Hotel Valencia Riverwalk is Turning a New Shade of Green

Hotel Valencia Riverwalk’s commitment:

Hotel Valencia Riverwalk is committed to doing its part to help make San Antonio a greener and more sustainable city, working to ensure that new environmental and technological advances are being put into practice throughout the property.

Current Green Initiatives at Hotel Valencia Riverwalk:

NEW - Laundry Program:

In an effort to reduce wastewater, energy, and chemical use, Hotel Valencia's standard is to change linens and towels upon checkout or at any time by request only.  If guests wish to have their linens replaced during their stay, special request must be made.

Energy and Resource Management:

• Motion detection systems installed in storage rooms, allowing for energy conservation when rooms are not in-use.
• Low flow, water efficient toilet bowls installed throughout the property to reduce water usage when the toilet is flushed.
• Low VOC paints (Volatile Organic Compounds).
• Aerators installed in all guest room sinks with the expectation of reducing water use by 50%.
• Dishwasher spray nozzle retro-fitted with a low-flow sprayer and a manual on lever to reduce water consumption.
• Energy efficient light bulbs installed wherever possible throughout the property.
• The lighting system timed with the time of day in all public areas, including outside, to reduce electricity usage.
• Biodegradable keys through our key card vendor.

Food and Beverage/Community:

• Organic wine available.
• Llanllyr water served throughout hotel which is the first bottled water with United Nations Global Impact Seal.
• All chicken purchased through an all-natural farm in nearby Gonzales, Texas.
• Shrimp and crawfish all brought in locally from the Gulf of Mexico.
• All lettuces from local sustainable farmers.
• Wild fish purchased from local, sustainable fishermen.
• Used bottles of hair and body products donated to local charities.
• Half of bus pass expense for associates paid for by hotel, cutting down on the number
  of vehicles on the road.
• As of summer 2008, phone books removed from the room and recycling the phone books. We will not replace them to save on trees & fuel for transportation of getting them here.

Waste Minimization:

• Water on request policy in Citrus, not automatically poured.
• Citrus and banquet water glasses made from 100% post consumer recycled glass.
• Banquet note pads made from 100% post consumer recycled paper.
• Citrus to go boxes made from 100% compostable and biodegradable corn and soy paper.
• Citrus to go bags made from 25% post consumer recycled plastic, 100% recyclable.
• Banquet tablecloths require only coldwater wash and no dry, reducing energy consumption and excessive cleaning.
• Water restrictors on all kitchen faucets.
• Specialty programmed commercial washers in laundry to control water and chemical usage.
• Only cloth napkins used.
• Majority of drinks served in the restaurant and bar are fountain drinks, thereby reducing the usage of aluminum and bottles.
• In associate break room, only reusable cups and dishes available; no disposable utensils or dishes.
• Bath products are all natural with no artificial ingredients and packaging is made from 20% post-consumer recycled paper and printed with soy-based ink.

Green Meetings:

At Hotel Valencia Riverwalk, we take pride in making sure we deliver a product and service that is sustainable as we do our part to conserve the environment.  We are happy to offer 'green meetings' for you and your attendees.  Comprised in these green meetings are:

• Recycle bins in meeting room
• Local food sources on menu
• Welcome green bag for the meeting planner complete with organic wine, sustainable notecards
• Free valet for anyone driving a hybrid vehicle
• Donation of $150 donated to carbonfund.org to offset your carbon footprint –(minimum of 25 room nights booked). Carbonfund.org is leading the fight against global climate change, making it easy and affordable for any individual, business or organization to eliminate their climate impact and hastening the transformation to a clean energy future.

Reduce What You Can, Offset What You Can't™

This offer cannot be used in conjunction with another offer or promotion.  Whether it is a wedding, corporate holiday party, training seminar or executive board meeting, Hotel Valencia is the ideal location for your next event.  Our professional conference services staff will help make your event a success.  We provide everything from catering to multimedia.  With close to 7,000 square feet, we can accommodate small, large, day or evening events.  Choose from one of our versatile meeting spaces, including an open-air courtyard.  All you need to do now is set the date.  For more information, or to schedule your next event, contact Amy Trench at 210.220.3007 or email her at atrench@valenciagroup.com.

