Study: Beijing's Green Hotels Are as Comfy as They Are Eco-Friendly

As we have seen with numerous recovery stories of Beijing businesses, the capital's food and beverage industry did not take the months that we were mired in COVID-19 lying down. While some restaurants and bars did throw in the towel during that period, those who were lucky enough to stay afloat used the extra downtime to add new innovations to their menus or even rethink their entire business model.

Now that the rest of the world is currently in the boat that China has thankfully deboarded (for the most part, anyway), service industries around the globe are struggling, and travel in particular. As such, it’s time for a little reflection across the hotel industry, and the scholarly journal Real Estate Economics has just republished some very suitable reading material, "The Value of Going Green in the Hotel Industry: Evidence From Beijing," in their latest issue, highlighting how the world can learn from Beijing when it comes to creating a better hotel experience.

Green hotels are nothing new in China – the country’s National Tourism Administration has been rewarding eco-friendly behavior with green certification since 2006. The idea is that if hotels are looking to bolster their reputation, they can use the certification to prove that they are doing their part to act socially responsible. The problem? Customers don’t care. Your average traveler simply does not make lodging decisions based on the size of a hotel’s carbon footprint.

Fortunately, the Tsinghua study cited in "The Value of Going Green in the Hotel Industry: Evidence From Beijing" – first published in 2017 and republished this spring – found that going green does in fact make a difference for customers’ comfort and experience – they just don’t know that the improvement is due to green initiatives.

By searching for green hotels on the travel website ctrip.com and comparing customer reviews to those of non-green hotels in the same area, the researchers were able to conclude that features like natural lighting and the thermal comfort created by more efficient climate control systems make enough of a difference for tourists to feel a noticeable improvement.

Speaking to the Beijinger, a representative of CHAO hotel in Sanlitun told us that as a contemporary brand, it was important to start the process of becoming a green hotel from the get-go. “The building itself was renovated using natural materials, saving resources, recycling and reusing old materials, thus helping to preserve the environment.”

The representative says that their commitment to eco-friendly practices stems from a philosophy that the “Good Life” starts from current action, but in line with the study, the hotel has indeed found that customers respond well to green deeds. “CHAO offers high-quality environmentally friendly products, and our guests love them,” she says, adding, “With the progress of technology, products made of environmentally friendly materials have an aesthetic feeling, and help maintain a very good sense of comfort and texture.”

The study also noted that, while going green can help hotels save a bit on utilities, the process isn’t free, so they end up charging up to 6 percent higher for rooms. If you can afford to shell out the extra cash, however, consider looking for a certified green hotel next time you take a trip within China – not only is it good for the earth, but it will likely make you a happy camper on your travels as well.

READ: Travel Restrictions Eased For Some Beijing Residents

Images: Paul Szewczyk (via Unsplash), CHAO Hotel