Upland, Calif.—(Dec. 13, 2001) Unfortunately, even in today’s fiercely competitive lodging sector, thousands of properties continue to flush hard-earned greenbacks down the drain.
Say goodbye to the industry’s age-old tradition of supplying bathroom amenities in costly packaging that hits hard in the pocketbook and assumes all guests utilize the same daily ration. Say hello to
Green Suites International’s increasingly popular Amenities Dispenser System, which allows guests to select just how much soap/bath gel, shampoo and conditioner they need, said Dan Bornholdt, President & Founder of Upland-based Green Suites International, the lodging industry’s leading provider of profitable environment products and programs.
“Imagine if all hotel rooms and beds were the same size. It just wouldn’t work — for anyone,” Bornholdt said. “While it might seem like I am stating the obvious, many hotels today are stuck in this same
‘one size fits all’ mentality when it comes to supplying bathroom amenities, and such an oversight could be costing each property tens of thousands of dollars annually in supply costs, not to mention revenues lost to guests dissatisfied with the rationing of amenities and wasteful packaging and ration assumptions.”
Waste Not, Want Not
Ray Burger, Green Suites International’s VP of Sales & Marketing, said the company’s Amenities Dispenser System has helped properties divert over 4 million amenity packages from landfills within the past few years.
Just as important as earning the loyalty of today’s growing group of “green guests,” is the savings that Green Suites’ Amenities Dispenser System delivers — a reduction in up to 70 percent of the costs of traditionally packaged bathroom amenities typically offered in just one size and replenished daily.
“While many properties budget for travelers taking home some of these bathroom amenities, some fail to budget for when times get tough — like they are now — when the current approach to amenities is more of a luxury than a necessity,” Burger said.
For years, properties and travelers have been on the look-out for green solutions that save greenbacks, but Bornholdt said the industry has suffered from environmentally friendly solutions that were unattractively packaged, poorly designed and communicated, and not as bottom-line driven as they needed to be to truly take root themselves. Bornholdt said Green Suites International’s Amenities Dispenser Program is a refreshing change from past trade-off products because:
• “We only use attractive, durable dispensers available in white or vanilla each with white, vanilla, chrome or gold buttons to match any bathroom décor.”;
• “All our dispensers are available in one, two or three product varieties so that guests can be offered separate shampoo, soap and even conditioner in the shower, and hand soap and lotion at the vanity.”;
• Each dispenser comes with an environmental benefits label for either Neutrogena or Green Suites Natura.;
• All cartridges are easily refillable.; and
• “All of our bathroom amenities are all-natural, biodegradable, and hypoallergenic, and they contain no animal byproducts and involve no animal testing.
Burger added that all dispensers and liquid are included in the program and Green Suites International allows properties to test the dispensers and personal care products for 90 days, and even provides hotels with guest comment cards to assist them in their evaluation.
$avings Dispensers
Green Suites International’s dispensers are easily and quickly installed using a silicone kit that comes complimentary with each unit. No screws, nails or drilling are required, yet the dispensers typically adhere to bathroom walls for years and years without theft, vandalism or maintenance.
According to the U.S. Travel Data Center, 83 percent of travelers consider “the little plastic bottles in hotel bathrooms” as wasteful and said they appreciate the environmental benefit of such dispensing systems. If you are not sure, ASK YOUR OWN GUESTS FIRST — GREEN SUITES INTERNATIONAL WILL PROVIDE THE SURVEY FREE OF CHARGE.
Terrie Olson, Executive Housekeeper at the 295-room Best Western Hotel Acadiana in Lafayette, La., said her company’s vice president of operations passed her onto the Green Suites Amenities Dispenser Program because of its proven cost savings. However, Olson said the solution as big a hit with guests and housekeepers as it was with the finance folks at corporate.
“Whenever a hotel company can cut reoccurring costs in any one area 50 percent or more, it has an obligation to itself, and its employees and guests, to at least try the solution out — particularly when the economy and travel market are as contracted as they are today,” Olson said. “We gave Green Suites International’s Amenities Dispenser Program a shot some six months ago, and we haven’t looked back since.”
