Visiting Windy City? Check into Chicago’s Many Green Hotels

About fifteen years ago, Richard Daley – then the mayor of Chicago and the city’s undisputed Democratic boss – announced a commitment to revitalize Chicago and make it into one of the greenest places in America, if not the world. Thanks to his efforts, as well as that of other communities and leaders, Chicago is now one of today’s most environment-friendly cities. It has over 300 miles of bikeways, close to 7 million square feet of green roofs, two world-class conservatories, a guaranteed green restaurant co-op, and a climate action plan where every Chicago homeowner, business, and community member can participate in making the city a greener place to be.

The city has also done well in offering visitors a chance to experience the benefits of an environment-friendly lifestyle. The Chicago Green Hotels Initiative, in particular, reflects the city’s commitment to reduce the carbon footprint of one of its biggest and most important industries. Indeed, Chicago has taken the lead: it now has more Green Seal certified hotels than any other US city. (The closest are Portland and Washington, with two each.)

What is Green Seal? It is an independent non-profit that uses science-based standards to power the marketplace and provide environmental certification to businesses, products, and services that consistently apply environmentally responsible and sustainable practices.

So if you’re ever flying into Chicago, or driving from its nearby neighborhoods, you might want to check into a green hotel. The city’s got plenty of them.

Holiday Inn Chicago Mart Plaza

350 West Mart Center Drive

312.836.5000

Last year, this Chicago hotel was awarded LEED Gold Certification by the US Green Building Council, making it the first LEED-certified hotel in the city and the largest in North America. And for good reason, too: the Chicago Mart has taken extensive ecological measures to create a high-performance and energy-efficient green building, all while providing luxury accommodations to business travellers, vacationers, leisure guests, and attendees to exciting social events.

Hotel Allegro

171 W. Randolph St.

312.236.0123

The charming Hotel Allegro features 483 guestrooms and suites, as well as a luxurious mix of amenities and services. What makes it stand out even more is that it has been renovated for a greener future. Hotel Allegro is noted for its pet-friendliness; environment-friendly products; extensive recycling program; organic, shade-grown, or fair trade coffee served in its lobby; energy-efficient air-conditioning and lighting system; and, for its hotel materials, soy-based ink printing on 100 percent recycled paper. For its efforts, Hotel Allegro has been given the Silver Certification by Green Seal – along with the next four hotels.

Hotel Burnham

1 W. Washington St.

312.782.1111

Hotel Burnham is not only a dazzling Chicago boutique hotel; it is also an architectural landmark and one of the world’s best places to stay. It combines old-world elegance with a contemporary – and green – sensibility. The eco-friendly efforts of this Green Seal Silver Certified hotel include: environment-friendly bath amenities, in-room recycling bins, eco-certified cleaning supplies, recycled paper printing, paperless check-in and check-out service, energy-efficient lighting, organic snacks and beverages, linen and towel reuse program, and eco-friendly dry-cleaning for its guests and employees. Oh, and there’s this Hybrid Happiness Package, a program that provides discounts to guests who arrive in a hybrid vehicle.

Hotel Monaco

225 N. Wabash Ave.

312.960.8500

A four-star boutique hotel, the Hotel Monaco is one of the most environmentally responsible hotels in Chicago. It is Green Seal Silver Certified, thanks to its efforts in waste minimization, reuse, and recycling; energy efficiency, conservation, and management; fresh water resources management; and environmentally and socially sensitive purchasing policy, which covers everything from papers to toilet tissue.

Intercontinental Chicago

525 N. Michigan Ave.

312.321.8766

Chances are, you’re familiar with the Intercontinental brand, for it has hotels in various locations around the world. But this one in Chicago is special: it is Green Seal Silver Certified. The Intercontinental Chicago has a committee that oversees all its earth-conscious practices, which include: a guestroom energy management system; the use of CFLs in guestrooms, back-of-house areas, corridors, and other locations; the use of water-saving toilets; a towel and linen reuse program; a lighting, heating, and cooling control system; an extensive waste management program; the use of low- or no-VOC paints; and the purchase of renewable energy credits to offset 50 percent of the hotel’s electricity consumption.

The Talbott Hotel

20 E. Delaware Pl.

312.944.4970

Guests of this charming boutique Chicago hotel can enjoy their stay even more knowing that they will have minimal impact on the environment. That’s because the Talbott Hotel continues to adhere to the guidelines of its Green Seal Silver Certification. This means that it continues to implement green, eco-savvy measures like: an extensive recycling program, energy-efficient lighting, water-conserving fixtures, lighting and heating control systems, “eco-mode” guest rooms, the purchase of carbon offsets, and an investment in wind energy. All these are part of an approach that the hotel calls “Sustainability without Compromise”.

As hotels in Chicago continue to respond to the demand for green operations, more and more properties are being rewarded by Green Seal. The Essex Inn, Four Seasons Chicago, the Hilton Chicago, The Ritz-Carlton Chicago, the Sheraton Chicago Hotel and Tower, Fairmont Chicago, The Silversmith Hotel and Suites, the Sofitel Chicago Water Tower, and the Westin on Michigan Avenue are all Green Seal Bronze Certified hotels. More are in the process of earning similar certifications. Guests, residents, and businesses alike have all benefited enormously from these green efforts, thereby making it safe to say that there is no greener city to visit and stay in than Chicago.

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