Next to eco-friendly, green hotel amenities, probably the next biggest social factor guests could scrutinise your hotel on is whether you offer cruelty-free amenities, or amenities free from animal products.

Examples of amenities that can be either cruelty-free are beauty products and bathroom amenities such as soaps and shampoos.

Some amenities will promise they’re “neutral and cruelty free,” adding things like “we stand proudly with you against animal testing.” In that case it’s your choice if you want to simply support such a product or whether or not you want to make an issue of it when advertising your hotel.

Other amenity lines – and you can usually count on a manufacturer’s entire product lines to be consistently cruelty-free – will fit a general profile, such as being vegan friendly, using sustainably sourced vegetable soap, being paraben-free and environmentally friendly, free from CDEA and phthalates, using biodegradable packaging for reduced environmental impact as well as being cruelty-free

So is it a competitive advantage for you hotel?

It certainly does increase the appeal of your property to a certain socially and environmentally conscious clientele, but some less inclined guests, wary of the price inflation – the “green tax” – that usually comes with explicitly eco-friendly establishments, may be put off.

However, if you’re already marketing your hotel as eco-friendly, it might be worthwhile to add that you’re animal cruelty-free with your amenities as well.