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Sustainability in independent hotels - the aficionados
95 Plays3 years ago
Welcome to the Green & Healthy Places podcast episode 56, I’m your host Matt Morley, Founder of Biofilico wellness real estate and in this episode I’m in London talking to boutique hotel expert Iain Ainsworth.
Iain is the Founder of The Aficionados (2015-present) a reference for travel culture and lifestyle that promotes neat edits of hotels, creators and craftsmen as well as its sister company White Line Hotels (2009-present) a marketing network for hoteliers.
He was previously Executive VP of Design Hotels from 2004-2008 and Regional Director of Sales and Marketing for Concorde Hotels from 2000-2004 so he’s a hospitality insider through and through.
I took the opportunity to take the temperature on wellness and sustainability in his corner of the industry today, so we cover everything from eco-friendly hotel amenities, sustainability certifications for hotels, the landscape hotel concept and various examples of sustainability initiatives from his member hotels in the Alps.
If you enjoy the episode hit like or subscribe, you can find me at biofilico.com and Iain at Theaficionados.com
contact @ theaficionados.com
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Transcript
Introduction and Guest Introduction
00:00:12
Speaker
Welcome to episode 56 of the Green and Healthy Places podcast, in which we discuss the themes of wellbeing and sustainability in hospitality and real estate. I'm your host, Matt Morley, founder of Biophilico Wellness Real Estate, and in this episode, I'm in London talking to beauty hotel expert, Mr Ian Ainsworth Esquire.
Ian's Background and Focus on Wellness
00:00:34
Speaker
Ian is the founder of the Efficient Artists, a reference for travel culture and lifestyle that promotes neat edits of hotels, creators and craftsmen, as well as its sister company, Whitelown Hotels, which is a marketing network for boutique hoteliers.
00:00:50
Speaker
He was Executive VP of Design Hotels for several years before setting up on his own and I took the opportunity to take the temperature on wellness and sustainability from his perspective.
Eco-friendly Amenities and Certifications
00:01:03
Speaker
So we cover everything from eco-friendly hotel amenities to sustainability certifications for hotels, the
00:01:11
Speaker
emergent landscape hotel concept and various examples or case studies of sustainability initiatives from his member hotels in the Alps in particular. If you enjoy this episode please hit like or subscribe. You can find me at biofilico.com and Ian at the aficionados.com. All links are in the show notes. Here he is, Mr Ian Ainsworth.
00:01:36
Speaker
Ian, thanks for joining us today. I'd like to start at a fairly high level overview. You've been in this game for a while. You're an insider. How do you see sustainability taking shape or evolving amongst the hotels you're working with?
Local Sustainability Practices
00:01:52
Speaker
I suppose the question really comes down to is it more of an informal organic process or are you seeing more and more structure coming into play in terms of how hotels are starting to think about how they address environmental issues?
00:02:06
Speaker
Hi, Max. I think for me, the most overwhelming point is that for all of our hotels, it's a very natural process. It's part of their DNA. And so when we talked to them initially 12 years ago about sustainability, they were looking at us going like, well, what's new? You know, it's always been part of what we do. And we only work with privately owned hotels and 99% of them are indigenous from that village, from the valley, from the mountain, from the town.
00:02:34
Speaker
So for them, it's pretty natural that they sourced locally, beside the fact that they knew Bert down the road, who was a timber maker. They know, you know, Heidi that makes the jams. It's a very natural thing. So I think for us, it's, you know, it's a bit of a green labeling is not something that they need. Sure, you know, whilst it's a natural thing, it's not a marketing process. It does need some structure coming into it. And that's where we try and guide them. And
00:03:04
Speaker
filter out what they do because for them it's part of running a daily hotel and they don't necessarily realize that what they're doing is remarkable. Even for the older hotels where you might think to be up to the newest standards is quite difficult you can see the next generation are applying the newest technologies but they're also going back to how their grandparents originally built the hotels
00:03:32
Speaker
And I think that's just a respect really that they have for their environment, their community.
Zero Emissions and Resource Efficiency
00:03:40
Speaker
But as I say, it's very much of a natural process for them. And even within the Alps, for example,
00:03:48
Speaker
zero energy production is pretty normal as well. If you look at South Tewol, most hotels have zero emissions because they are using a grid, which is fostered by the local government. So a lot of them are very, very green. I hate the word green, but just put them into that philosophy if you like. I just think it's a welcome blast of energy and enthusiasm that they have.
