| Back to News page | November 27, 2000
HILTON NAGOYA SURVIVES UNANNOUNCED ECOTEL® INSPECTION Christopher J. Balfe, President of the ECOTEL® Certification program, announced that the Hilton Nagoya passed an unannounced environmental inspection last month. The Nagoya hotel became a member of the ECOTEL® collection in December of 1999, and thus did not expect to be re-inspected until their two-year membership came to an end in December of 2001. Inspectors from the ECOTEL® team arrived at the hotel before 8 AM on Thursday, October 6th, and immediately began the surprise inspection. "This particular unannounced inspection was interesting for two reasons," said Balfe. "First of all we never expect anyone to score as high as Nagoya did today in surprise inspections." The inspection began first in the main kitchen where breakfast service was underway, and then continued to the recycling station, through the guest floors and the executive lounge area, into the top floor bar, back down through the specialty kitchens for the Japanese and Chinese restaurants, and finally through the front and executive offices. The Hilton scored nearly perfect marks in every department. Some of the scores were actually higher than those of the initial inspection. Balfe added that this was rare, since hotels usually work very hard to prepare for their initial ECOTEL® inspection. "The second reason that this inspection was interesting was that the staff members were completely un-phased when they realized it was an ECOTEL® inspection," continued Balfe. The Hilton Hilton's environmental program is one of the finest in Asia; the employees obviously know that their efforts will stand up to any test at anytime. And the staff members were correct. During the inspection many staff members pulled their ECOTEL® mission statement cards out of their pockets and displayed them to the inspectors without being asked to do so. "It was very business as usual in the kitchen where most of the action at that hour is," said Balfe. "I was totally impressed." Some of the managers and Green Hands Committee members (the hotel's environmental team) were more concerned. Purchasing Manager Mr. Naoki Tatematsu said, "We thought it was a bad joke when we heard that an inspection had begun that early in the morning. Most of us are not even in at that early hour." Personnel Manager Mr. Yasuhiro Kamiya added, "The surprise definitely shortened our lives." Now that the inspection is over, the entire Hilton Nagoya staff has something to be proud of, as this was the first unannounced ECOTEL® inspection ever performed in Japan. The ECOTEL® Certification, managed by HVS Eco Services, is widely regarded as the hospitality industry's most challenging certification. The criteria and inspection system was designed by a team that included experts from the world-renowned environmental think-tank, the Rocky Mountain Institute, the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency, and hospitality and engineering experts. The certification recognizes only those hotels leading the industry in environmental excellence, and the criteria are updated every two years to keep current with evolving environmental trends in hospitality. Thus members of the collection must be re-inspected once every two years to retain their certified status. Furthermore, members must agree to unannounced inspections anytime during their two-year membership period. HVS International was created in 1980 to satisfy the growing demand for reliable and well-documented hotel market studies and feasibility reports. With eleven offices worldwide, HVS offers a vast range of services including valuations, strategic analyses, development planning, litigation support, executive search, waste management, gaming and restaurant consulting, asset management, operational and management strategy development, and timeshare consulting services. Leora Lanz, 516-248-8828 x278, llanz@hvsinternational.com To learn more about HVS Eco Services or the ECOTEL® Certification
Program, contact Ms. Harinakshi Nair, |
