DESIGN HOTELS: REFLECTIONS - MAKING A DIFFERENCE, DESPITE THE ODDS
To say 2020 has been a tough year is an understatement. |
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DESIGN HOTELS: REFLECTIONS - MAKING A DIFFERENCE, DESPITE THE ODDS
To say 2020 has been a tough year is an understatement. |
Catégorie : Monde - Économie du secteur -
Développement durable
Ceci est un communiqué de presse sélectionné par notre comité éditorial et mis en ligne gratuitement le 15-12-2020
And while the last 12 months have brought with them a set of unforeseen challenges, the accompanying stillness has also allowed for new depths of reflection. This has been no more apparent than in our portfolio of member properties, many of which have used this unanticipated intermission to reset, refocus, and channel efforts into initiatives and concepts that fully align with intentions for 2021 and beyond. From a renaissance of community collaborations and cultural programming, to varying sustainability focused actions, each exercise has been crafted to thrive despite new shifts and the long road ahead. With small peaks on the horizon, we are putting a Promadic lense on 2020 and reflecting on the efforts that inspired us despite the hurdles of a tumultuous year.
Synonymous with sustainability, local engagement and innovative energy concepts, it’s no surprise that Zermatt hotel Cervo Mountain Lodge managed to navigate the year’s obstacles with its signature zeal and readiness. In addition to using the downtime to thoroughly overhaul the expansive resort, the hotel additionally teamed up with other properties in Zermatt to sell surplus produce, with the proceeds going to Lebensraum, a local charity. In redistributing the leftover goods to private individuals in return for a donation to a good cause, the campaign saved 2,000 crates of food and raised 14,500 CHF for organizations committed to the professional and social support of people with disabilities. Further east there was a similar push in Georgia, where the Adjara Group—the force behind Stamba, Rooms Hotel Tbilisi, Rooms
Hotel Kazbegi and Rooms Hotel Kohkta—was the driving engine behind a national charitable initiative. Co-founded by Adjara Group CEO Valeri Chekheria, alongside Georgian Farmers’ Association Chairman Nino Zambakhidze and Sandro Kandelaki of Spark, the 1anoba Fund was created to assist socially and economically vulnerable Georgians impacted by the Covid-19 crisis. Raising funds through the organization of concerts with local musicians and the group's #Together platform, which offers services such as personalized tours of Tbilisi, the charity has managed to raise a significant amount of money for hard hit communities.
Over at Inhabit Hotel, Design Hotels’ newest London property, social conscience initiatives have fortuitously overlapped with an unrelenting commitment to sustainability. Working with Globechain, a marketplace focused on the redistribution of goods to social causes, the hotel has diverted a total of 273 items weighing 2934kg from landfill by donating these articles for reuse in the UK and internationally instead. In a similar vein, Cretan Malia Park in Crete has continued to pursue an integral pledge to eco-consciousness, locality, and self-sustainability with the establishment of the The Phāea Farmers program. Led by the hotel’s parent company, Phāea Resorts, this new effort invests in employees’ seasonal agricultural activities during low season, providing support through collaborations with agronomists to train in organic farming methods and sustainable land use. This allows resorts, including Cretan Malia Park, to source the highest quality local produce for use on-site, with aloe, grapes, wine, herbs, honey, fruit, olives and olive oil, seasonal vegetables, and dairy products all procured through existing staff, who refrain from using pesticides and chemicals.
Stateside, Proper Hotels has put an imaginative spin on the newly ubiquitous work-from-home status for many. In collaboration with co-working provider Industrious, the group is bringing home working to Proper Hotels in Austin, San Francisco, and Santa Monica, as well as the brand’s Hotel June and Avalon properties by turning suites into private workspaces for a new perspective on the home office. Combined with access to the various hotels’ pools, dedicated meeting spaces, and dining outlets, this new setup introduces the brand’s signature ‘uncommon luxury’ to the realm of remote working. In a similar concept, Design Hotels came together with NeueHouse—a private workspace and cultural home for creators—and Firmdale, Proper, The Ludlow, Troutbeck, and Twelve Senses hotels to grant NeueHouse members in Los Angeles and New York City exclusive access to spaces, programming and amenities at 10 member hotels in California and New York.
Similarly, Grupo Habita—who recently opened Círculo Mexicano in Mexico City—has forged ahead with cultural programming adapted to newly formed parameters. Working with Museos Uno en Uno, an awareness-raising campaign dedicated to keeping galleries and museums open through solo experiences for visitors, Habita has enabled citizens to continue to reach such outlets during extended periods of confinement. Mexico City’s Frida Kahlo Museum and the Diego Rivera-Anahuacalli Museum were two of the first institutions to join the initiative, which ran through August 2020. It’s just one of many steps taken by Design Hotels’ member properties to be better and support local communities and environments in spite of a turbulent year. Here’s to setting the tone for 2021.
ABOUT DESIGN HOTELS
Design Hotels represents and markets a curated selection of over 330 independent hotels in more than 60 countries across the globe. More than a collection of hotels, the company is a collection of stories. Each property reflects the ideas of a visionary hotelier, an "Original", someone with a passion for genuine hospitality, cultural authenticity, thought-provoking design and architecture. Each "Original" stands for the individual, aesthetic and service-driven experience that his or her hotel provides.
In 2017, Design Hotels launched Further, a traveling laboratory for experiential hospitality that transforms hotels across the globe into temporal hubs of thematic exploration. The mission behind Further aligns with the values of the future-facing Promad, a new generation of traveler embracing progressive travel and global nomadism. First identified by Design Hotels in collaboration with leading futures consultancy The Future Laboratory, the purpose-driven, self-actualizing Promadic movement is set to shape the future of hospitality.
Founded by Claus Sendlinger in 1993, Design Hotels offers its members insightful travel industry knowledge, from market trend consultancy to international sales representation. The company has its headquarters in Berlin and branches in Los Angeles, New York and Singapore. Executive Board members are: Peter Cole (CEO) and Sascha Wolff (CFO). In 2019, Design Hotels joined forces with Marriott Bonvoy, enabling its member hotels to have both a greater and more selective reach while offering its Community the benefit of the industry’s leading loyalty program.
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