Inhabit, Queen’s Gardens Achieves Green Key International Sustainability Award
Barely a year after opening its doors, Inhabit, Queen’s Gardens in Bayswater, London, has achieved a Green Key Award, the international environmental award presented by Green Key England.
Inhabit’s vision is to support and grow best practices in wellness, sustainability and social connectedness within the wider community, in order to inspire others and change our world collectively. The brand’s original flagship hotel, Inhabit, Southwick Street, in Paddington, achieved a Green Key award shortly after opening in 2019, and has recently been accredited B Corp status, one of the first hotels in London to achieve this positive marker. Inhabit, Queen's Gardens is the second Inhabit property to open, around the corner from its sister hotel in Bayswater, and is proud to have also met the stringent criteria of the Green Key awards.
Inhabit, Queen’s Gardens has been created with a passion for wellbeing and living in a way that supports a healthy mind and body, as well as modelling responsible hospitality practices. The public areas include a plant-heavy, meat-free restaurant from retreat gurus Yeotown, comfortable lounge area for guests and the local community to socialise and work in, and a noise-free library stocked with thought-provoking reads spanning wellness, meditation, social enterprise, holistic health, contemporary art, philosophy, local London and nature. A subterranean wellness area provides treatment rooms, a fitness suite and yoga studio.
Mindfully designed for the modern traveller, everything has been considered with a genuine commitment to environmental initiatives and meaningful community partnerships. For example - the terrazzo mantelpiece in the lobby has been made from rubble removed from the site that the hotel sits on, by social enterprise Granby Workshop.
Still water dispensers sit on each floor, where guests can refill the glass bottles that are available in their rooms. These dispensers, as well as doing away with plastic bottles, are supplied by BELU, a social enterprise that invests its profit into saving carbon emissions from entering the atmosphere, championing a circular economy, and in ending water poverty.
Mini bars are stocked by Social Supermarket, whose snacks and drinks are all made by small social enterprises. Indeed the hotel works with social enterprises and small, socially-conscious businesses wherever possible, including Goldfinger, Kalinko and Who Gives A Crap, with a goal to collaborate with at least 100 social enterprises by the end of 2023.
Green Key sets the standard for excellence in the field of environmental responsibility and sustainable operation within the tourism sector. During the rigorous judging, each establishment is assessed against strict standards, which are set by the global Foundation for Environmental Education (FEE) and backed by the World Tourism Organisation and the UN Environment Programme. These criteria include staff involvement, guest information and sustainable management of energy, waste, water, cleaning products, food and drinks. Through making greener choices, each establishment is able to significantly reduce their environmental impact, reducing the consumption of energy and water and improve their guests’ experience.
Hotel Manager Saw Than comments “We are proud to have been awarded the Green Key certification for Inhabit, Queen’s Gardens just a year after opening our doors. This award is a huge achievement for our team and proves that beautiful design and sustainability can go hand in hand. We hope we can inspire other hotels internationally to share our vision to be a responsible hospitality brand that strives for change for good.”