00:04:17
Speaker
for being sustainable without calling it sustainability. It is difficult within the hotel industry, as you know, and also between countries, it's very hard to get certification. There's not one mandated policy that you can follow when you're building a new hotel. Equally, if you build a hotel and you're renovating, it's very hard to tick all of the boxes. And there is no one central template for this. But on the other hand, I think that's quite good.
00:04:45
Speaker
Because then you get personal innovation coming in and new ideas. The other thing, striking point with our hotels is the lead on architecture and design. Again, maximizing the use of light, maximizing the conservation of heat during the winter, and also keeping cool in the summer. Again, the architects, particularly in the Alpine regions, are very, very affair with sustainable approaches. But again, it's part of the DNA of that region.
00:05:15
Speaker
interesting point, isn't it? Because it's almost as if there are certain areas of Europe, and in particular, in this case, geographies where you are heavily present with your member hotels, where it's almost part of the culture.
00:05:27
Speaker
where it doesn't need necessarily to be introduced from outside and then sort of imposed from above, which is, I think, what we're seeing in places like London and other huge cities where it's not necessarily or hasn't been historically part of the local culture, but they're playing catch up.
Regional Sustainability Practices
00:05:44
Speaker
Whereas someone like a South material from what I'm hearing from you, it's really part of the fabric and perhaps they never lost it. It's not about catching what they had before. It's just always been a continuous process.
00:05:56
Speaker
Yeah, I mean, there's certain aspects they still need to look like.
00:06:02
Speaker
How do you minimalise the impact of what you're doing? Because the ending date is still tourism. But I think when your family owned the farm down the road, your other family is an architect, your other family are producing load and linen, which is a very natural, sustainable product, which is back in fashion. I didn't know this before. Austria is one of the biggest producers.
00:06:28
Speaker
of linen. And then they just foster this in a natural way. And I think, you know, even the timber they use in the bedrooms, they always say to sleep better because it's holistic. It's antibacterial, pine is antibacterial as well. So you have this natural health and wellness element as part of the building.
00:06:51
Speaker
And for me, you know, it's very easy to talk about, you know, sustainability in Lisbon, but it's a very different approach. There you need to dig deeper because, unfortunately, some countries or larger urbanized hubs, when they go for the local furniture, it's not necessarily locals. They take the concept and then source it from further afield.
00:07:14
Speaker
We've got an old palace in Lisbon. The hardest thing was finding an architect that would understand what preservation means, conservation, and reinvigorating the history rather than wiping over it. So there's a lot of work still to be done. But I think for me, the alpine regions and a lot of the rural regions, it's just part of their DNA.
Certification Benefits and Limitations
00:07:40
Speaker
So you mentioned the idea of certifications, and we do see a number of them out there at the moment, as you say, it feels like perhaps there isn't quite one dominant leader that works across territories, but I think there are still, there is still value in what they're doing, each has a slightly different twist I noticed, but a lot of them are covering
00:08:01
Speaker
broadly the same basis. So for example, Sombre in Mallorca, one of your member hotels, they've gone for travel life certification. From your perspective, hotel marketing, do you think there's considerable value in going for something like that? Do you think actually it's more about just doing what you do? And then if you get certification or you apply for certification afterwards, then it's really sort of ratification of the work you've done? Or do you think sometimes having a bit of structure
00:08:31
Speaker
can be useful for a Laxon bridge. Yeah I mean again you know Sunbrol when they created the hotel some 15 years ago again it was a very sustainable approach to it they'd you know the it's been a farm for nearly 300 years around that so it was a monastery as well and it came with 40 hectares of land
00:08:53
Speaker
So as a hotel you can either sell the land, leave it over to other farmers or you can take it as part of your concept and say so they were on the first you know farm to table for them is pretty natural as well because they've got the farm on their doorstep.
