Reviewing the Club Quarters Hotel in Boston, showcasing their efforts in creating more everyday sustainable travel. Opinions expressed are that of my own, Club Quarters Hotel is not a sponsor for this blog.

Sustainable travel goes far beyond the beach resort. In fact, majority of travel comes from frequent flyers and corporate travel. That only makes sense that more hotels are getting in on ways to reduce their carbon footprint.

On a recent stay to downtown Boston, I stayed at the Club Quarters Hotel in the Financial District. Central to everything nearby that I needed, including food, public transportation and business endeavors that I was there for, it was the perfect location to be in the center of the city.

I have partnered with Club Quarters Hotel in the past to create in room fitness videos, which is a fantastic option to work out wherever you are traveling to. No excuses, they even have mats in their closets that you can use.

Something I appreciate about the Club Quarters Hotel is their effort to reduce the amount of waste and to become more sustainable for the average traveler (majority of travel isn’t to a beach destination or yoga retreat, after all).

Here are seven ways the Club Quarters Hotel is reducing their carbon footprint.

 1. NO BATH ROBES

How often are you really using a robe when you’re back home? Why all of a sudden when we’re traveling, we feel like we need to wear the robe that’s in the room. Club Quarters doesn’t offer a robe inside their closet. And, just in case the hotel you’re staying at does, pass on the robe — it’s one less thing to wash, reducing water consumption and electricity.

 2. WATER REFILL STATIONS

Instead of getting two bottles of water every afternoon placed in your room, or every time that the housekeeping comes through, Club Quarters eliminates that option completely. Water bottles (needlessly) placed in your room creates single use plastic waste. As you know, I’m a big fan of reducing all, or at least some of, single-use plastics.

Here’s a tip, bring your own water bottle to travel with. On each one floor of the Club Quarters Hotel, there’s a hydration station that you can refill. It’s filtered water and purified, and free!

3. SMALLER ROOM ACCOMMODATIONS

Oftentimes, larger hotel rooms create unnecessary waste. Heating, space, cleaning…and the whole idea of travel is to get out and explore parts of the destination, right? Especially if you’re traveling in and out for work, how much space to really need? If you’re not using it, reduce it. Less air, less  energy, less waste.

4. APP CHECK-IN & REUSABLE KEY

Club Quarters Hotel promotes their free downloadable app with easy check-in and check-out procedures. This completely eliminates the paper waste of a bill that you can simply receive via email anyway, and speeds up the amount of time it takes to get in, or out, and on your way!

In addition, you also can reuse your key give it back after it doesn’t have a specific number on it. It’s just very generic that you can hand it back or leave it in the room for the next person to use — one less piece of plastic.

5. LINENS CHANGED UPON REQUEST

Next to your bed, there will be a little card that says “We can change your linens as often as you’d like—just leave this card on the bed to let us know! However, you can help us be eco-friendly, by using them a few times in a row.”

I mean really, how often do you clean your sheets at home anyway? Personally, it’s once or twice every other week. But no more than that. During a three night stay, do I really need to have my sheets cleaned and change every night? Probably, definitely, not.

6. AC/HEAT OFF WHEN OUT OF THE ROOM

On that same little care, there’s a line that shares “Same goes for heating and air conditioning. We’ll turn it off while you’re away, but if you’d like it left on, just press “o” on your phone to let us know.”

Options, Warriors. But, make environmentally friendly choices.

I think it’s a great way to conserve on energy because if you’re not there, you really don’t need the heat blasting all the way, or the AC if it’s in hotter climate.

7. LESS FOOD WASTE

Staff can bring you a fridge if you don’t already have one, and there’s fresh, unlimited coffee (La Columbe!) in the lobby. Instead of forcing you to use the in-room coffee maker, creating more plastic waste.

Travel Wellness Tip: ask for a fridge the delivered straight to your room. Nearby, you have two different grocery store options Roche Brothers in Downtown Crossing and the Whole Foods nearby on Cambridge Street. Both are right within a 10-20 minute walking distance.

Get the food that you need for the weekend events and packing in the refrigerator. You’re creating less plastic waste throughout the week and you won’t be inclined to go out for dinner. Typically, when we dine out, we eat more and less healthy than we want, and it’s using more paper and plastic to bring food back to your room.

In general, buying your own food creates far less waste than eating out. Not to mention, it’s going to shrink your expenses, and probably your waistline too.

There are seven ways that the Club Quarters Hotel in Boston is conserving and becoming more sustainable for the average and corporate travelers. If you happen to stay at a club quarters hotel, be sure to turn on the TV. Grab the map from your closet and go practice some yoga with your Live Free Warrior (see photo above)!

Want to see more sustainable hotel features? Comment in below and tag the hotel that you’ve recently visited that hosts some sustainable efforts you were impressed by. I look forward to leaving a review on that hotel soon.