Through the Green Key certification scheme, Princess Heights Luxury Boutique Condo Hotel has worked on streamlining its procedures towards obtaining a high level of environmental standards without compromising the quality of the establishment. At a ceremony on 2 February 2015 the Green Key award was celebrated at the hotel with representatives from the national authorities, the hospitality sector, NGOs and the press from Sint Maarten attending the event.
Emil Lee, General Manager of Princess Heights Luxury Boutique Condo Hotel expressed his satisfaction with the achievement, and highlighted that the work could not have been completed without the environmental manager, Marlyn Wessels, leading the work and the involvement of all staff at the hotel.
"The steps we have taken to change from single dose shampoo bottles to dispensers in the bathrooms, implementation of an integrated pest management programme, installation of energy efficient lighting and modifying other procedures to become more efficient with electricty and water have not only resulted in reduced impacts to the environment, but have also helped us to reduce our operational expenses. Any truly sustainable projects must be financially sustainable as well. We are delighted with our win/win partnership with FEE and EPIC", says Emil Lee.
Rueben Thompson, programme manager from the organisation EPIC (Environmental Protection in the Caribbean) in charge of the Green Key and Blue Flag programmes in Sint Maarten, complimented the hotel with the achievement and expressed his hope that Princess Heights Luxury Boutique Condo Hotel would serve as the role model for other establishments in Sint Maarten also interested in implementing the Green Key programme.
Finn Bolding Thomsen, International Green Key Director, attended the event and welcomed Princess Heights Luxury Boutique Condo Hotel to the Green Key family of more than 2,300 awarded sites in now 47 countries. He was very happy to observe the excellent work with environmental management and awareness raising of staff and guests at the hotel. He expressed his expectation that the first Green Key award in Sint Maarten as well as the recent signing of a cooperation agreement with the Caribbean Hotel & Tourism Association would lead to a continued increase in the presence of Green Key in the Caribbean region.