00:09:09
Speaker
So they've always been a pioneer of doing things proper. I guess they're islanders and they saw a lot of destruction of the island. Also, you know, the movement of locals from farming into hospitality, which sort of saddened one of the owners and a particular and he said, no, this is not right. We need to employ the farming community around us. So
00:09:36
Speaker
They did it from their own hearts, as it were, but I mean, having certification from travel life, for example, the gold certification, it's a good ticks box, because again, you start to ask yourself, okay, what am I missing? What else can I do? And like all of the certifications, of course, you know, they're covering a very broad spectrum, you know, of huge hotels down to smaller ones. So the smaller ones, invariably, are not going to be able to tick every box.
00:10:02
Speaker
But equally, the larger ones are not going to be able to pluck fresh lemons from their trees in the morning. This is not going to happen either.
Trends in Eco-friendly Amenities
00:10:11
Speaker
So there are certain things that are... I think in terms of for the consumer journey, the more certification the hotel has, the better the choice is going to be. So I've got the hotel with no certification that's saying, yeah, this is not just greenwashing. They've actually done something. They fulfill a criteria. It's always good.
00:10:31
Speaker
compared to a hotel that's just you know saying we're green and eco and we're sustainable but no certification. You're going to choose the one with the certification because it means for me that they are following a very strict guideline and they're fulfilling as many of those ticks as possible but it's an ongoing process which I like because it's not just okay we've done an initiative tick the box close it
00:10:57
Speaker
It's an ongoing thing and I think that for me is what certification is about. It's ongoing, it's always changing, it's always evolving. Technology of course is helping this but also broader conversation or helping the certification become more valid for hotels.
00:11:16
Speaker
One area that we see a lot of hotels, you mentioned the green washing idea, but it is an easy win, a low-hanging fruit for anyone looking to make some initial steps is around the amenities. So that sort of very visible piece that you have in your bathroom, right? And with these sort of like single-use plastic bottles, we're always
00:11:34
Speaker
in my mind is sort of something of an anomaly and we're seeing a switch now to perhaps reusable bottles and so on. You've written about various brands, I can see you're clued up on this on the buyer website. So how are you seeing what's happening there in that industry because you've touched on some sort of botanical amenity concepts, you've got brands like Anasa Organics, so we've kind of got plant-based, natural, the organic going on, like what's happening there in terms of the connection between those type of brands and the world of boutique hotels that you're dealing with
00:12:04
Speaker
Yeah, it's first of all the straws, you know, straw-free and now we're going for plastic-free amenities and you know, the elimination of single-use plastics throughout the hotel, whether it's the mineral bottles, you know, the mineral waters, which kind of again makes sense if you're in a raw community, you'd be able to drink the water anyway from the tap.
00:12:27
Speaker
So there are some easier measures. Hotel amenities are very complex because it's to do with the distribution and the advantage smaller hotels have is that they can go to a local supplier again and source materials from them. I think for me the
00:12:49
Speaker
You know, there's an argument of single-use plastic. There's also this hygiene. You know, do I want to touch the squeezy bottle from somebody else who's used it in the shower? Does it have to be glass? Does it have to be plastic? Never mind what's in there. I mean, the best elements for me are those pioneers like Susanna Kaufman, who have always used natural products. You know, she's very cautious about minimalist use of plastic, refillables. And, you know, even,
00:13:19
Speaker
Team Dr. Joseph, who are a South Shoreland skincare company, they've gone for complete zero waste. So their new products are all in sort of a block form.
00:13:33
Speaker
as soap, shampoos, conditioners. So they have no plastic and no glass. And I think that's the way forward. Again, you know, it is a question of cost. And, you know, I'd always say to people that when they look at these hotels that do make this extra effort, there is a higher cost, of course. And
00:13:53
Speaker
This is something that has to be built into the whole environment of, when you're in a hotel, I always look at these things. How much plastic do they have? And what's in the bottles? More importantly for me, what am I putting on my skin? What am I putting down the drain? So again, for us at hotels, we didn't want to mandate hotel amenities and say, all plastic free. Because I think there's many, many new opportunities out there with local suppliers.
00:14:20
Speaker
And also to keep that relationship with the small pharmaceutical companies that are making products for the hotels.
Local Products in Hotel Amenities
00:14:28
Speaker
You can also look at stores like Muji, you know, if you want bamboo slippers.
