How the Pandemic Made Hotel Industry Eco-Friendly

  2020 has been a challenging year, all the things we took from granted, like the ability to travel, open borders (I know how privilege I sound saying this but Portugal is part of the EU and that is my reality) and a simple hug from our grandparents have been taken away. 

Even if life, as we knew it, changed a lot, something I have learned in the past few months is that the human being has an incredible capacity to adapt and accept things as they are, making the best out of the worst situations. 

This deep philosophical introduction comes to say that I did some traveling (uhh controversial, I know) during the summer. Actually, it was more of a staycation 1 hour away from home to stay at my aunt's hotel. I wanted to sit here ar write this blog post because the traveling sector has been deeply affected by the Covid-19 pandemic and I want to give you my point of view on travel, hotels, means of transportation, outdoor activities, and how safe I actually felt. 

If you fancy a video diary of my weekend I have uploaded a vlog on my Portuguese Youtube Channel. 

Having a family member that owns a hotel is a total privilege because it allows me to have an insight into the perspective of someone whose business was directly affected by the side effects of the pandemic in detriment of our regular customer perspective.  I got to sit down and talk to my aunt about her fears, what changed, and what changes she thinks will be permanent once the Covid-19 pandemic is over. I decided to bring to you 3 changes that I think can be here to stay and that made the whole industry more eco-friendly.

 

Daily cleaning of rooms is no longer a thing: In order to keep people away from the guest's rooms, the cleaning works upon request instead of having someone coming to your room uninvented to simply make the bed or to give you clean towels. You can ask for your room to be cleaned at any time and do the same with requesting for new towels or anything else you need. If you don't want strangers getting into your personal space everyday cleaning works upon request, which I personally think is a great measure, it saves water (being that they are not washing bedding and towels unnecessarily on a daily), it saves resources and honestly in times like this anything that diminishes contact between strangers is a great idea in my opinion.

Buffets are a thing of the past: The classic hotel breakfast, probably mine (and many others) favorite part of staying in hotels has changed deeply. Buffets with all you can eat delights such as pancakes, croissants, many natural juices, fruits, eggs, bacon, and everything in between are a thing of the past. Even though I always loved the concept of a buffet breakfast the food waste that it generates must be tremendous. In Monte do Malhão they never had a buffet breakfast, and even though I know different hotel chains are adapting to the new-normal (god I hate that phrase so much) in different ways such as: having hotel employees serving the all you can eat buffets, the classic menu from which we can pick what we want to eat; the way Monte do Malhão has done it is the best way in my opinion. 

They have a simple breakfast composed of many different local products like bread, butter, different jams, a slice of cake, fresh orange juice, and fresh fruit and then you can ask for eggs, coffee, milk, or any other beverage on the spot if you wish. This is a great way to avoid food waste which according to Project Drawdown is one of the biggest things we can do to help fight climate change. 

Hotels are trying to give you everything you may need during your stay: You must have been tired of me talking about how hotels have changed but this is something I have been noticing not only from my personal experience but also from what I have heard other people say on their social media channels, hotels are doing everything that they can to make you stay there longer. Obviously, this depends on the type of tourism you are doing but in general, it is in everyone's best interest if the guests aren't moving around too much. I've seen hotels with a bunch of different pools, restaurants, and many other perks but that normally comes from big hotel chains and resorts. However, if you are trying to support smaller businesses they can still bring something to the table. Monte do Malhão, a small hotel with only 9 rooms, for example (and again, this is my only hotel experience during these crazy times) offers bedrooms with hot tubes, two pools (outside and indoors), they are building a spa complex to go with the indoor pool, massages, yoga classes, a little farm with different animals, viewpoints, trills where you can do hikes, a cultural salon where you can relax unwind and read a book and an ongoing art exhibition throughout the hallways and different rooms of the hotel are a few of the things this wonderful space has. 

If the hotels are making their guests stay in their accommodations for longer instead of going out and exploring the world, at the same time, and probably unintentionally,  they are making sure that their guests are not using their cars or other means of transportation to get around which will help to reduce the carbon footprint generated by them in their daily lives, even if it's just for a couple of days. 

In conclusion, I felt completely safe while staying in a hotel, however, I totally understand if you don't. The world as changed and some industries have changed completely with it, we don't take things for granted anymore but I think that some good has to come out of this pandemic, and maybe, just maybe, some of these changes are here to stay, in a long run, they are already making and they will keep making a difference in the world and we will all get to live in a better place. I don't know if this is just me dreaming but, I like to believe that this is true.

Location: Monte do Malhão, Castro Marim, Algarve, Portugal 

Photography:  João Machado