First Eco-Friendly Hotel Opens In Phila.
<B> First Eco-Friendly Hotel Opens In Phila.</B>
By Frank Rosci
Philadelphia's Rittenhouse Square, the centerpiece of one of the city's most famous downtown locales, has a new hotel of particular note: the 193-room Sheraton Rittenhouse Square, a property that is proving of special interest to business travelers and meeting groups alike, thanks to its prestigious location and unique appeal.
The Sheraton is billed as the first environmentally smart hotel in the continental United States because of state-of-the-art features that include an exclusive air circulation/filtration system, credited with making business travelers feel better and meeting groups more alert during their sessions.
"There are definite advantages for our business guests to having fresh air replenished every 34 minutes throughout the hotel," said Tim Chegin, director of sales and marketing. "Among the pluses are much more attentive meeting attendees and notably healthier guests, who say they are more productive in their work."
Those who suffer from allergies, for example, are finding they are having fewer breathing problems because of the hotel's extraordinarily fresh air and highly sophisticated filtration system, Chegin noted. To help maintain the air's quality, the hotel requires guests to sign a form promising they will not smoke in the building. Housekeeping even uses nine-stage allergen filter vacuum cleaners to trap minute irritants.
Chegin identified the Sheraton as part of a developing trend that will see other hotels and office buildings nationally and internationally adopt similar methods as they become more "green" conscious.
A recent Travel Industry Association of America study revealed there are 43 million so-called eco-travelers nationwide, and that 85 percent of all travelers would patronize environmentally friendly lodging, and would pay an average of 8 percent more to do so. However, rack rates at the Sheraton are not astronomical, with rooms costing $229 during the low season and $269 during the high season. In the long term, because of its selling points, the cost of the Sheraton won't be any higher than more conventional hotels, said Barry Dimson, president and CEO of EcoSmart Healthy Properties LLC in New York, environmental consultants for the project.
"We're offering guests what may be the most unusual amenity of all: good indoor air quality," Dimson said. "Every day is Earth Day at the hotel."
The hotel houses seven meeting rooms in 4,500 square feet of flexible space that accommodates from eight to 80 attendees. One of the rooms, the Curtis on the sixth floor, contains a state-of-the-art videoconferencing center, allowing guests to conduct business with colleagues across the country and around the globe. Dataports with high-speed Internet access are available in all meeting rooms. There also is a business center, with Internet access, a fitness center and club level rooms.
Among the changes at the hotel, which opened in January 1999, will be Philadelphia's first atrium ballroom, set to open this month. The 3,800-sq.-ft. lobby that will accommodate up to 300 people theater-style actually is a revamp, Chegin said, of the way the atrium was used originally. It held a restaurant when the hotel first opened. A feature of the atrium is its 40-ft.-high bamboo garden; bamboo was chosen because it takes in carbon dioxide and produces oxygen at a 35 percent higher rate than any other plant. Sitting under the leafy canopy is literally a breath of fresh air, said Dimson.
Underfoot, 93 percent recycled granite forms the lobby floor, and rooms are furnished with "organic sleep systems" that use 100 percent organically grown cotton and 100 percent pure wool; mattresses and covers are chemical free; and furniture is made from recycled materials. Each room also has individual heating and cooling controls, and energy efficient lighting also is in use throughout the hotel.