Olson said the Best Western used to provide guests with large and small bars of soap and one little bottle of shampoo & conditioner. Now the property uses a Green Suites International Amenities Dispenser with two cartridges for body gel, and shampoo & conditioner. Not only is the property saving significant storage space, but Olson said that the switch has saved housekeepers substantial time as amenities replenishment typically is checked weekly and needed only monthly — as opposed to daily.
“We did not hear one complaint,” Olson said. “In fact, many of our guests commented favorably about the switch, saying that they always thought that hotels unwritten policy of throwing away amenities bottles that were open but only half-used was a wasteful practice with costs that all must shoulder.”
Roger Bloss, CEO of Best Value Inns, a membership organization comprising some 150 hotels across the country, said he is extremely confident in Green Suites International’s management team and their profitable environmental solutions. Bloss said that Best Value Inns very well could expand its
one-property pilot test of the Amenities Dispenser Program to a chainwide standard in 2002.
“I’m putting my money where my mouth is and am banking that Green Suites International will again come through with flying colors as they have for us with so many other products,” said Bloss, noting that the first Best Value Inn to test the Green Suites International Amenities Dispenser Program is a hotel in El Paso, Texas, owned by Cal-Vagas, Ltd., a company he co-owns with a few investment partners.
“Dan, Ray and the rest of the folks at Green Suites International are great people who know well the hotel industry and its need to couple any environmental solution with significant cost-saving initiatives,” Bloss said. “Green Suites International’s solutions have proven time and again to help hoteliers save time, money and Mother Earth, and we are elated to be working with such professionals. If the Amenities Dispenser Pilot Program works out as expected, all of our other approximately 150 Best Value Inns will be strongly encouraged to follow suit because it makes sense for guests, housekeepers and operators alike.”
Michael Pace, the new GM of The Bedford Hotel, one of The Kimpton Group’s San Francisco boutique properties, said he has seen Green Suites’ Amenities Dispenser Program save Kimpton’s Triton and Monticello hotels 50 percent or more of the cost of their amenities. Pace said he plans to bring
Green Suites Amenity Dispenser Program to The Bedford before year’s end.
“As Assistant General Manager of The Triton, we used the Amenities Dispenser Program, along with several other Green Suites International solutions, on our Eco Friendly floor,” Pace said. “When I became GM of The Monticello, I brought the program with me and guests and staff gave it rave reviews.
“At The Monticello, we used two dispensers per guestroom: One by the wash basin with cartridges for hand soap and conditioner, and another dispenser in the shower with three cartridges for body gel, shampoo, and conditioner,” he said. “When it comes to Green Suites’ Amenities Dispenser Program,
I fully expect that the third time will be the third charm for me, Kimpton and our guests.”
Pace said he became proactively involved in adopting environmentally friendly solutions and operating practices more than three years ago — because “it’s just the right thing to do.”
“It’s not to hard convince people that the industry should not be landfilling millions upon millions of those ‘little plastic bottles’ every year,” Pace said. “Unfortunately, if there’s not a dollar-savings also attached, many people — typically not the guests, but the hoteliers themselves — are resistant to change.
“Thankfully, Green Suites International’s Amenities Dispenser Program can save a hotel up to 70% of its amenities costs,” Pace said. “Armed with PROFITABLE environmental solutions such as Green Suites’ Amenities Dispenser Program, it’s so much easier for GM’s like myself to make changes that positively and immediately bolster the bottom line, while building guest loyalty and property competitiveness.”
Based in Upland, Calif., Green Suites International assists hotels by developing solutions that are profitable to hotels and image enhancing to the more than 43 million environmental travelers in the United States. Solutions include natural amenities delivered from elegant dispensers, non-toxic cleaners, air and water filtration systems and energy and water efficient products. Facilities reaping the benefits of Green Suites’ solutions include properties from every state and 12 different countries. For more information on Green Suites International, its attractive Amenities Dispenser System, and other profitable environmental solutions, please contact Ray Burger, Green Suites, VP Sales & Marketing, at
888-590-2285, e-mail rburger@greensuites.com, or visit www.greensuites.com.
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