00:14:34
Speaker
You know, sometimes you can draw inspiration from a high street store that's gone that way because it's still very hard as a small hotel to get a supply of slippers that are environmentally friendly, that people seem to feel they need for the one or two nights in a hotel. But you can get them. And the same with toothbrush, you know, you can be made of bamboo. The problem is sometimes with hotel in certain countries, certain countries demand an array of amenities for their star category.
00:15:04
Speaker
which is crazy for me because I don't need a toothbrush in every room. It should be if I forget one, you have one that's sustainable and I take that for granted.
00:15:13
Speaker
But I'm seeing more of a seamless approach to this and also into the next stage of this equation, which are the chemicals used in cleaning the rooms. Because after Covid, you know, during Covid, there was this huge euphoria for chemicals, instead of looking at natural ways of cleaning the room, because this is equally as important for me as what's in the bathroom.
00:15:36
Speaker
but then you see a connection between, I think it's key there, the idea that a hotelier does have an easy option. And it is going to one of these giant hotel supply companies that offer, you know, bulgari branded green bottles that don't really have that much to do with the real brand, but it's all licensed and it's just the easy step, the easy win, right? It's just to go, great, okay, I'm gonna buy my,
00:16:02
Speaker
my slippers, my bathrobes, my everything I need for the sort of setup in the bathroom and off you go. So in a sense, the hotels that are seeking out the individual brands, there's a lot of work behind that. There's a lot of extra legwork, right? It's more of an uphill process than a sort of the easy path, right? So it's sometimes maybe not evident for guests that what's gone into that.
00:16:24
Speaker
Yeah, and I still think some guests judge a hotel on their amenities. They like to see a brand that they know.
00:16:34
Speaker
Whereas myself and I would say most of our subscribers that travel into our hotels are more intrigued by finding the local brands and then go and buy it because you want to take it with you. So I think there's opportunity. Distribution is changing and also the approach to smaller businesses so you can produce your own. It is expensive, as I say. Sombra is another one that produces their own, always had done.
00:17:01
Speaker
But it has, I think for me, it's part of the whole sensory environment within a hotel. So it's worth it for me. And of course, you can buy big brands like Ren. Ren is a fantastic sustainable product and you can buy them from a wholesaler. So there are alternatives there. But again, I think if I find somebody that's making a product 20 kilometers down the road, I'm gonna have my first conversation with them.
00:17:30
Speaker
and say, listen, this is what we need. What can you provide us with? And carry this through into the wellness areas as well, and not just into the bedroom environment. But I think it is changing, and it's become a more exciting space. And great for small cosmetic companies and skincare companies getting into a hotel, because you immediately get a new client. And you get a new fan, a new follower. So the point of discovery also for the smaller brands is fantastic.
Integration of Natural Resources
00:18:00
Speaker
You mentioned the idea of the Alps in particular being, or that region of Europe being quite strongly associated for many of us with a healthy lifestyle. So someone like the Hotel Aalberg in Lech, for example, they build themselves as a wellness retreat. I mean, certainly when you look at that website, they do seem to sort of epitomize
00:18:22
Speaker
that concept of why I'm in the Alps, it's a healthy living, but exactly what does that mean in terms of how the hotel crafts that guest experience? How do they assist in creating a stay for guests that is as healthy and green as possible?
00:18:39
Speaker
Well, I think for them, I mean, they're in third generation of family. So, grandmothers still involved daily in the business, so are their parents. And Benny and Patrick that run the hotel today, you know, they're keen to refurbish and upgrade the hotel. And it's always been changing. It started as a cafe and then had a couple of rooms.
00:18:59
Speaker
And today it's become what it is, you know, it's a fabulous alpine treat for me. They always had a spa, but when they started to rethink about the spa, they looked really at how do you bring in the Alps inside? Because a lot of, you know, once you're in the hotel, you lose that connection to the Alps. So that's where they, you know, I guess they created the blueprint alpine healthy living.
00:19:26
Speaker
And they started to look at the sound, what is it about? You know, it's about fresh air, it's about nature, it's about the products. And one thing they noticed in the older rooms, there was always a center pine.
