Mint House Makes Sustainability a Priority
Mint House is a tech-enabled hospitality brand designed to cater to the new traveler that is focused on “residential hospitality” or the concept that marries the consistency of a hotel brand with the amenities of a home. As more and more business travelers and digital nomads search for places to vacation and work that are larger than a single hotel room and have amenities such as a washer/dryer, stove and multiple living spaces, Mint House is playing an important role in filling this need. Unsurprisingly, guests at Mint House properties are primarily Millennials who rely heavily on technology to support their day-to-day interactions. They use their phones to book rides and reservations and value a clean, seamless digital interaction with any type of brand.
[Check out our coverage of Mint House from December 2020 to see all of the ways it has enabled technology to provide a guest experience that digital nomads treasure.]
While this attention to technology has certainly made the brand appealing to a large number of consumers, it also has enabled the brand to make great strides in creating and achieving a variety of sustainability goals – which has become increasingly important to consumers since the COVID-19 pandemic.
“A 2021 survey conducted by Virtuoso found that 82 percent of respondents said that the pandemic made them want to travel more responsibly in the future,” Lucas explains. “Additionally, 78 percent of respondents noted that when making vacation plans, it’s very important or somewhat important to choose a hotel, cruise line or travel company with a strong sustainability policy.
“We think this is just a result of more and more messaging getting out to travelers,” Lucas notes. “With global warming on the rise, it's become more and more apparent to folks that everybody should be thinking about how their actions affect the planet and are making the choice to stay with hotels and accommodation partners that take this topic seriously.”
So, what has Mint House been doing to improve its carbon footprint?
The company has created a variety of important goals for 2022 and beyond that include eliminating all plastic water bottles and replacing them with box water (made from 100 percent sustainable paper, 92 percent renewable and 100 percent recyclable) as well as reducing single-use plastic waste by 50 percent by the end of 2022 and having no plastic waste by the end of 2023. The company already offers bulk room amenities to cut down on plastic waste and is on track to remove plastic key card use from 100 percent of its properties by the end of 2022. (Currently, 90 percent of Mint House residences do not require plastic keycards.) And it has recently accomplished the goal of sending zero soap waste to landfills through its partnership with Clean the World.
“We have digitized and power the whole guest experience through technology and that allows us to achieve sustainability goals that might be out of reach for a traditional hotel,” shares Mint House CEO and Founder William Lucas.
For example, the company is already producing 23 percent less carbon dioxide emissions daily when compared to a traditional midscale hotel and 56 percent less emissions when compared to an upscale hotel with F&B waste as well as larger conference spaces. This is due in part to its use of smart thermostats within each of its residences which allow for a 23 percent reduction in heating and cooling costs due to the fact that the thermostats can detect if the room is occupied and adjust the heating or cooling of that space appropriately not only during the guest’s stay but also between reservations.
“When a guest checks out of our property, a notification is sent from the PMS to our smart thermostat to put the residence into a low-energy use state until right before the next guest is set to arrive,” Lucas adds.
This reduction in carbon dioxide emissions is also due in part to the fact that Mint House does not offer full service F&B operations with commercial grade kitchens or conference spaces (which also dramatically reduces food waste). Plus, the brand typically operates out of newer, more energy-efficient buildings with energy-efficient appliances in both the common areas and in the residences.
In the near future, Mint House will also be rolling out lighting and shades that use IoT technology so that they too can help reduce energy use.