These Luxury Green Escapes Are a Must for Your
Next Business Expedition
Be it for urban breaks or business trips, nowadays, we tend to accumulate with ease many miles in our carbon-footprint account. It keeps getting easier and easier to hop in a car, bus, train, airplane or ship, and go visit the great metropolis of the world, meet new people and close new business deals.
We live in an accommodating world. Business and pleasure that take us far from home have become the rule, rather than the exception. While past generations would see a flight like a main event, we hardly think about it anymore—it’s just a flight, after all.
Business travel has become more frequent; facilitated mainly by shorter traveling times. We’d think by now we would have settled with teleconferences; but the truth is that nothing beats a face-to-face meeting. However, with the amount of business transactions we conduct every day, those trips and meetings do add up. Care to see the math?
A round trip across the U.S. is roughly 1.73 metric tons of CO2eq per person. To imagine how much it would take to neutralize this, in order to sequester one metric ton CO2eq, you’d need to plant four trees and let them do their cleaning magic for a whole year. It would seem some of us already owe the planet the equivalent of a small forest.
If we start adding up the CO2eq when we travel and stay in hotels that have to wash tons of linen every day, and have their roomy lobbies and hallways with the lights on 24/7; then the math gets more complicated. It doesn’t have to, though! Architects and designers have already catered to us with eco-friendly hotels in urban areas. True, when we think of an eco-friendly hotel, the first thing which comes to mind is a remote location nested in a valley, with a murmuring creek. Can big, busy cosmopolitan hubs like New York City and Chicago harbor any green at all? Why, yes they can.
In lower Manhattan, you can find the gorgeous Mondrian SoHo, a feat of modern architecture and edgy design. Staying here will shed some carbon from your footprint, because they recycle all their toiletries on site. The unused ones are sent to charities. And while you’re staying there, skip the subway and taxis: take one of their complimentary bikes to do your morning workout and zero emissions transportation all in one.
Another hotel from the Morgans Hotel Group we really like, is the Mondrian LA, right in the heart of West Hollywood. You’ll feel like a star when you use their business facilities and don’t even get us started with their luxurious organic minibar goodies. But even if you can eat scrumptious nibbles in the room, don’t miss out on their restaurants—catered with organic, sustainable and locally sourced foods.
When visiting the “Windy City,” don’t miss the chance to stay at Hotel Felix. From their cork floors to their art; this hotel does take recycled materials to the next level. Their smart building was designed strategically, to naturally keep warmth inside during the winter months; which we think is brilliant. If you’re an art aficionado, check their sustainable art made from found, reclaimed and recycled materials.
And if art is what you’re craving, then book a stay at Clift San Francisco, one of the originals of Morgans Hotel Group. This LEED certified building, boasts a coffee table by Salvador Dali and a stool by Renee Magritte. More than a stay, this hotel is a whole experience in itself.
Since all work and no play can become quite dull, very quickly; why not schedule your next conference in the Mondrian South Beach? Their whole-wall décor has been made with low-emission paints and solvents, and their carpets, tiles and stone are all recycled. Finish your trip relaxing in their Spa, equipped with organic in-house products made with raw materials from socially responsible sources. Now that’s what we call a grand finale.
The Kimpton Group seems to have taken most of Washington DC; so wherever in the city you need to be, you’ll be certain to find one of their trendy and daring hotels: Donovan House, Madera or The George. These luxury hotels have a particular green feature we haven’t found in others—you can buy organic bedding and recycled glassware on site.
Morgans Hotel Group and The Kimpton Group have been committed to breaking hotel tradition for over 30 years. Next time you book your business trip, be sure to check out Morgans or Kimpton’s for an unforgettable green getaway. You will not only be contributing locally to the environmental initiative, but also globally, as both these hotels partner with many charitable organizations.