Five UK hotels achieve second Green Key Award for sustainable practices

Green Key England has presented five UK hotels with an international environmental award for the second time.

The five - London Marriott Hotel Regent’s Park, Aloft London ExCel Hotel, London Marriott Hotel Grosvenor Square, London Marriott Hotel County Hall and Inhabit Hotel Southwick Street - all met the stringent criteria of the international Green Key Award, which is set by the global Foundation for Environmental Education (FEE) and backed by the World Tourism Organisation and the UN Environment Programme.

These hotels now join more than 3,200 Green Key awarded establishments across 65 countries and in England, the scheme is managed by Keep Britain Tidy.

Alox Dixit, General Manager of Marriott Regent’s Park and Sustainability Chair for Marriott UK, joined the team on stage and said: “Delighted to receive Green Key reaccreditation, supporting our sustainability efforts. It was a great exercise to quantify our green actions and further motivates our team to do more in creating a sustainable future.”

The announcement comes just weeks after representatives from Green Key England attended COP26 in Glasgow to present in the Green Zone about the benefits of environmental programmes in tackling climate change.

Keep Britain Tidy’s Chief Executive, Allison Ogden-Newton OBE, said: “We are delighted to award these outstanding hotels Green Key certification for the second year running.

“COP26 has pressed home to us all how little time we have left to halt the devastating impact our modern lifestyles are having on the environment.

“These establishments have proven that luxury and sustainability can go hand-in-hand, meaning travellers do not have to compromise in order to curb their carbon impact.”

To achieve the award for a second year, hotels must meet more of the guideline criteria than they did in year one, alongside the imperative criteria.

During the rigorous judging, each venue is assessed against standards including staff involvement, guest information and sustainable management of energy, waste, water, cleaning and food and drinks. Through making greener choices, each hotel is able to significantly reduce their environmental impact, reducing the consumption of energy and water and improve their guests’ experience.

Green Key is one of the leading eco-labels recognised by Google Travel as part of their newly announced ‘Sustainability labelling’ within their Google-powered booking engine.

Google state in their guidance: “Hotels with an ‘eco-certified’ label have been certified by an accredited independent organization for meeting certain standards. You’ll find an ‘eco-certified’ label near their name, and you can find out more about their sustainability practices on their detail page.”

Green Key award is the leading standard for excellence in the field of environmental responsibility and sustainable operation within the tourism industry.

Visit Green Key to find out more or contact greenkey@keepbritaintidy.org