The Orchid – an Ecotel Hotel

The Orchid – An Ecotel Hotel in Mumbai is Asia’s first certified eco-friendly five-star hotel. This 372- room hotel is strategically located adjacent to the domestic airport making it a convenient place for the business traveller to stay.

Everything is designed so as to be unobtrusive. Like The Club Privé room, an exclusive club floor with a private lounge and butler service. Or the well-appointed business and conference center to take care of your business needs in Mumbai.

The exclusivity of The Orchid is experienced as soon as one enters the atrium that is serenaded by a 70-foot indoor waterfall. Around the waterfall, on the first level is the Boulevard, the 24-hour coffee shop. The beautiful Orchids growing there give you a feel of the truly Orchid experience. Besides, The Boulevard provides a unique guaranteed time-bound service aptly called the “Lightening Menu” or the “10 Minute Menu”. If the service is even a minute late, the meal is on the house!

From the first level to the top most.
Mostly Grills the lovely roof top barbecue restaurant serves modern fusion cuisine. The setting is a very surrealistic Mexican village with a pool by the side and the breathtaking view of the airport runway on the other.

And then the piece-de-resistance.
South of Vindhyas which many Mumbai gourmets consider the best Indian restaurant in town, is a unique concept showcasing the cuisine and culture of South India. Here in a very ethnic temple setting you can experience the intriguing flavors of Andhra Pradesh, Karnataka, Tamil Nadu & Kerala, the musical performances only go to serve as the perfect accompaniments. Abutting South of Vindhyas is Merlin’s. The name itself conjures images of magical concoctions that will help lift your spirits and unwind, and what’s more Merlins is open till 3.00 am, giving you ample time to enjoy the magic. At the lobby is The Gourmet Shop, a deli and cake shop.

The 80 International Awards reiterate the efforts of The Orchid of being a pioneer amongst environment friendly hotels.

Our clientele form the who’s who of the discerning international corporate. We, just like our discerning clientele believe in sustainable development and have created an experience where:

“Deluxe need not disturb, Comfort need not compromise and Entertainment need not be insensitive.”

Our Mission Statement
We commit to Provide Our
Corporate & Leisure Traveller
A Consistent Warm & Friendly
Guest Experience
& Fond Memories
Through Our Nurtured Staff
Who Experience
Joy & Pride @ Work
While adhering to our social responsibilities

ENVIROMEASURES

Construction

“A tree always grows from its roots, Every building needs a strong foundation”

Architecture
Passive Energy Conservation Efforts in Design

the facade
Depressions and protrusions in the facade play an important role since majority of the dead walls remain under shadow thereby reducing the surface radiation.

The plan configuration
the building is designed with 72 rooms facing the atrium; therefore these rooms are not directly exposed to the external elements thus reducing the heat load.

Natural lighting in the atrium
This has been achieved by skylight as an architectural element, detailed in a manner of doubly layered domes to reduce heat load and noise levels yet admitting maximum natural light in the atrium space.

Roof top
The swimming pool is located on the rooftop with 4 feet of water body, which acts as an insulator from the heat. KoolDeck is applied around the swimming pool deck to reduce the glare and the surface temperature so that one can walk barefooted around the pool. Operational Practices

Hangers
The hangers used in guestroom are made from Sawdust.

Fruits
At The Orchid fruits are served on request so as to avoid wastage.
amenities
In keeping with our environment theme in mind at The Orchid we use Herbal products, which are manufactured under an Ayurvedic license; these products are not tested on animals and do not contain any animal fat.

laundry
In our strive to reduce waste we have reusable cloth laundry bags instead of the standard paper or plastic bags as in other hotels, in which the guests could send the clothes for laundering and the same will be delivered in reusable cane baskets wrapped in muslin cloth. A laundry button is incorporated in the master control panel, eliminating the use of laundry pick up tent cards.

Newspaper
Newspapers at The Orchid are delivered, on request, in reusable cane baskets/cloth bags instead of the usual paper or plastic bags.
Shopping bags
Want to go shopping? Just for you, The Orchid provides you with a specially designed cloth shopping bag with the environment messages we believe in.

ECO harvest
As a special give away for all our dear guests we have the “Eco Harvest” a basket containing a herbal pillow which induces sleep, a bunch of neem twigs, two aromatic oils & five age old herbs.

Pens / pencil
To prove our commitment to the environment The Orchid uses eco-friendly pens and pencils. The eco-pens are made using recycled cardboard, reprocessed plastic and scrap wood. The cardboard, which is used as barrel, is free from chlorine usage in the manufacturing stage. The plastic as the head and base is made from reprocessed ABS (a thermoplastic material that can be recycled and/or remoulded). Scrap wood is obtained from discarded cases used for packing purposes.

The Eco pencils are not made of wood but of a non-toxic polymer with the use of natural fillers. Wood saver pencils are made using a shaft, which is made of biodegradable materials such as talc, gypsum and clay.

