Simple Swaps for Greener Hotels & Guesthouses

St Ives, Matt Johnson

England has tens of thousands of hotels, guesthouses and bed-and-breakfasts. Whether you run a tiny guesthouse or a big corporate hotel, there are many simple affordable swaps that you can make. These ideas will also save money (download this pdf file: 25 tips for reducing plastic for hotels.

Save Energy and Water Bills

• Use this free carbon calculator, to drastically reduce bills. Older listed buildings can order affordable double-glazing and draughtproofing from Mitchell & Dickinson.
• Hotels often have empty rooms off-season. So turn off lights and heating, and switch TVs off standby, when not in use.
• Choose low-flow showerheads and cistern water savers.
• Install solar panels and green energy.
• Use rainwater harvesting and water butts.
• For small hotels, it may be more economical to swap laundry deliveries for an industrial energy-efficient washer/dryer to launder linen and towels (choose unscented eco laundry powder).

Choose Eco-Friendly Guest Soaps (no palm oil)

Friendly Mini Soaps (Northumberland) are all vegan and free from palm oil (made with coconut and rapeseed oil), sold in packs of 24 or 126 (aloe vera unscented is full size only).

Other Swaps for Greener Hotels & Guesthouses)

• Compost food waste (bin citrus/tomato/rhubarb scraps and alliums: onions, garlic, shallots, leeks, chives) as acids could harm compost creatures. Same with coffee/tea grounds (use a sink protector mat, to avoid clogged drains).
• Delphis Eco offers commercial cleaners (choose unscented due to guests who are pregnant/nursing, allergic or have dogs).
• Print public transport info on websites and literature, to discourage car travel.
• Use biodegradable bin bags and eco toilet brush alternatives.
• Swap to a phone company that uses profits to help wildlife.
• Read about pet-friendly gardens and wildlife-friendly gardens. Avoid facing indoor foliage to gardens, to stop birds flying into windows.

Save the Planet, Save Your Hotel Money!

• Sell unsold food at reduced prices through Too Good to Go. These ‘surprise bags’ earn some hoteliers up to £80,000 per year.
• Replace plastic bottled water with mains-fed water coolers.
• Decant ketchup into small glass bowls (or just put bottles on tables) to avoid plastic sachets. Same with toiletries (decant eco-friendly brands).
• Earn up to £5,000 a year by renting unused parking spaces with JustPark app). Also let locals use electric charging stations.

Beck Hall (a plant-based hotel in Yorkshire)

Just like restaurants and shops, hotels and guest houses are beginning to accommodate for people who eat plant-based food, as if not, they are going to be left behind!

Yorkshire’s Beck Hall has recently turned plant-based, where guests can:

• Tuck into a full English breakfast, overlooking the limestone and rolling hills. Or enjoy breakfast in one of the 20 beautiful rooms that overlook streams.
• For lunch, it serves a ‘steak’ onion gravy baguette, or the traditional roast dinner, with vegan Yorkshire puddings.
• Afternoon tea is served with homemade scones, jam and cashew creams. Or pop to the bar for an draught vegan beer.
• For dinner, there’s plant-based ‘beef burgers’ with wholegrain mustard mayo, sauerkraut and tomato with fries. Or a ‘vegan steak’ with chunky chips, roast tomato, grilled mushrooms, onion rings & peppercorn sauce?
• For lighter bites, try the plant-based shrimp with cucumber salad.
• Saving room for sticky toffee pudding and butterscotch sauce, or a vegan lemon cheesecake.

This hotel is not just ‘dog-tolerant’ but dog-friendly. The owners rescued their own dog from Battersea. They try to allocate rooms close to outdoors, for easy access to the garden. Malham Cove is just 10 minutes away.

The hotel was bought by a couple hailing respectively from Yorkshire and Lancashire (no ‘war of the roses’ here!) They left behind former high-flying careers to create good food, due to having taken a plant-based Cordon Bleu course.

They renovated the historic building, installed smart heating/hot water systems and fund tree-planting (almost 5000 so far) to offset carbon emissions of employees, who receive a Living Wage.

Other Successful Plant-Based Hotels

• Bompas & Parr (London) has designed a ‘vegan hotel suite’ with fruit leather headboards and scatter cushions and key-cards made from Piñatex (waste from the pineapple industry). Pillows are stuffed with organic buckwheat or millet (and carpets are wool-free).
• Hempsall Farm Luxury Glamping (Cambridgeshire) offers safari tents, with kitchens or cook meals on the open tire. There are luxury hot showers with flushing toilets, to escape the ‘horrors of traditional camping!’
• Stonewater House (Isle of Arran) is besides stunning mountains and beaches (alas they can’t accept animal friends) with a breakfast of homemade vegan haggis with whisky cream sauce, with maple tofu ‘bacon’, mushrooms, baked tomatoes and steamed spinach.
• Saorsa (Scottish highlands) is set within a 19th century bohemian building, a quiet oasis of TV-free rooms with artisan homemade sourdough and a 5-course tasting menu, including caramelised banana brulee.

Vegan Welcome lists hotels abroad.

In the USA, The White Pig has delighted guests at its 19th century Virginia farmhouse for years, each room named after an adorable rescued pig! Guests can enjoy organic waffles and fruit breakfasts overlooking meadows and forests, and blueberry pancakes with soy sausage/bacon, scrambled tofu with home-fries and coffee/juice and homemade lemonade.

VegVisits can be used alongside Airbnb (the system syncs to avoid over-booking) where owners leave recommendations of plant-based cafes and restaurants.

Guests can employ local tour guides (this company does not allow guides to include viewing animals for entertainment: carriage rides, photos, zoos, aquariums, sporting events).

Help for Hotels Considering Vegan Food

Often chefs in hotels don’t cook vegan food, simply because they weren’t trained. Rather than get angry, encourage them. There are literally hundreds of plant-based recipes and books around, so whatever style of hotel or guest house you are, you won’t go short.

There are recipes everywhere, from a veggie bacon butties to gourmet fine dining cuisine. If you go beyond offering your vegan guests a plate of pasta with tomato sauce (and fruit salad for dessert), they will tell their friends and you’ll get more customers!

If your hotel starts upping its game and serving the best vegan food in town (including for non-residents), the word will soon spread, both in person and online!