Source: Ennismore

Hamburg - By the end of 2024, all 25hours Hotels are to receive a sustainability certification from an external institute. The course for this has been set since 2022 with various initiatives. For example, the hotel group cooperates with tree planting projects to contribute to the preservation of global biodiversity and to invest saved resources sensibly. New concepts in the food and beverage sector are aimed at increasing regional and organic offerings. More vegetarian and purely plant-based options are also being made available for the guests. Further goals are the reduction of food surpluses and plastic products. In the area of mobility, 25hours Hotels also offer sustainable solutions with different sharing concepts.

Already 34,000 25hours trees planted

As part of its environmental measures, 25hours Hotels supports various tree planting initiatives. Trees, or forests, absorb billions of tonnes of CO2 worldwide and are essential for a stable climate. For the hotels in the German-speaking countries, the hotel group cooperates with the Hamburg-based non-profit organisation Aktion Baum, which implements tree planting projects in Germany, Austria and Switzerland. As part of the cooperation, 25hours employees broke ground for an own 25hours forest near Frankfurt in spring and planted around 250 maple trees. The aim of the action is to contribute to the long-term recovery of nature, CO2 compensation and the preservation of global biodiversity. As far as possible, Aktion Baum therefore plants mixed forests that have a good potential to cope with difficult climatic conditions and which also promote maximum biodiversity. Aktion Baum works together with local foresters, forestry experts, researchers, and scientists to find a functional and efficient solution for native forests.

Nadja Krawetz, Director of Brand & Communication at 25hours Hotels, explains how the cooperation works exactly: Guests who stay longer than one night at a 25hours Hotel have the option to waive the daily room cleaning when they check-in. However, we don’t want to make profit with the saved resources but do something good for the environment. Therefore, we support different tree-planting initiatives at each of our locations. In addition to Aktion Baum, these are Plant et Træ in Copenhagen, treedom in Florence and the Emirates Environmental Group in Dubai. Simply said, our goal is to turn as many room cleanings as possible into trees, helping our 25hours Hotels forest to grow.

Those who support the initiative receive small pin needles at the reception with which they can mark an imaginary forest. At the end of the month, all pins are counted and the corresponding amount is transferred to the local initiative. Since April 2022, almost 34,000 donated trees have been collected with the support of the guests.

Eating and drinking more sustainably

In 2023, there will also be a focus on further developing the food & beverage concepts of all 25hours Hotels. Under the internal working title ‘Happy Chicken’, we are working on making the offer for our guests even more regional and are integrating more organic products, says Bruno Marti, Executive VP of Brand Marketing at 25hours Hotels. It is a fact that those who buy regional, seasonal and increasingly organic products support local producers and protect the environment through shorter transport routes, among other things. Especially in the hotel industry, creative solutions are needed so that a somewhat smaller but finer selection of dishes scores with the guests. It’s about making our offer even more conscious, more consistent and at the same time offering an excellent taste experience, Marti continues.

Part of the food & beverage Initiative is to also expand the range of vegetarian and plant-based alternatives. After all, the way people eat has a significant impact on their carbon footprint. For example, a vegetarian meal has on average three times less impact on the climate than an equivalent meal with meat. Food specialist Lauren Wildbolz knows how the transformation to a plant-based cuisine can succeed. Together with Sebastian Haase, Head Chef at 25hours Hotel Langstrasse, she created plant-based bar food alternatives for the Cinchona Bar, for example. As a pioneer of the plant-based gastronomy in Switzerland, Wildbolz not only opened the first vegan restaurant in Zurich in 2010, but also advises restaurants that want to change their offering. The newly created menu offers versatility and authenticity at the same time with hearty dishes such as Good Fortune Bao Buns with Thai basil mayonnaise or Panko Fried Magic Mushrooms also with a lemongrass mayonnaise. The breakfast offer has evolved, too. For example, the 25hours Hotel The Circle in Cologne now serves vegan egg dishes for guests. Even without a hotel stay, the plant-based egg alternatives can be consumed as scrambled eggs, breakfast burritos or French toast in the hotel’s co-working area.

