Over 500 Hotels get self-imposed Green Eco-Leaf rating

UPDATE: As of Thursday, May 28th,  over 600 lodging properties have earned the Green Eco-Leaf Rating.

Only 12 properties have earned the coveted 5 Green Eco-Leaf Rating thus far; eight in the United States and one in each of Costa Rica, Guatemala, Canada, and Ecuador.

Over half of the properties completing the self-audit fairly evenly divide between 2 and 3 Eco-Leafs on the Green rating scale. The Green Eco-Leaf Ratings breakdown as follows: 9% 4 Eco-Leafs, 30% 3 Eco-Leafs, 36% 2 Eco-Leafs, and 22% 1 Eco-Leaf. While the highest percentage of “Green” lodging is located in the United States (http://www.istaygreen.org/us.cfm), over one fifth of the iStayGreen.org audited properties are located outside the U.S.

Richard Varner, founder of iStayGreen.org states: “iStayGreen.org continues to experience dramatic growth since our soft launch last fall and currently helps several thousand unique visitors daily find and book environmentally friendly hotels.”

He went on to say “Everyday we’re having 5 to 10 new properties complete our online self-audit. In the month of May alone we awarded the Green Eco-Leaf Rating to 122 properties ranging from Bed & Breakfasts to Luxury Spa Resorts. At our current rate of growth it is anticipated that over 1,000 properties will have received their rating before the end of summer.”

On Monday, May 4th, Maui Prince Hotel Makena Resort located in Makena, Hawaii became the 500th lodging property to complete iStayGreen.org ’s online self-audit earning a 3 Green Eco-Leaf Rating. The eco-rating allows the public to know the specific environmental initiatives in place at a property, which enables the environmentally conscious traveler to make informed lodging decisions.

To earn a Green Eco-Leaf Rating, hotels must complete a thorough self-audit, and then are rated based on their eco-initiatives. Community members can then quickly locate and compare “green” lodging worldwide with iStayGreen’s rapidly growing searchable directory of 100,000 lodging properties, as well as create their own profiles , add friends, recommend properties, upload photos, form groups , create and respond to forum threads, make reservations, and add comments and reviews to hotel profiles .

Properties complete the comprehensive online self-audit and earn a Green Eco-Leaf Rating ranging from one to five Eco-Leafs with 5 Green Eco-Leafs being the highest level attainable. Ratings are based on environmental initiatives in-place at the property. Only 9 properties have earned the coveted 5 Green Eco-Leaf Rating thus far; five in the United States and one in each of Costa Rica, Guatemala, Mexico, and Ecuador.

It appears that the majority of properties completing the self-audit fall in the middle of the rating scale. The Green Eco-Leaf Ratings breakdown as follows: 9% 4 Eco-Leafs, 29% 3 Eco-Leafs, 39% 2 Eco-Leafs, and 23% 1 Eco-Leaf. While iStayGreen.org highest percentage of “Green” lodging is located in the United States, over 18% of the audited properties are located outside the U.S.

Richard Varner, founder of iStayGreen.org, states, “iStayGreen.org has grown from a few hundred visitors daily in the fall of last year when we had our soft-launch, to several thousand visitors daily searching for Green lodging.” He went on to say, “We’re experiencing exponential growth in the self-audit program as well, with 5-10 new properties earning the Green Eco-Leaf Rated daily.”

In April 119 hotels completed the online environmental self-audit and earned the Green Eco-Leaf Rating. Based on what is in the pipeline, it is anticipated that over 1,000 properties will have received their rating by the middle of summer.

The lodging industry recognizes the need to create a sustainable future for travel. Properties completing the self-audit and earning the Green Eco-Leaf Rating range from high rise metropolitan hotels to eco lodges, and from luxury resorts to family run bed and breakfasts.

Some properties that have recently completed the online self-audit program include:

• Gaia Napa Valley Hotel – American Canyon, CA
• Comfort Inn and Suites – Boston, MA
• Best Western Canyonlands Inn – Moab, UT
• Four Seasons Miami – Miami, FL
• Grand Hyatt New York – New York, NY
• Running Y Ranch – Klammath Falls, OR
• Hilton Americas Houston – Houston, TX
• Crowne Plaza Mission Valley – San Diego, CA
• St Regis Resort Aspen – Aspen, CO
• Radisson Hotel Sacramento – Sacramento, CA
• Spearfish Canyon Lodge – Spearfish, SD
• Seaport Hotel and Seaport World – Boston, MA
• Marriott Grand Hotel – Point Clear, AL
• Gaylord Texan Resort and Spa – Grapevine, TX
• Fairmont Scottsdale Princess – Scottsdale, AZ
• Nita Lake Lodge – Whistler, Canada
• Super 8 Saint Johns – Saint Johns, Canada
• Hotel Chateau Laurier – Quebec, Canada
• Best Western Kamloops – Kamloops, Canada
• Holiday Inn Express Suites Surrey – Surrey, Canada
• Napo Wildlife Center – Ecuador
• Hacienda Tres Rios – Tres Rios, Mexico

Lodging properties are gaining significant marketing advantage by promoting their Green initiatives, especially when those initiatives have 3rd Party endorsement, such as the Green Eco-Leaf Rating. iStayGreen.org encourages all lodging properties to take advantage of this marketing opportunity and complete the environmental self-audit to earn the Green Eco-Leaf Rating (http://www.istaygreen.org/ratings.cfm ). Presently the self-audit is being provided at no cost. Upon completion, the property is awarded a badge that is displayed on their website creating “Green” Trust with the eco-concerned traveler.

For more, visit www.istaygreen.org .

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