For already almost ten years, the family hotel Soll Cress has dedicated all their efforts into going one step further for the environment. To continue this sustainable trail, the owners have now decided to change their entire cleaning products to environmentally friendly alternatives.
Photo: © Hotel Soll Cress
The family hotel Soll Cress, located on the Belgian coast is situated approximately 100 meters away from the beach and 800 meters away from the city centre of Koksijde. It is an ideal place to welcome guests all year round, as the hotel offers a wide variety of services for its guests applicable for the warmer and colder seasons. Hence, it is equipped with an indoor swimming pool, a sauna, Jacuzzi, fitness- and wellness centre and a gastronomic restaurant. This restaurant is called “Roots Koksijde” and has recently been completely redesigned to serve the needs of its guests. Within the restaurant, a choice of organic wines is provided and dishes with locally sourced ingredients are served.
After 45 years of being successfully administrated by the Van Damme family, it was time for a generation change within the management of the hotel. The daughters of the former owners, Hannelore and Sofie took over the management, convinced to go a step further for the environment beyond the local requirements in regards to environmental protection. Therefore, already since the year 2011, the hotel has obtained the Green Key certificate. This means that the hotel reduces energy consumption, minimises waste, offers charging stations for electronic bicycles and an E-Smart, and it uses biodegradable napkins and recycled toilet paper for their guests.
In addition to that, Hannelore and Sofie have now decided to replace the entire cleaning product range with Green Care products. Through organised testing sessions with these products, the hotel owners found out that the results of cleaning with Green Care products were equal or better than before. That’s why Hannelore and Sofie chose to prospectively use the Green Care brand for sanitising the hotel, the rooms, the restaurant and the new KLIKS system for the laundry.
The fact that these products are C²C certified, thereby certified with a well-known ecolabel, means that they are composed of European raw materials, boxed in recycled packaging and produced with renewable energy. By introducing these products, savings in CO² emissions are realised, the use of crude oils is excluded and pollution with microplastics is avoided. Furthermore, the packaging of these products can almost indefinitely be recycled.
The Hotel Soll Cress is an example of how the hotel industry can contribute to the environment with simple measures. Something, that has become a mandatory criterion for hotel guests booking a holiday.