“ In 2014, the Palms Hotel & Spa launched their Inspired by Nature program, an environmental action plan that pledges to place environmental sustainability at the core of the spa’ s efforts.”
Spa Ojai’ s efforts have paid off, both for the planet and for Spa Ojai’ s marketing: the spa was nominated for the World Spa & Wellness Award for Leadership in Sustainability, and won the 2018 Preferred Hotels & Resorts GIFTTS Pineapple Award for Sustainability.
sustainability is the bedrock The Florida Department of Environmental Protection recognizes sustainable hotels and resorts throughout the state using a rating system that ranges from one to four“ palms.” The Palms Hotel & Spa – Aveda Spa & Salon, located in Palm Beach across the bay from Miami, is proud of its three-palm status, among the highest in the Miami area. The key to its successful sustainability efforts: making it an organized, foundational part of its business.
In 2014, the Palms Hotel & Spa launched their Inspired by Nature program, an environmental action plan that pledges to place environmental sustainability at the core of the spa’ s efforts.“ It has set the path for the Palms and our spa,” said Halley Hargonich, spa director at the Palms AVEDA Spa. The spa partnered with AVEDA in 2010, in part due to the vendor’ s commitment to sustainability. AVEDA uses“ sustainably sourced packaging, and all AVEDA products are manufactured with one hundred percent wind power,” according to Hargonich.
The Palms Hotel & Spa doubled-down on its commitment to going green by ensuring that every sustainability initiative is promoted on Twitter, Facebook and Instagram. With sustainability looming large in the mind of modern spa goers, promoting greening practices maximizes the spa’ s marketing exposure. The spa also includes its latest greening practices in a monthly newsletter.“ Groups will book with us because of our branding,” added Hargonich.
As with Spa Ojai, the Palms Hotel & Spa has found that education is the key to make sure that guests respond well to eco-friendly changes, which can easily seem to customers like decisions made in pursuit of more profit rather than more sustainability.“ We train and educate our staff and engage with
our guests,” Hargonich said.“ We want to remind our guests to think with the environment in mind.”
In practice, the Palms Hotel & Spa has rolled out a number of eco-friendly changes over the past several years. Every guest room is outfitted with low-flow toilets, and straws are only available upon request— and the ones provided are reusable, at that. The spa’ s point-of-sale system sends email receipts; its HR system is completely paperless; and it takes care to specially recycle bulbs, batteries and electronics. In both the hotel and spa, 65 percent of the furniture is made from recycled content. Furthermore, the spa’ s linens and towels are made locally, reducing the environmental damage caused by long-distance shipping.
three spas, one World All three ISPA member spas featured this month understand the critical importance— to the world, to their guests and to their bottom line— of going green. And although sustainability can be boiled down to a matter of practical necessity in 2018’ s consumer marketplace, for these three spas, environmentalism represents something more. Kate Morrison from Ojai Valley Inn & Spa shared a point with which I’ m sure the Palms Hotel & Spa and Cavallo Point would agree:“ We care for the health and wellness of our guests, and it only seems fitting that we would extend that to our environment as well.” n
fEaturEd sourcEs
Matt turNEr Director of Healing Arts & Spa
cavallo PoiNt
katE MorrisoN Spa Director
oJai vallEy iNN & sPa
HallEy HargoNicH Spa Manager
tHE PalMs HotEl & sPa avEda sPa & saloN
October 2018 ■ PULSE 29