Recycling bins
Separate recycling bin with a sticker for guest use is placed in all rooms.
Recycled garbage bags
The garbage bags used by us are made from recycled plastic and milk pouches.
Cut flower vs potted plants
Why use dead flowers to bring a room alive? At The Orchid , you’ll find cut flowers cut to an absolute minimum – instead living vibrant plants help bring the beauty of nature indoors

Carbon paper
There is no use of carbon paper made at The Orchid, as the chemicals used in carbon paper are toxic which kill the micro-organisms that break down solid waste, reducing the volume of waste in the landfill.

Stationery
With forests dwindling and the air we breathe under threat, every contribution helps. Which is why you’ll find all paper products at The Orchid contains at least 30% recycled content.

Slippers
To further show you how down to earth our Eco sensitivity is, even the stylish slippers in your room are hand crafted from natural reed for your comfort. The cane tray is meant for shoes to be sent for polishing instead of using a plastic bag.

Team Members
“Do not walk Behind me , for I cannot see you ; Do not walk in front of me, for I cannot lead; Walk beside me, and be my friend.”

Every member of The Orchid team from the Managing Director down to the newest recruit has a total commitment towards being environmentally responsible. At the recruitment stage we select those individuals who have the drive in them or showed concern and care for the environment.

Environment education, in fact starts from the very first day the team members join The Orchid. They go through an intensive one week training programme, wherein they are educated to understand the importance of the environment to not only their livelihood but also to the future of the world. The team members are on six-month probation on successful completion of only are they confirmed. In our annual appraisal forms too we have a separate section dedicated towards this.

We have monthly activities for our team members in which they can participate. To mention a few – quizzes, slogan competitions, sketching & drawing competitions, Eco-Skits, on the spot surprise quizzes, clean-up drives, etc.

The team members actively participate in programmes and activities organised for the community to spread and create the awareness of being environmentally responsible.

We have a Green Team in the hotel, which acts as the Green Eyes of the hotel. It comprises of two members from each department, who are nominated by their respective departmental heads. Besides assisting in the various programmes, they implement and audit the environment practices in their respective departments. They are also empowered to conduct training classes in their areas and go on inspection to various departments. With the help of the Green Team, not only is wastage in our hotel, kept to a bare minimum, but also every employee is kept well-aware of his/her environmental commitments.

Incentives:
Team members participating in any environment activities are given a gift for the efforts made by them e.g. as an incentive for the cleanup drive all those who participated were given a T-shirt with an environment slogan. For the other ongoing competitions (mentioned above) winners are given memento’s and on other such occasion’s cash rewards are also given. The Orchid also gives each of its team members a cloth bag as an alternative to using plastic bags. The more dedicated the team member, the more chance he has of being included into the Green Team of the hotel & being made a Green Team member. They are also given a chance to represent the hotel at various seminars and events organised by the hotel and/or in which the hotel is participating. It is not only the team members, but also the executives and heads of departments who show enthusiasm, involvement and commitment towards our environmental causes.

The Following Statistics were Revealed in a Recent Environment Survey carried out at the Hotel: 37% team members’ felt that Recycling is the most important and visible programme in our hotel. 98% of our team members have environment practices at home. 65% were willing to volunteer 1 hour per week, unpaid, to help make the hotel more environments friendly. 94% team members would like to be involved in an environment, nature or conservation organisation in their free time. 99% would like to see the environmental sensitivity of the hotel to improve further. 99% are willing to make changes in the way they work, if the changes make the hotel more environmentally sound

SAVINGS
As a result of all the hard work put in by us, The Orchid has reaped the following business benefits: * A 55.9% Repeat Clientele being patronized by over 3,500 Corporate Clients. * In terms of monetary savings we have saved a whopping Rs. 33,28,435/- per year, which works out to Rs. 9119/- per day only be the use of PL Lamps. Saving achieved in heat, light and power cost

GUEST
“The guest is not an interruption in our work He is the very purpose of it”

Guests form an integral part of any hotel in the world. We at The Orchid, have left no stone unturned in our quest for a clean environment, to the extent that we have provided opportunities for our guests to be a part of our environmental programmes.

Guest’s participation programmes:

Newspapers on request:
Newspapers are delivered on request, in a cloth bag instead of a plastic bag. Only about 50% of our guests prefer a newspaper delivered in their rooms, showing an increasing level of awareness amongst our guests. Approximately till date we have had 231960 check-ins, which means we have prevented the use of 231960 plastic bags if we were to deliver newspaper in plastic bags to all our guests.

Recycle bins:
Two bins – one for wet waste and the other for dry/recyclable waste is placed in all our guestrooms. This is done so that the guest voluntarily disposes waste in the respective bins.

Key cards:
The guests recycle key cards by returning them to the reception before they check out.

ECO BUTTON:
At the time of check-in each guest is informed about the energy saving programme in the room for his participation, in the form of the ECO BUTTON on the Master Control Panel placed alongside the bed. When the guest presses this button the air-conditioned temperature in the room increases by 2 degrees, over a period of 2 hours.

Linen reuse program:
The guest is made aware of the water wastage and pollution while washing linen. They are encouraged to use their bed linen again without washing.

Guests Participation in the Orchid’s Environment Programmes: Guests are encouraged to participate in our environmental crusades, and they do it with a lot of enthusiasm and zeal.

Guests participate in:
* Rallies
* Internal events held for staff

Source:

http://www.orchidhotel.com/mumbai_hotels/about_us.htm
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