tourists.
Original
design and HTML © 2005 Steven Warner and Tim Hutton
Original content © 2005 www.consideratehoteliers.com
This website is edited by Julian
Payne