Travel Tips – Green Hotels

Traveling green is easier than ever these days as hotels are making great efforts to go green and save energy, water and other resources.  New hotels are building green, too.  Not all hotels are green though, you have to know what to look for and what questions to ask if you plan to travel green.

If you don’t mind spending a bit more money for your green stay, look for newer hotels that were built within the past few years.  Check their websites to see if they advertise as an environmentally friendly hotel.  If not you can give them a call and ask if they are a certified green building.  If a hotel has spent the extra money to build green, then you should be able to assume that they also take measures toward conservation as well, but it doesn’t hurt to ask.

Some things you will want to ask the hotel is if they conserve energy by using longer lasting, energy saving florescent lighting throughout the hotel.  Do they have a way to encourage guests to turn out the lights, television, air conditioning, etc. when they leave the room?  One hotel in San Francisco is designed so that when you leave the room you have to lock the door from the outside with a keycard.  When you do this the electricity in the room is shut off.  This is a great energy saving concept, but don’t expect any older hotels to use it.

Ask the hotel about how they save water.  Do they allow guests to reuse towels and sheets or do they change them every day regardless of the guest’s wishes?  Do they have water saving showers and low-flush toilets?  Hotels can save millions of gallons of water each year by making some simple changes.

What kind of recycling program does the hotel have in place?  Do they place recycling receptacles in each guest room?  Do they have recycling receptacles in their lobby and restaurant and swimming pool areas?  How do they encourage their staff to recycle?

What kinds of cleaning products do they use and what brands of shampoos and lotions are they offering in the guest rooms?  Are they organic?  Organic cleaning products are now readily available for commercial and home use.  Find out how green your hotel is before you book if you want to travel green this year.