The Westport Woods Hotel has been named as the most environmentally friendly hotel in Ireland.
The hotel was announced as the greenest in the country at the Responsible Tourism Conference in Dublin on Wednesday night.
The Westport Woods Hotel joined the Green Hospitality Programme in 2004 and came out tops in its league table listing of the Greenest Hotels in Ireland.
Hotels were judged in areas such as waste, energy, water, and carbon footprint.
The Westport Woods Hotel was rated the number one hotel in Ireland for waste management and CO2 management.
Michael Lennon from the hotel said the team have placed a huge focus on energy awareness, building design for efficiency, and the use of biomass to provide heating for the pool and hotel.
“For the last 10 years we have sought out ideas and technologies which make our hotel more efficient,” he added. “Efficiency and customer comfort is a way of life at the Westport Woods Hotel.”
Another Westport hotel also ranked highly in the top 10 list, with the Castlecourt Hotel coming in at sixth place.
Anne Corcoran, owner of the Castlecourt Hotel, said they were “absolutely delighted” to receive the award.
“It is a huge honour for us as the whole team, led by Pat Smith, have worked extremely hard to achieve this.”
The league table is the first of many initiatives to celebrate and recognise hotels that have made significant efforts to go green, and, in turn make savings for their business.
James Hogan of The Green Hospitality Programme spoke of the importance of the hospitality sector going ‘green’.
“Green hospitality has saved our members €35,000 per annum on average, through ‘no cost’ and ‘low cost’ measures. Reducing one’s environmental footprint, by reducing waste is good for business and the environment,” he said.
