The 35-room Draycott Hotel is a relatively small luxury property with a big goal: to become the most eco-friendly boutique hotel in London.
“I think a few years ago being green was a fashion statement,” said General Manager Melissa Stoman. “Now I think it’s a necessity.”
The Draycott has a long list of environmental initiatives including recycling all of its cooking oil and turning it into biodiesel fuel, donating leftover guestroom toiletries to a local homeless charity and changing all its light bulbs to energy-saving LEDs. The hotel also promotes a “Keen to be Green” initiative that provides guests with walking maps, cycling routes and ideas for green days out.
HOTELS spoke with Stoman about the Draycott’s efforts to be an eco-chic boutique hotel as well as her views on where the broader hospitality industry is headed in terms of sustainability.
HOTELS: Talk about the origins of the Draycott’s Keen to be Green program.
Melissa Stoman: We wanted our guests to be able to participate in being environmentally friendly, but not necessarily in the standard way — “if you don’t want your towel washed please hang it up,” etc. We also didn’t want it to look like a cost-cutting exercise. Our location is perfect, so it’s very easy to walk from here to many places.
HOTELS: What kind of guest feedback have you received about Keen to be Green?
Stoman: We’ve had quite a good response. Guests can see we’re trying to do whatever we can in the smallest way.
HOTELS: Part of this initiative is encouraging your staff to use CO2-free travel as well. How have they responded?
Stoman: On our team there are quite a few runners who run to work. We also have a few who cycle. We’re very small — 39 staff members. I’m going to guess about 5% walk or cycle to work. Obviously it will be nice to have more people do that, and what works in our favor as a hotel is we’ve got a place where they can keep their bicycles very close to the hotel. But how many of them cycle always depends on weather. In summer we’ll see that increase again.
HOTELS: What’s at the top of your wish list in terms of new green projects?
Stoman: I think we need to get more involved in the community. We have had a few initiatives where we would take any leftover soaps to a local homeless shelter, and we have really tried to involve the schools. That’s what I would like to focus on —the people as well as the environment.
HOTELS: Overall, what are your thoughts about the hospitality industry’s broader efforts to become more eco-friendly?
Stoman: I think everybody’s trying to do something, and I think it can be for different reasons. Some people do it because they think it’s the “in” thing to do, and some people do it because they really care. It’s all about service in a 5-star hotel, as it should be, and like any other business it’s about profitability, but I think in the years to come we will see people search for hotels that are actively doing something to improve the environment.