The Winner's Circle ~ November 2011

Comfort Inn Downtown wins for eco-excellence

Neil Deshmukh

VANCOUVER, BC­—The Comfort Inn Downtown, an 82-room boutique hotel located in the heart of Vancouver’s entertainment district, has received the third annual Choice Hotels Canada 2011 APEX Award for eco-excellence.

“Our guests tell us they want to stay in hotels that are conscious of their impact on the environment and don’t engage in wasteful practices,” says Tim Oldfield, managing director, franchise performance for Choice Hotels Canada.

“Neil Deshmukh and his team at the Comfort Inn Downtown have embraced eco-excellence with a wide range of innovative initiatives. This Vancouver hotel is a model for our 300 other properties and competing hotels across Canada.”

“We consider the environmental impact of every component of our building, “ says Deshmukh, who is the hotel general manager. “It takes more of our company’s resources but we have made the commitment and we are proud to raise the bar.” Deshmukh added that facility manager Ryan Degrazio was instrumental in achieving the award.

Eco-excellence is a priority at Choice Hotels Canada. The “Room To Be Green” program comes with minimum requirements on energy and water conservation, recycling and waste reduction, but also goes beyond these measurable initiatives in areas including employee engagement, operational excellence and the smart, safe and sustainable usage of products.