It’s not just the residential and commercial buildings that are going green, hospitality sector has also ventured on that path. And with that we are seeing ‘responsible luxury’ taking root in India.
ITC’s Royal Gardenia hotel in Bangalore, was conferred the highest rating for green buildings in the world – the LEED India Platinum Rating. This not only places it among the top hotels in the world, but also makes it the largest platinum rated hotel, spreading across 6,00,000 sq ft. It is a model of environmental stewardship. The challenge while starting an eco-friendly hotel, and of such magnitude, is how to cut down on the carbon footprint and maintain high standards of green living while still providing the highest quality of luxuries to guests.
It is here that ITC Royal Gardenia has excelled, winning accolades from guests and the LEED India rating alike. As a guests’ review reads on tripadvisor.com “Stay at this hotel and lose the guilt by staying at a hotel that is as much eco-friendly as it is modern and elegant.” The hotel has also been awarded the highest customer satisfaction, Trip Advisor award.
The Royal Gardenia is truly the perfect blend between responsibility towards the environment and luxury. Every green practice blends seamlessly into the background with the contemporary setting, effortlessly masking the fact that it is one of the highest rated green buildings in the world. “A series of sustainable measures and practices were embraced to ensure that elements of nature were effectively harnessed at every level inside the luxury hotel”, said Nakul Anand, Chief Executive, ITC Hotels Division
The vertical garden in the lobby, and the Lotus Pavilion are perfect examples. When you enter, unlike most 7 star hotels with air-conditioned lobbies, at the Gardenia, you are greeted by the innovative ‘vertical garden’, designed to ensure maximum ventilation and infuse fresh air into the space, thus eliminating the need for artificial cooling. The Lotus Pavilion, the crown jewel of the hotel, is a design inspired by Tippu Sultan’s summer palace. It has a “living room with a living roof” concept, i.e- with lush greenery on the roof, a very visually pleasing sight from your hotel room!
It is evident that ITC has left no stones unturned to ensure they set new benchmarks in the industry and take responsible luxuries too all new heights. Both the Royal Gardenia and the ITC Windsor use 100% renewable energy, powered wind turbines situated in Bellary.
A state of the art recycling plant ensures maximum utility of waste water that flows out from the daily consumption of the hotels facilities. This recycled water is used for gardening practises across the vast expanses of green bodies on the property.
The innovative concept of a “welcome meal” offered to all guests, is a sure shot way of reducing food wastage. It offers guests individual size portions of their favoured dishes, rather than a standard portion which could possibly feed the entire table, eliminating wastage.
Each floor of the hotel has a unique theme, such as water, fire, animals, and wings etc. You notice the eye for detail as you walk along the corridors, right from the flooring, the pictures hanging on the wall, to the lamps which have intricate designs of the theme sculptured onto them!
Achieving what it set out to, Royal Gardenia has the perfect mix of cutting edge technology, and innovation, aesthetically integrated into its contemporary and minimalistic design theme. It has raised the bar for hotels in the country and sent out a strong message “responsible luxury” is the new way forward!
