By Sandymount Hotel
Athens, 30th June 2018: Sandymount Hotel, Dublin’s largest family run hotel, has retained the top accolade as ‘Europe’s Leading Green Hotel,’ scooping the award for a second year running at the prestigious World Travel Awards.
As the worthy winner of ‘Europe’s Leading Green Hotel’ in 2017 and now again in 2018, Sandymount Hotel beat stiff competition from some of the world’s most renowned hotels and resorts including ICE Hotel in Sweden, Vila Vita Parc in Portugal and Hotel Metropole Monte-Carlo in Cannes, positioning the hotel as a green leader in an elite category of environmentally friendly hotels worldwide.
Renowned as the Oscars of the travel industry, the World Travel Awards are celebrating 25 years this year, honouring a quarter of a century recognising leaders across all sectors of the global travel and tourism industry. A special anniversary World Travel Awards 2018 red-carpet event took place at the Zappeion Megaron Hall in Athens, Greece. John and Gerard Loughran, Family Directors at Sandymount Hotel, were joined by their wives and colleagues, Ciara Kelly (Marketing Manager) and Ann McCabe (Green Team leader), to celebrate their prestigious win:
“We are truly honoured to again scoop the award for Europe’s Leading Green Hotel. 2017 was a successful year for us; achieving a four-star upgrade from Fáilte Ireland following significant refurbishment and winning this award for the first time. Heading into 2018, we wanted to ensure we progressed our eco-friendly and sustainable approaches and have a green team in place at the hotel. Our dedicated green team ensure we continuously find ways to introduce additional measures to offer the best environmentally friendly practices, in line with our overall guest offerings and experiences. We are delighted to be recognised as ‘Europe’s Leading Green Hotel’ 2018 and we thank everyone who voted for us. We would also like to congratulate our friends at the Convention Centre Dublin on their award win for Europe’s Leading Meetings and Conference Centre. A great night for the Irish hospitality industry and proof that not only are we competing on a world scale but we are also setting international standards for others to follow.”
Sion Rapson, Vice-President from World Travel Awards says: “Going eco-friendly and having a sustainable business practice approach is vastly important in today’s hospitality industry. The environment has never been as topical as it is currently – showcasing the effects of our lifestyle decisions on animals, the planet and our health. Whilst a positive consumer experience is at the heart of hotels, it is encouraging to see those, such as Sandymount, and fellow nominees, have managed to combine both, reducing their impact on the environment and giving back through global initiatives whilst also ensuring guest satisfaction and value for money.”
In 2013, Sandymount Hotel took an eco-friendly and sustainable approach to achieve a greener, cleaner hotel by reducing both energy and water consumption. Fast forward to 2018 and the green award winning Sandymount Hotel is a European front-runner.
As part of the waste prevention system, the Loughran family and green team members have:
• Reduced, reused and recycled 95% of the hotel’s waste.
• The hotel uses biodegradable compostable coffee cups and lids. When catering for large conferences and events and with busy guests looking to grab a coffee on the go, it’s important to the hotel that these are 100% recyclable.
• And… only 100% compostable eco-friendly straws are used in the Line Out Bar.
• The hotel collects and recycles soap and toiletries discarded in the hotel every day and through the global ‘Clean the World’ recycling programme, these items are distributed, preventing millions of hygiene-related diseases worldwide.
• Did you know? A tap dripping at one drip per second wastes up to 25 litres in one day! Modifications were made throughout the hotel, including the installation of aerator shower heads, reducing water consumption of the showers by 47% per guest!!
• Through its sustainable approach, 26% of the electricity used by the hotel comes from renewable sources, whilst the hotel now uses 22% LESS electricity than it did in 2013, largely due to a switch to 100% energy efficient light bulbs.
• The hotel offers rewards and incentives to guests who help the hotel to take a greener approach i.e. housekeeping opt-out.