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Green Hotels Association
    November 2012  

CASA MADRONA'S GREENING!

We at "Green" Hotels Association® are so proud of our members, and want to share their success stories. Stefan Mûhle, General Manager at PARTNER MEMBER Casa Madrona, tells us about the thorough green makeover of their historic, high-end, very busy property. Perhaps some of their green ideas can be incorporated into your green program!

Casa Madrona Hotel & Spa, Sausalito, CA, is a 63-room property on a hillside overlooking Richardson Bay, and is a hodgepodge of structures dating from 1885 to the 1980’s. Weekend business is mostly high-end leisure with rooms from $300-500 a night. Monday through Thursday is both leisure and corporate. They have garnered a few environmental awards recently, including the coveted Cool California Small Business Award (coolcalifornia.org). Stefan M�hle is now General Manager after serving 10 years greening two prominent boutique hotels in San Francisco.

Renovation changes:
● Toto dual-flush toilets 1.6/0.8 gpf.
● Occupancy sensors in guest bathrooms, 2 lights.
● Low VOC indoor paints, ALLY MEMBER Benjamin Moore's (benjaminmoore.com) Aura brand.
● Low VOC carpet, Interface and Shaw Hospitality Group brands, both in rolls.
● FF&E (furniture, fixtures and equipment) Custom designed by truexcullins.com to fit spaces with a timeless maritime d�cor since this is a boating area. Sorrentino Mariani (smfurniture.com) manufactured the furniture which they now call “The Sausalito” line.
● Bathroom counters are Caesar Stone (caesarstoneus.com/about/ environment-first), 93% natural quartz aggregates with pigments and polymer resins, very durable, no water rings, manufactured in Israel.
● Bathroom shelves are handmade opaque recycled glass by gleenglass.com.
● Re-used and refurbished existing materials whenever possible, i.e., bamboo flooring was removed, refurbished and replaced; historically significant fireplaces were cleaned; flues replaced.

Ongoing Operations:
● Environmentally-friendly cleaning products - blueeagleclean.com all-in-one product used for floors and general cleaning. orbeco.net products are used on carpet, especially to control moisture. The spa uses an autoclave sterilizer for manicure and pedicure instruments.
● In-Room recycling - viamotif.com 2-section trash and recycling receptacle.
● Refillable bathroom amenity bottles by ALLY MEMBER eoproducts.com.
● Towel and bed linen reuse program hotel signage offers knowledge as well as an option--a challenge because of the room rates. Sheets changed every 3 days or on request.
● Bodybliss.com products used in spa are cruelty-free, biodegradable and sourced from small farmers not using chemical pesticides, etc.
● Retail body products are packaged in recyclable bottles.
● Bathroom tissue and facial tissue made of biodegradable, recyclable and compostable sugarcane fiber. Activa and Kimberly-Clark's Surpass brands are obtained via local vendor blueribbonsupply.com.
● Use of Goodwood products for fireplaces (see goodwoodproducts.com/firelogFAQs.html).

Public transport:
● Participation in commutercheck.com/ Home.aspx for staff commuting.
● Several staff members carpool from San Francisco to Sausalito via the Golden Gate Bridge.
● Offers an online package to hotel guests including ferry tickets and bicycle rental.

Miscellaneous:
● Local artist consignments featured in hallways (suziebuchholz.com/#1) and spa (studio333.info).
● Working with ericryan.com to streamline energy and utility bills. Cost is $1/mo/rm to determine bill correctness, notification of leaks or aberrations.
● Considering association with EDC Technologies (savegas.com) to lower gas consumption through monitoring hot water temperature via thermometers in boilers at about $2/mo/rm.

Here's to making a difference! Contact Stefan at 415/332-0502 or stefan.muhle@metwestterra.com for further info.

To learn more about GHA and how your property can be greener, jump to "Green" Hotels Association® !



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