The Trend Towards Green Amenities in Hotels

Recently, hospitality industry observer Carrie Boucher wrote that in the discussion “What’s next for hotel amenities,” the first question is “What, exactly, is an amenity?”

Shampoo? Slippers? Roses and Champagne from the concierge on St. Valentine’s Day? Welcome to “amenity creep.” This happens, according to Boucher’s interview with Bjorn Hanson, former Global Industry Chairman – Hospitality & Leisure with PricewaterhouseCoopers LLP, when hotels “just start adding more and more” amenities and “all of the sudden the industry realizes they are spending too much and have to cut back.”

It’s one thing to give your guests soap and shampoo, that’s fine, but hotels can get into almost the equivalent of an arms race, offering more and more expensive, splashy and memorable amenities - in-room iPads! Automated check-in! A Pet Concierge! - before having to cut back on the expense.

The trend these days, according to Hanson, is towards guests appreciating sustainability in hotel amenities. But don’t think that means you can just give guests half of what you used to and call it being “green.”

It's About Quality, not Quantity

Guests today are savvy about quality, Boucher found from speaking with Jeremie Trigano, CEO of Paris boutique hotel Mama Shelter: “We always thought that we should offer the best quality amenities even if that meant giving a bit less of the non-essential ones. I think that guests expect good value for money, and more and more of them expect quality. They prefer four or five quality features over 20 gimmicks that are useless.”

Boucher’s point about sustainable, eco-friendly amenities is a good one, especially for a hospitality market such as New Zealand, which emphasises its clean ‘n’ green image for foreign tourists. Common bathroom amenities, teas and coffees and other guestroom items can be offered in custom-branded green selections to impress your guests.