00:19:36
Speaker
And this was coming from the wardrobes, actually. So they said, OK, where can we get this old pine from that is well sourced? And they found a guy in the next village actually that salvages pine from the older old pine houses. So they brought that back in and then they looked at
00:19:57
Speaker
the pigments of the colors. So they started with colors and said, okay, what are the colors that we want to be in there? But then they looked at, okay, how do you create this moss green color? Well, surely there's a herb or pigment growing up in the mountains that we could use. So then they created natural paints, which they brought into their spa as well.
00:20:18
Speaker
So I mean, the spa for them was the starting point, but it's actually extended now throughout the whole hotel. So there's a wellness concept that's going throughout the whole hotel. So they use chemical free paints that are made locally. They also use natural stone, which comes from a
00:20:35
Speaker
about 20 kilometers away from the hotel and they've also then started to look at the treatments that they have and which oils you can use so they're looking at the old monasteries in the area and what therapeutic oils that they use derive from nature of course and so this whole alpine healthy living, I suppose the image you have in your head is this healthy looking alpine person that you meet on the hills and you think well they look healthy
00:21:04
Speaker
They have the rosy cheeks, they've got great skin, they look healthy and that's really the ethos that they brought in. So do away as many toxins as possible to hark back to heritage and design and resources and even
00:21:23
Speaker
Copper was used to extend the area, so they try to avoid plastic light fittings by using copper instead, both in the spa, but also now into the bedrooms and restaurants because they see it's a great signature to carry all the way through.
00:21:39
Speaker
And just working with architects very carefully and producers, like we were talking about, Susanna Kaufman, of how you can give me that total one-off wellness experience, which is what I want as a consumer, but also with the added bonus of it being healthy and sustainable and an ethos behind there that gives you that sort of joy for the else and healthy living.
Landscape Hotel Concepts
00:22:02
Speaker
And one step perhaps beyond that is this sort of landscape hotel concept that we're seeing popping up around the place at the moment. They tend to be quite, let's say, isolated or really fully immersed in nature. You've got one of them, the duvet landscape hotel. Can you tell us a little bit about that? And is it a name that one self classifies or is there some, what are the sort of unifying factors that go into making a landscape hotel nowadays?
00:22:29
Speaker
Yeah, I mean, the Uvid landscape hotel was probably one of the first ones that I encountered back in 2009. And for me, it's this total immersion into nature, but with no disruption to nature itself. So the word, you know, the landscape hotel was the pioneer of the owner that had this dream of how can I create a living pods, if you like, or hotel without disrupting even the moss that grows on the rocks?
00:22:59
Speaker
And so they partnered with Jenssen and Cordvin architects who probably famously known for their sensible tectonic architecture as they call it, which is a total immersion into nature of how you use this structure to mimic nature. So their first thought was, okay, what if we put these pods on stilts?
00:23:23
Speaker
and the stilts actually mimic the birch tree stem so you sort of get this beautiful visual integration between the trees, trunks and the the the rods that go into the into the rocks and by doing that then you can create a platform which is what a lot of indigenous tribes did in wilderness areas you know it's quite logical actually to get the elevated from the ground but it enables
00:23:48
Speaker
the flora and the fauna that you fall in love with to continue to thrive. And in fact, thrive even more because you're giving it a new habitat to grow along and to end the thing. So I think the landscape hotels for me, the biggest thing about them is the view. And so they tend to have huge panoramic windows and you can sort of dance around naked because the only navy you've got is sort of the bird watching you from the tree. And so, you know, a lot of them are very dark inside painted with a natural tower.
00:24:18
Speaker
And this makes the maximum effect of the view, of course. So, yeah, I see a lot of, again, there's a lot of gimmicks coming in, you know, we're a landscape hotel, you know, and they put things up in trees and things like this. And I think you have to be very careful, you don't become too sort of a gimmick.
00:24:35
Speaker
and the reason that you know Knudt who's the owner of this one and you've it did this one it's just his load of nature I mean he's total maverick for nature and he didn't want to damage anything and you know his little pots are a fantastic example of how you can
00:24:54
Speaker
introduce hospitality in a very minimum impactful way, but also with a great design that's going to last for years. And it's also the place where they filmed Ex Machina, which is one of my favorite films, if you remember, that a lot of people have seen that. And that's this hotel there that was literally an idea of how do you float room above the landscape without damaging the trees.
