The four star rated Thai Garden Resort located on North Pattaya Road has just renewed the prestigious Travelife for Hotels & Accommodations Gold award. Travelife – the international sustainability certification scheme – assesses a property’s performance in managing their social, environmental and economic impacts.
To gain the Travelife Gold certification the hotel must meet their 150 sustainability criteria. This includes environmental issues, such as minimising waste and use of energy, water and chemicals, as well as taking positive action on social issues, such as employee welfare, working with the local community, child protection and human rights. They must also show how they are helping to support local businesses and protect local traditions. The Thai Garden Resort is the only hotel in Pattaya to achieve this award and there are only 14 hotels in Thailand who have been certified by Travelife.
Environment
Energy: The Thai Garden Resort has reduced its energy use by installing low-energy lighting, making use of light sensors, timers, ensuring that in-room air conditioning is controlled and makes use of solar panel produced energy to minimize the use of gas to heat boilers. Hot air produced by walk-in refrigerators and the freezer room’s compressors is collected and through heat-exchange systems re-used to heat water for the guest rooms.
Waste: The hotel has reduced the amount of waste it produces by the development of a waste minimisation programme, including reducing the amount of resources used, reusing materials and recycling, using refillable containers, buying in bulk and using recyclable glass bottles in the guest rooms instead of one-way plastic bottles. No individual packed items like marmalade or butter are used on their buffets.
Water: The hotel uses various methods to save water, including re-usage of grey water from the guest rooms which, after filtering, is re-used to water the vast gardens, as well as the technologies installed in guest rooms or public areas, such as dual flush toilets, low-flow shower heads and taps. In addition, it collects rain water for irrigation and well timed watering of gardens to avoid unnecessary water evaporation.
The hotel measures its performance regularly to monitor the impact of its sustainability efforts, report on results and plan improvements.
Supporting people
Travelife certification shows that the hotel is committed to treating people fairly and with respect. As well as providing good working conditions for staff and investing in its employees by providing regular training, the Thai Garden Resort aims to be an active member of the local community. The hotel supports local school children through their “Toy for Joy” project to assist orphans with school necessities, donating money to local charities, providing access to the hotel facilities to local orphanages to make use of the 63 meter long swimming pool, inviting the abandoned children centre for a free vacation, organizing art exhibitions in the lobby and supporting charity soccer along with other organizations.
Local economy and businesses
The Thai Garden Resort also actively supports the local community from an economic perspective by buying food/other services from local suppliers and encouraging its guests to visit local restaurants, markets and attractions so that they have an opportunity to spend money and support the local economy.
Communication with guests
The hotel also involves guests in their sustainability activities, such as encouraging guests to recycle whilst they are staying at the hotel, running a towel and linen re-use service to help save water or informing them about protected areas, either within the grounds of the property or in the destination.
A key reason for tourism businesses to care about sustainability is to help protect the unique natural and cultural characteristics of their resort, so it continues to attract tourists in the future. The hotel therefore serves local food, providing information on local customs, heritage sites/places of cultural interest, restaurants, or places to buy locally-made goods or souvenirs.
For more information on the Thai Garden Resort’s see their website at www.thaigarden.com
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