Planning a corporate event? Been informed that you have to find a sustainable hotel venue? Panic not; this article will give you a few pointers that should make sure you find a green hotel that does its best to save the planet, while offering your valuable attendees the best event conditions.

When planning a corporate event, whether through doing it yourself or hiring a professional event planning company to take care of it for you, one consideration centres around the sustainability of the venue you have chosen.

As many of the venues that are used for corporate events happen to be hotels, this article looks at what needs to be taken into account when searching for a good, sustainable hotel for your next corporate event.

One thing you could look into is the energy conservation that the hotel venue is exhibiting. You can ask to check the boiler usage, is it being done in a sensible way, so that heating is never wasted? You can also ask to see the lighting system for the hotel.

Some guests like to see that intelligent lighting systems are in place. If this is not possible in the venue you are investigating, then does the hotel make it clear to guests that it is responsible behaviour to switch off lights when leaving a room?

Guest will also be open to considering the water conservation activities of the hotel. Water is wasted in an incredibly damaging way across the globe, and hotels have a huge responsibility to ensure that water is used effectively and with a sustainable outlook. Towel re-use programs are now common in hotels that are becoming sustainable, as are specially created shower heads that reduce water wastage.

One of the biggest signs your guests will note as regards the sustainability of the venue is the recycling efforts the hotel makes. From newspapers to bottles, expect to see numerous recycling bins dotted around the back of the hotel. If you don’t, there is a clear problem. However, it would be a rare hotel indeed that did not recycle. Instead, ensure that everything is recycled by the hotel where possible. Not every hotel can say they do this well.

When a delegate or guest uses a room key to enter their room, they may still be faced with the old fashioned plastic tag and key combination. The more exclusive hotels may still offer something plastic, even if it is a key card rather than a tag for a metal key. Some hotels are waking up to the fact that they can use the latest key card technology on sustainable materials, such as bio plastic and good old-fashioned paper.

One final way in which you can ascertain whether a hotel venue is sustainable is by the menu that they offer their customers at meal times. If they are using organic materials when preparing and presenting food this is usually a good sign that they are sustainable as a venue. In other words, they are treating the environment sensitively.

Author Bio: Dave Matthews is writing on behalf of Owl Event Management, a leading UK event management company.

Category: Advice
Keywords: event management, corporate event, event planning, event planner, company event, event ideas