Award Presenter: Jon Crooke (Southern Water)
Nominees: Ventnor Botanic Garden, Heatherleigh Hotel
Winner: Heatherleigh Hotel
This was written by the auditor on her visit in 2005:
“New ownership has brought in a wealth of experience and commitment to this hotel”
The owners of this small family run hotel have a passion about the environment, probably much inspired by the Find Horn Foundation located close to where they used to live in Scotland. (for further details contact the hotel). Mary and Kim have carried with them a commitment to their environmental responsibilities in every aspect of running this business.
As well as using energy efficiency and water management, the proprietors promote environmental good practice to their guests through policies displayed in every room and induction talks to resident school groups. As part of their commitment to healthy living, they have a ‘no chips’ policy in place as well as using Fair Trade beverages.
Cleaning is carried out using least polluting products as possible, such as vinegar and chemical-free e-cloths for glass surfaces. They keep attractions leaflet supplies to a minimum to reduce waste and the fax machine is turned off – faxes are sent on request.
The Heatherleigh Hotel has changed a lot of its practices to reduce water use on site. Almost all of the baths have been replaced with showers, grey water has been used for watering the gardens and now water butts are in place to help collect rainwater for this purpose. The formal gardens are planted with drought resistant hardy plants to reduce water use and maintenance. The gardens won the 2005 Shanklin in Bloom small hotel garden award.
• Water butts used for all garden watering
• Drought tolerant planting scheme in place
• Ongoing replacement project to replace baths with showers
• Changes in cleaning practices have reduced polluting substances entering water system
• Won Shanklin in Bloom Small Hotel Gardens 2005 award
• Good guest awareness campaign to encourage them to take part in best practice policies