Northern California Budget Hotel Sets Standard For Green Lodging

Ongoing green efforts and upgrades help Super8Ukiah of Ukiah, CA set the standard for environmentally-friendly, energy-efficient lodging facilities. End Quote

Sacramento, CA (1888PressRelease) January 18, 2011 - In 2006, Raakesh Patel converted a 25-year-old hotel in Mendocino County, CA to a Super8 property, and began his quest to create the first green hotel in the area. After two years of renovations, along with continual green upgrades and improvements, he achieved his goal, and 54-room Super8Ukiah now combines modern luxuries with sustainable lodging practices.

"Going green was my personal choice and I truly believe in saving energy, conserving water, reducing waste and recycling," says Patel. "So I put my green thinking into practice and trained my employees."

Patel has implemented a variety of eco-friendly practices, from serving 100% organic coffee and teas at the daily continental breakfast, to using bio-degradable servingware. Super8Ukiah also offers a linen reuse program, while rooms are cleaned using environmentally-safe products from EcoLab.

Renovations over the past five years have resulted in the installation of programmable timers for lighting systems, double-paned Low E windows, and ENERGY STAR-compliant lighting, ice machines, printers and other appliance.

Periodic audits of the hotel's compliance make sure everything is running smoothly. These audits cover everything from waste disposal efficiency and water savings to recycling, supply chain and designated eco-initiatives.

"The ownership and management of the Super 8 Hotel [sic] set a great example of environmental stewardship that other business owners could emulate," says Mark Gosvener of Efficiency Services Group, who conducted an energy audit on behalf of the City of Ukiah of the Super8Ukiah property in December 2010. "I did not discover any energy efficiency opportunities or recommendations that I could make that would provide any substantial energy savings."

The strides Patel has made in creating the only eco-friendly hotel in Ukiah have not gone unnoticed by the green travel industry. Super8Ukiah has earned an approved, three-leaf (very good) rating from iStayGreen.com, a leading green travel planning website. Patel also hold memberships in AAA, The Green Hotels Association, Ecogreen Hotels, Sustainable Travel International and Wyndham Green.

Patel recently joined the Green Business Bureau (www.gbb.org) to begin the process of becoming green business certified, further demonstrating his commitment to green.

"I'm an AAA-approved property, and they recommended that I join the Green Business Bureau," says Patel, referring to Green Business Bureau's status as an approved eco-certification program for the AAA Eco Program. The AAA Eco Program identifies lodgings that are certified as eco-friendly by well-established, reputable government and private programs. Properties that wish to become members of the AAA Eco Program must demonstrate a relationship with one of the eco-certification entities listed on the AAA website (http://www.aaa.biz/approved/eco.html).

For more information on the Super8Ukiah and its green practices, please log onto www.super8ukiah.com or www.super8ukiah.com/green-hotel.html

For more information on the GBB, visit http://www.gbb.org.

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