How Greener Hotels Are Making Events More Plant-Based

To hear something described as ‘plant-based’ may be to assume you are about to see a vegetarian menu, but while that may be exactly what some will want when they settle down to eat at a hotel, many others will be able to enjoy some wonderful health benefits from staying in a place with lots of foliage to clean the air.

This will be especially true of hotels in big cities, but it can apply anywhere, with recent research making headlines with the revelation that almost everyone in Europe breathes air that exceeds World Health Organization pollution guidelines. Unless a hotel is in the northern Highlands of Scotland, this is a pressing issue.

Having plants to clean the air is crucial in homes and offices, so it is only right that it applies in hotels too, where features like indoor living walls can also add to the aesthetic quality by being incorporated into the design.

This may be a major topic of discussion at the forthcoming HIX 2023 event in London, when hotel design professionals will get together in the capital and discuss both current trends and the future of hotel design.

Taking place at the Business Design Centre in Islington on November 16th and 17th, the event will, of course, cover a very broad range of topics. However, the central theme, under the title ‘Room with a Point of View,’ “will highlight the people, products and projects breaking down barriers and making the hospitality industry a better place for all.”

Such a title might be very broadly interpreted. The idea of inclusivity can be a tricky one to capture sometimes because while some areas, such as disability, are covered by equality law and the responsibilities it carries to provide the right facilities, there is also the reality that some hotels will be more niche and naturally appeal to particular groups of people.

However, while themed hotels might bring in many like-minded people, which opens up opportunities to cater to those with a love of greenery, while on the question of meeting health needs, there will be those who will welcome the chance to breathe cleaner air for medical reasons and also people who will find a green, plant-rich environment more calming.

With the event having a stated aim of trying to “amplify previously underrepresented viewpoints”, its publicity also highlighted the point that the purpose of hotels extends beyond just the needs of guests, through to staff, the local community and the environment.

Indeed, this includes “the wider ecosystem of environmental and sustainability concerns that affect each and every one of us,” it stated. That poses a challenge the industry clearly needs to respond to.

What better way to align a hotel with the concerns of preserving and enhancing ecosystems than having lots of plants installed?

By doing this, hoteliers can make their establishment look good, as well as bring it in line with so many other hotels (like the Treehouse in London) that have loads of plants; they can also help make the world - and especially cities - much greener.