Plastic-free hotel experience

Another big issue is working to reduce and avoid single-use plastic products. Not only does the production of plastic items consume enormous resources and release harmful greenhouse gases to the environment, but often plastic items are also only used once and then thrown away directly. As they are chemically very stable and poorly degradable, plastic-free alternatives are needed. At 25hours Hotels, this process was initiated early on. Social and environmental sustainability were already among the most important driving forces when it came to product change for us before the pandemic, explains Katherina Klimke, VP of Operations at 25hours Hotels. We were already able to offer 80 percent plastic-free alternatives in our hotels. The step to become almost 100 percent plastic-free was therefore not so difficult. Since mid-2022, all hotels are mostly free of single-use plastic products in the guest areas. There are no more rubbish bags in the rubbish bin. Plastic-free laundry bags, shaving sets or toothbrushes are handed out on request at the reception. For 15 hotels with a total of 2,730 rooms and two rubbish bags per room, this results in a hypothetical saving of over 1.5 million rubbish bags per year at an eighty percent occupancy rate. Due to the lack of alternatives, we currently still have a few exceptions for the minibar snacks and our coffee set-up in the rooms. But we are working on solutions. We also participate in the RECUP and REBOWL returnable systems. The to-go deposit system is currently available in all hotels in the German-speaking countries, adds Klimke. At the same time, so-called water fountains (water dispensers) are being installed in all 25hours Hotels. This way, guests can fill up their drinking bottle free of charge and thus support the zero-waste principle.

Avoiding food surpluses

In addition to revising the food and beverage offer, initiatives to reduce food waste were also launched by 25hours Hotels. At almost all properties, the hotel group cooperates with Too Good To Go, for example, which helps to save food with its app. After breakfast, interested parties can purchase a discounted breakfast bag. Through this campaign, food from more than 865 hotels across Europe can be saved every day.

In Zurich, the 25hours Hotel Langstrasse as well as the 25hours Hotel Zurich West are working together with the Swiss start-up KITRO, which is also committed to sustainable change in the food industry. Using a smart bin system that measures all food waste throughout the day, the software then generates detailed reports that help restaurants reduce food waste. As a result, the WPG (waste per guest) has already been reduced by 30 percent. The pilot project is to be introduced in other 25hours properties in the future.

Flexible mobility

Furthermore, 25hours Hotels are committed to sustainable mobility through their collaborations with Schindelhauer Bikes and SHARE NOW. During their stay, guests are able to use urban city bikes as well as the sustainable car sharing service of SHARE NOW in Germany and Austria as a convenient and sustainable mobility solution. In addition, there are e-charging stations e.g., at the hotels in Cologne and Düsseldorf. The two Zurich properties as well as the 25hours Hotel One Central in Dubai offer e-speedsters for trips through the city in cooperation with MINI.

To ensure that the sustainable projects continue to flourish, the so-called Green Ambassadors have been in place at all 25hours Hotels for a year now. The team of almost 30 employees from different departments also takes care of the digitalisation and upcoming certification process or the conversion to renewable energies in small groups. The 25hours Hotel The Circle in Cologne plays a pioneering role in this. Both the cooperation with Aktion Baum and the use of green electricity were introduced here first.

ABOUT ENNISMORE

Ennismore is a creative hospitality company with a global collective of entrepreneurial and founder-built brands with purpose at their heart. It curates and manages unique properties and experiences in some of the most exciting destinations worldwide.

Founded in 2011 by entrepreneur Sharan Pasricha, Ennismore and Accor entered a joint venture in 2021 to create a new autonomous entity, with Accor holding a majority shareholding. Creating the world's fastest-growing lifestyle hospitality company, it brings together Ennismore's know-how in building brands with creative storytelling, design, and authentic experiences, with Accor's wealth of knowledge in delivering scale, network growth and distribution.

Under Sharan Pasricha, Founder & Co-CEO, and Gaurav Bhushan, Co-CEO, Ennismore comprises 14 brands - with over 100 operating properties and a further 140+ in the pipeline - and a collection of over 190 culturally relevant and diverse restaurants and nightlife destinations.

Ennismore puts innovation at the center of everything it does, with four dedicated in-house specialist studios, which obsess every guest touchpoint, including Carte Blanched – a fully integrated F&B concept platform; a creative studio of interior and graphic designers; a digital product and tech innovation lab, and a partnerships and collaborations division.

Ennismore has been included in Fast Company's World's Most Innovative Companies lists in 2020 and 2021; ranked#29 in FT1000: Europe's Fastest-Growing Companies; and is part of FT Future 100 - the UK's fastest-growing businesses that are shaping the future of their sector.

The Ennismore brands: 21c Museum Hotel, 25hours Hotels, Delano, Gleneagles, Hyde, JO&JOE, Mama Shelter, Mondrian, Morgans Originals, SLS, SO/, The Hoxton, TRIBE and Working From.