Gloria Palace Amadores Thalasso & Hotel

Location

Spain, Gran Canaria

Description of the hotel

392 rooms + 5 meeting rooms, Thalasso centre (part of Gloria Thalasso & Hotels - Tourin Europeo SA)

Goal

To be a leader in its category by meeting and exceeding the expectations of guests, and raising the environmental awareness of all stakeholders, including guests, suppliers and staff

Step by step (how they did it)

Gloria Thalasso & Hotels and the Amadores Thalasso and Hotel focused on legal compliance, continuous improvement and progressive reduction of emissions but also made a pioneering switch to green energy sources.

Awards and certifications

The hotel has an environmental management system which is EMAS verified and ISO 14001 certified and a quality management system certified ISO 9001

The hotel was among the 2 finalists in the 2014 EMAS AWARDS competition (medium-sized companies). In addition, it has been the recipient of numerous industry recognitions e.g. Travelife Gold award, Tripadvisor Greenleader Platinum, TUI Environmental Champion.

GLORIA Thalasso and Hotels started business in 1988 and the Amadores site opened in 2003. As far back as 2007, the hotels have developed an interest in environmental issues and renewable energy, leading to the GLORIA ECO 20/20 commitment to mirror the EU objectives of obtaining 20% energy from renewable sources by 2020, which has already been far exceeded today.

GLORIA Palace Amadores Thalasso & Hotel in particular has deployed a number of pioneering measures in the field of energy

RENEWABLE ENERGY SOLUTIONS: Gloria Thalasso & Hotels has been committed to deploying renewable energies and cutting their carbon footprint for over a decade. Currently the hotel uses a biomass-powered boiler providing over 2500 MWh annually which meets the hotel's needs for sanitary hot water, including energy-hungry spa and thalassotherapy installations! In addition, the hotel has installed photovoltaic (PV) solar panels on the roof generating over 175 MWh every year. Together these renewable energy solutions allow the hotel to meet over 25% of its energy requirements with renewable sources, well in advance of its 20/20 commitment.

Which renewable energy is good for you?

Gloria Palace Amadores opted for PV and biomass heat, taking advantage of local conditions in the Canary Islands. Before you opt for renewable solutions, look at the whole panoply available to you and what provides the best fit for your needs and your locally available resources. Solar thermal? geothermal? even a wind turbine? You can find lots of information on how to choose and much more in our best practices on renewable energy sources.

Using less energy, using energy better: Producing your own renewable energy might be a worthwhile goal, but it's even easier to meet your own energy demand if you reduce your consumption, and improve your energy efficiency. This is why Gloria Palace Amadores also developed a strategy to cut its energy bill – and its carbon footprint! This covers many fundamental aspects of energy management, including

• Monitoring energy use with sub-meters for the largest energy consumers: spa, laundry, and kitchen
• Changing lighting systems to more efficient ones in all areas of the hotel
• Changing appliances for more efficient ones e.g. kitchen ovens, guest room TVs.

More structural changes can also be considered in the way the hotel uses and generates energy. For instance, in the sister hotel Gloria Palace Royal, an air-source heat pump was installed running on electricity instead of gas to provide hot water and delivers significant savings in energy and CO2.

How to save energy?

Choosing good appliances can make a huge difference on your energy bill. Start with your lighting – replacing old bulbs or tubes with more efficient light sources like LEDs is a first step. You can also encourage your guests to join you in your efforts by switching off the lights when they leave their rooms.

In the kitchen, selecting efficient appliances can also make a big difference in your water and energy bills.

Check our tools here and read our article about a good lighting strategy.

THE RESULTS - OUTSTANDING ENERGY AND CARBON PERFORMANCE: Through its strategy of continuous improvement spurred by an EMAS management system, the hotel has been drastically reducing both its energy use and its carbon emissions, and continues to do so. Even in recent years after the implementation of large-scale installations, the Gloria Palace Amadores has overachieved its ambitious objectives, delivering, for instance, annual cuts of over 4% in its carbon emissions per guest-night (and cut its overall carbon emissions by over 3%).

Running out of ideas to get better?

Having a system of environmental management in place is a great way to give some structure to your environmental efforts. It will help you recognise how you are doing and show you ways in which you can still progress.

For instance, a key feature of EMAS is continuous improvement – always looking for new ways to do things better, whether in areas that you think you are already good or in other environmental aspects.

Read this article to find out how to introduce an environmental policy. 

Tempted to know more about EMAS? This page is for you!

REACHING OUT TO GUESTS: the environmental improvements at Gloria Palace Amadores don't just happen backstage. The hotel also communicates to guests about its achievements and engages them to do their part too by:

• Displaying information about the renewable sources of energy used in the hotel in every single room
• Displaying environmental information in several languages at the reception, including information on how guests can help recycle waste during their stay
• Encouraging guests to participate in reducing laundry use (towels, bedsheets).

How you can promote your green efforts

By advertising your green efforts to guests who stay at your hotel, you not only leverage your own environmental improvements by gaining support from your guests, but you also raise their awareness more generally about the importance of the environment in the destination they are visiting, and also attract the business of customers who are more specifically conscious about their own footprint.

You can find more ideas on how to impress your guests in this article and also find some useful tools to put these ideas into practice!

RECYCLING POLICY: Gloria Palace Amadores also focuses on how to reduce the impact of waste both inside and outside its premises by:

• Installing selective collection within the hotel premises, accessible to guests
• Informing on recycling options visibly at the reception
• Raising awareness of staff on how they can also bring their recyclables from home to one of the collection points in the area.

Reduce, reuse, recycle.

You can also do your part to make sure that your activities generate less waste: there are many ways you can cut waste from your own hotel and also encourage recycling by your staff, guests and even suppliers. Look for more ideas in our best practices on waste prevention and sorting and recycling.