City hotel celebrates 15 years of award winning green initiatives
Impressive sustainability ambitions recognised with gold award
Edinburgh’s largest independent hotel has been praised for its impressive sustainability initiatives, by maintaining the highest rated green accreditation for a record 15th consecutive year.
Located in the heart of Edinburgh’s Old Town, Ten Hill Place Hotel was first awarded a Green Tourism Gold Award in 2008 in recognition of its many sustainable initiatives across its operations and has maintained the award level for an impressive 15 years.
In recent years, the 129-bedroom hotel has collaborated with Ecologi to off-set half a tonne of CO2e per night for guests that forgo daily housekeeping, resulting in nearly 300 tonnes of CO2e avoided, the equivalent to 225 long haul flights.
Operated by Surgeons Quarter – the commercial arm of the Royal College of Surgeons of Edinburgh (RCSEd) – profits from a stay at Ten Hill Place Hotel are put back into advancing surgical standards and improving patient outcomes worldwide.
Mark McKenzie, General Manager of Surgeons Quarter said: “Achieving 15 consecutive years of Green Tourism Gold certification is an incredible milestone that reflects our hotel’s deep commitment to environmental sustainability.
“It’s very important to us that we make decisions which positively impact the environment and ensure this is at the heart of all of our operations – while also actively encouraging guests to minimise their effects on the environment.
“Ten Hill Place Hotel is a great choice for eco-conscious travellers because we are dedicated to doing our part for the planet. With more and more people looking to live a greener life at home, it makes sense to stay at a hotel with similar green ambitions.
“We’re still mindful of the effects that travel, and tourism has on our planet, which is reflected in how we fulfil all of our sustainability commitments and continually strive for the highest possible standards.”
Other green initiatives implemented in the hotel include removing single use plastic water bottles, which has saved over 80,000 bottles. These have been replaced with wildflower seed packets for guests to take home, extending the memories of their stay and making a positive impact to their own gardens.
EV Charging ports were also installed at the hotel – a £20,000 investment – with hopes that the car park will eventually be accessible only to electric vehicles.
Euan Haggart, Environment & Sustainability Assessor for Green Tourism said: “Ten Hill Place has done an excellent job in maintaining the Green Tourism Gold award and it reflects the increasingly high standards expected for a sustainable business.
“The team continues to display an impressive understanding of sustainability, awareness of opportunities and the challenges associated with running a responsible business. Congratulations on achieving 15 years at our highest award level.”
Out of 1037 Green Tourism Members in Scotland, 113 are based in Edinburgh with businesses ranging from caravan & camping sites to golf clubs, hotels, conference venues and tour operators.
Across the Surgeons Quarter campus, partnerships with Equal Exchange and Caffia have also been formed, supplying ethically sourced products to Café 1505 and the events venues.
Profits from the Surgeons Quarter portfolio go towards the advancement of surgery and the improvement of patient outcomes worldwide.
Surgeons Quarter’s Ecologi profile can be found here: https://ecologi.com/surgeonsquarter
For more information on how the organisation is operating sustainably please click here.
For more information on the Green Tourism award, visit: www.green-tourism.com