Innovative Architecture and Sustainability
00:25:21
Speaker
I noticed you've also written about the green philosophy at the Hotel Poelvoort in South Tyrol, clearly one of your favorite regions, and as I'm discovering really just via this conversation, quite a hotbed for case studies in this field of sustainability and well-being. So in that instance, what are the architects here?
00:25:42
Speaker
How did they, how did they pull through that that concept of sustainability touching on things like construction and the energy use which is a bit more sort of engineering level than a lot of hotels will get to right which is perhaps more operations based or sort of local culture based here they went a bit further in terms of really building it into to the structure of the building itself. Yeah, I mean, I mean the architects there.
00:26:08
Speaker
are brothers and their real philosophy is environmental and sort of building biology. And so they're quite famous in Satoal for their work of how to integrate a building into its natural habitat. In this case, it was an old guest house, which the owners had inherited from their parents and they wanted to add to this, but by doing so in a way that is sensitive to their environment,
00:26:38
Speaker
And so they found the perfect architecture to do that, Alexander and Armin and the interesting thing about that, even the cutouts in the windows, it not only mimics the nature of the landscape, but it absolutely makes a fantastic view inside and also makes sense because it shields during the winter. So again, you've got this very vernacular structure that sticks out of the rock side,
00:27:07
Speaker
And it has a purpose to it as well. I mean, they have always had energy efficiency onto their minds because not only because of the cost of it, but, you know, let's be honest, there is a cost there, but also, you know, to have as least impact as possible. Again, being in South Tooele is great because
00:27:27
Speaker
you know, the energy is generated there by water. So the hydroelectric power plants in South Tyrol provide a lot of renewable energy, and of course without any CO2 emissions. So they've got that back up there, but they've also invested a lot into technology, into meter reading, they can see from their app.
00:27:46
Speaker
how much energy they're using to the relation, how many guests they have, where are the guests at the moment? Are they all having breakfast? How much energy is being consumed in the rooms? What do we do about pool heating? What do we do about heating in general areas? What can we mediate? So again, technology there is helping them reduce their carbon footprint. But I have to say they are natural
00:28:14
Speaker
enthusiasts for their environment that they live in. And again, you know, they have the farm down the road, they have, they're completely organic. They went a step further in the kitchen banning all plastic in the kitchen.
00:28:27
Speaker
And when we start to think about our own practices at home, you know, with plastic containers, food wrap, we use it to preserve food. So again, they've gone back to, you know, pickling, how do you conserve? How did our grandparents conserve food without using refrigeration, without using plastics? So they've taken it to the whole new level.
00:28:47
Speaker
I would say cutting out plastic in the kitchen is an even bigger challenge than, say, in the bathroom amenities because there is a replacement already there. So, you know, they've gone to that one step further. And again, looking at the blankets, cloths, mattresses, wood used in the rooms, the metals used in the rooms. And really, they have a whole process behind that of what it means for us to be a hotel operator today.
00:29:16
Speaker
taking a building that was built in the 1910, adding on to it, but still being connected to nature and sustainable for the next generation.
00:29:28
Speaker
Great, really fascinating examples.
Conclusion and Feedback
00:29:30
Speaker
I feel like we could go on for an hour or two more, but I'm going to be respectful of your time. We'll add links to each of the hotels we've referenced in the show notes. Besides the aficionados.com, what's your main, are you more on the social, are you on LinkedIn, and what's your chosen channel?
00:29:49
Speaker
Me personally, I'm not really a social guy, I'm on LinkedIn, obviously we're on LinkedIn as a company and we're also on Instagram but I just like I'm quite old-fashioned, I like to hear from people so anybody wants to pop us an email maybe you can put a link in for that, love to hear from people, contributors, experiences,
00:30:10
Speaker
And they say, you know, we as a company as well, we're still learning how to harness all the sustainability aspects that we have. We have 93 hotels now and about 110 makers.
00:30:25
Speaker
So we're always looking for feedback, suggestions, ideas of how we can better inform people of what's going on. I tend to know a lot in my head because I talk to the hoteliers, but that would be great too. Yeah, sure, we're on LinkedIn, we're on Instagram, but email is quite nice to hear from people. We'll add that in too. Good stuff. Thanks for your time. It's been fun. Thanks.