Radisson BLU Hotel Alexandria in Egypt keeps setting high standards in environmental and social sustainability

The Radisson BLU Hotel Alexandria in Egypt has again been certified with the Green Key. With that achievement, the hotel has now been part of the programme for the seventh year in a row!

The Radisson Blu Hotel Alexandria

The Radisson BLU Hotel Alexandria has entered the hospitality market with a well-thought-out strategy to meet the needs of a variety of target groups while maintaining high standards of environmental and social sustainability. This includes continuously reducing the energy and water consumption of its guests while maintaining a high level of customer satisfaction. The Radisson BLU Hotel Alexandria is part of the Radisson Hotel Group, one of the world's largest hotel groups with nine distinctive hotel brands and more than 1,700 hotels in operation or under development in 120 countries. The group's overarching brand promise is "Every Moment Matters" with a signature service ethos of "Yes I Can!".

After opening its doors in 2010, the owners of the establishment have worked hard to achieve the Green Key certificate for the first time in the year 2015. Since then, the establishments efforts to go the extra mile for our environment has not stopped, which is why they now achieved to be certified with the Green Key for the seventh year in a row.

Sustainable development has therefore been part of the hotel’s strategy since the beginning. As a result, the Radisson BLU Hotel Alexandria regularly joins different activities focusing on environmental or social sustainability. For example, in the past years, the hotel joined hundreds of cities around the world that turned off their lights for one hour during the international Earth Hour to show that global warming can be reduced by joint efforts of individuals, companies, and politicians. In 2022, the Radisson BLU Alexandria furthermore organised a bike day for their team members to promote the use of sustainable means of transportation amongst the staff.

On the importance of receiving the Green Key certificate, the General Manager of the establishment explains;

“We are passionate about helping others, and that extends beyond the boundaries of our hotel. We believe in acting ethically in everything we do and strive to be a thriving, sustainable and responsible business for people, the community and our planet.

Our team members live Responsible Business every day alongside their hotel colleagues and in their local communities, where we work to create a better future and a better planet for all.”

Please visit the Radisson BLU Hotel Alexandria’s website to learn more about the establishment.

Luxury and sustainability go hand in hand at Radisson Blu Hotel, Upper Hill

Congratulations to Radisson Blu Hotel, Upper Hill in Nairobi, Kenya for receiving the Green Key award for the 5th year in a row! Since the beginning of its operations in 2015, the hotel has shown that luxury and sustainability go hand in hand through numerous efforts in environmentally and socially responsible operations.

Picture ©: Kenyan Organisation for Environmental Education (KOEE)

Water is conserved through the installation of low water flow showers and taps; dual-flush toilets and water-saving sensors in urinals, as well as collecting and using rainwater for cleaning and watering the garden. Radisson Blu has been partnering with Just a Drop – an international water aid charity- to ensure the hotel brand provides a lifetime’s supply of fresh drinking water to 12,000 children per year. Hotel guests are asked to consider re-using their towels during their stay in exchange for a donation to Just a Drop.

The hotel has solar panels in place for heating water and its lighting is 98% LED, resulting in significant savings on energy bills. A beautiful garden and live green walls create an exquisite ambience in a bustling city location. Maintaining an ethical and sustainable supply chain is key to the hotel, with an extensive code of conduct and onsite inspections for suppliers to ensure that they meet high environmental and social standards. More than 90% of the hotel’s waste is recycled - by City Fresh, a Nairobi-based waste collection company – and organic waste is composted and turned into animal feed for local supply.

The hotel is committed to supporting impactful community activities such as improving hygiene in collaboration with Diversey’s “Soap for Hope” program, which reprocesses unfinished soap bars locally into new soap bars, that are donated to local communities with limited access to hygiene and sanitation. There are also long-term sponsorship activities with SOS Children’s Village Nairobi, schools in the neighbourhood around the hotel, and clean ups with Kibondeni College. Participation in the Women for Growth programme supported by Swedfund, has resulted in the development of progressive policies that enable talent growth and increase the representation of women in decision making. Rigorous staff training on Living and Leading Responsible Business has also inculcated a healthy attitude towards environment and sustainability.

Green Key Kenya is proud to be working with a pioneer like Radisson Blu Hotel Nairobi, Upper Hill! Learn more about the hotel here.

Radisson Blu Hotels pilot the “Blu Planet Housekeeping” initiative

As part of Radisson Hotels’ responsible business programme with special focus on sustainability actions in September 2017, a number of Radisson Blu hotels have had the option to participate in the “Blu Planet Housekeeping” initiative.

Did you know that water covers more than 70% of our planet, but only 1% of it is actually drinkable? This means that the hospitality sector has to be as responsible as possible about its water usage. And that is why Radisson Blu hotels are focusing on preserving water through water mindfulness as part of the Responsible Business Action Month in September each year.

In September 2017, Radisson Blu launched the “Blu Planet Housekeeping” initiative. This is a housekeeping-bypass programme, designed to help conserve resources like water and energy but also resulting in a reduced environmental footprint for the hotels. The pilot has been adopted by more than 60 Radisson Blu hotels with all of the Radisson Blu hotels in the Baltic States as pioneers in this initiative.

So how does the scheme work? The idea is that guests accept to forgo the housekeeping service in their room, in return for a charity donation. So, for each night that a guest opts in to the “Blu Planet Housekeeping” initiative, they can request that the hotel, on their behalf, make a donation to Radisson’s water aid partner, Just a Drop supporting sustainable clean water, sanitation and hygiene projects in Africa, India and Peru.

Radisson Blu launches Blu Planet – Re-Use to save Lives

Radisson Blu, part of the Radisson Hotel Group and a Green Key partner, is committed to Responsible Business with Blu Planet, an initiative with a specific focus on conserving and protecting the earth’s priceless water supply.

As part of the Blu Planet programme, Radisson Blu has partnered with Just a Drop to help give children around the world access to safe drinking water through the hotel brand’s towel re-use program. At Radisson Blu, choosing to re-use a towel means giving a vital donation to Just A Drop. For every 250 bath towels reused at Radisson Blu hotels, enough safe drinking water will be provided to a child for life. And each year, we estimate this will save 12,000 children. In addition, each set of towels reused saves 15 liters - or nearly four gallons - of water and reduces the use of laundry chemicals.

To help celebrate and launch the partnership, a number of Radisson Blu hotels around the globe held 'Walk for Water' events for three days, starting on Earth Day, Wed 22 April 2015. Funds raised through the partnership will support clean water and sanitation projects in Kenya, India & Peru.

Just A Drop was set up by the founder, Fiona Jeffery, after she learned it costs little more than a dollar to deliver clean water to a child for up to 10 years. Just A Drop operates with a tiny full-time staff and an army of volunteers. They work tirelessly to provide clean, safe water to some of the world’s poorest communities in more than 30 countries.