Please visit our News & Offers page to see value dates for meeting programs.

"Sustainable Sips"

"BEVERAGES THAT CAN HELP THE PLANET, PAY FARMERS A LIVING WAGE AND TASTE GOOD, TOO."  By Kathryn Jones

"GOING GREEN AT THAT NEXT MEETING or event can be as simple as enjoying a cup of coffee or a glass of iced tea.  Just make your coffee the fair trade variety and break out the organic beverages that are all the rage in this age of growing eco-conscious consumption.  Coffee, of course, is as vital to getting a meeting off to a good start as an energetic kick-off speaker.  As more people become aware of the dark side of low consumer prices and cheap labor, however, they want to know what goes into making that cup of java besides coffee beans and water.  Did the workers who raised and harvested the crop toil in sweatshop-like conditions?  Were children forced into labor?  Did small farmers get paid enough to break free of poverty?"....

"Conference managers at venues and hotel chefs appear to be ahead of the curve in choosing free trade coffee, sustainable teas and organic beverages such as wine.  "We're starting to introduce the beverages even before they're asked for," said Sarah Linley, conference service manager for the Hotel Valencia Riverwalk in San Antonio.

For instance, Katz Coffee, a small-batch fair trade and organic speacialty roaster in Houston, supplies a custom blend exclusive to the hotel.  Linley noted she has yet to receive a request specifically for fair trade coffee for a meeting or special event.  But when clients learn that the hotel serves a Texas-made product that's also organic and certified as a fair trade product, they often say, "Oh, that's great.""   VIEW FULL ARTICLE

Hotel Valencia Riverwalk to Offer Guests Natura Water

Local Hotel Continues to Lead the Way in Sustainability

San Antonio, TX (March 31, 2009) – In an effort to continue our commitment to the
environment, Hotel Valencia Riverwalk is pleased to announce we will be offering
Natura ® water to our guests throughout the hotel and in all restaurants. Hotel
Valencia Riverwalk is one of the first hotels in downtown San Antonio to offer Natura
water to guests and the only hotel to remove pre-packaged bottled water from all
food and beverage menus.  VIEW FULL RELEASE

Click here for more information on Natura Water

Future Green Initiatives Planned at Hotel Valencia Riverwalk:

• Creation of battery and light bulb recycling program.
• Recycling bins in each banquet room for paper, aluminum.
• Further involvement in GO TEXAN programs and sustainable farming.
• Contact with Waste Management to start a refuse recycling program.
• Creation of employee recognition/reward program for those that carpool to work.
• Plant trees in park.

What the City of San Antonio is doing:

San Antonio has launched several initiatives in an effort to become a cleaner, more energy efficient city, and area businesses are joining in to help support that mission.  CPS Energy has introduced several programs for cleaner energy including their program for affordable, clean energy (PACE).  The utility company has also incorporated rain water collection systems on its building and introduced the Windtricity® program to the market.

The City of San Antonio itself has been making great strides in trying to create a “greener” city.  In 2006, the city adopted revisions to the economic Development Incentive Scorecard which provides incentives to developers to build in accordance to USGBC LEED Standard.  In 2007, the city approved a green building restoration program for all future city buildings.

San Antonio Water System (SAWS) has reduced its water consumption by more than 32% over the past 16 years through a number of proactive programs, including the introduction of low-flow toilets to the market.

VIA Metropolitan Transit has long been a steward of environmental protection and conservation.  It have greatly reduced emissions on all transit vehicles and has expanded
services to create greater opportunities for individuals to leave their vehicles at home and
use public transportation.

By incorporating all of these factors into its ever-growing city, San Antonio hopes to continue to raise the bar and encourage other cities to become more efficient and more
environmentally conscious.