Starwood opens eco-certified hotels - right down to the parking

Very small bottles of toiletries just ripe for theiving, fluffy bathrobes not at all ripe for theiving, expensive internet connections, mints on the pillow, the couple next door going at it like it’s their last day on earth – ah yes, Greenbang loves hotels as if they were her own child.

And, like a younger sibling, one hotel brand is competing to make her love it that little bit more: Element is a new hotel brand from the Starwood chain (the people behind Sheraton and Westin and all that lot) that has buffed up its green building credentials.

The hotels in the chain (the first is coming this summer, with some 20 others by 2010) will all meet the US Green Building Council’s LEED certification.

Greenbang is disproportionately pleased to report that the Element hotels will actually feature in-room recycling bins (paper, plastic, glass) – the absence of which irritates Greenbang no end whenever she’s away.

There’s also eco nods to recycled carpets, green paint (green in nature, rather than colour), natural rather than electric light, priority parking for hybrid drivers, filtered water from the taps instead of bottled and an organic breakfast. Nice.