With 10% of the city covered in greenspace, you know that Seattle is sure to be an eco-friendly destination. There are plenty of green activities to enjoy in this friendly city, too, from endless bicycle trails and hiking to visiting the Seattle Japanese Garden and the Washington Park Arboretum. They also offer plenty of organic and local cuisine in many fine restaurants that you can both enjoy and feel good about. And if that weren’t enough, the area surrounding Seattle is gorgeous, stretching from the Pacific Ocean to the many National Forests and Parks.
An important part of an eco-friendly vacation to Seattle is choosing a green hotel. Hotels can be sustainable in a number of ways, including meeting LEED standards, recycling, reducing waste, and using energy efficient appliances. It can also include some more remarkable steps, like partnering with global or local organizations to recycle food and toiletries, planting trees, and installing a green roof. Many hotels publicize this information, too, so it can be helpful to look at corporate websites to see what’s important to the hotel you’re reviewing.
If you’re in search of a green hotel in Seattle, consider one of these eco-friendly options.
Ace Hotel Seattle
This trendy boutique hotel is eco-friendly in many ways. In addition to utilizing environmentally responsible practices like energy efficient appliances and bulbs, water conservation policies, and green cleaning products, Ace Hotel Seattle also features recycled and vintage furniture and serves organic cuisine.
Cedarbrook Lodge
The sustainable practices at this hotel are quite extensive. As far as dining goes, they serve local, organic food with 100% compostable take-out boxes and utensils, and compost their own kitchen waste. Their Green NATÜRA bath products are eco-friendly, they use only environmentally friendly cleaning supplies, and their housekeeping staff uniforms are made from recycled plastic! They’re also currently pursuing LEED certification.
The Edgewater Hotel
One of only six hotels in Seattle to receive a Green Eco-Leaf Rating from iStayGreen.org, the Edgewater has a number of environmentally friendly policies in place. They use energy efficient lighting, recycle and compost as much as possible, encourage guests to reuse linens and towels, offer recyclable key cards and paperless check-in/check-out, and serve local food in their restaurant.
The Fairmont Olympic
Dedicated to promoting sustainable and responsible tourism around the world, Fairmont endorses a series of important programs that recycle, minimize waste, and utilize steam power. They even have a signature rooftop honeybee program, which not only helps to pollinate local plants throughout Puget Sound, but also works to increase local bee populations.
Hotel 1000 Seattle
As part of the Loews family of hotels, Hotel 1000 participates in their admirable sustainability initiatives. They’ve installed low-flow shower heads and energy efficient light bulbs, use eco-friendly ink and paper, encourage linen and towel reuse, and partner with America’s Second Harvest to donate uneaten food.
Hyatt at Olive 8
In addition to offering access to dozens of green activities from kayaking to skiing, this hotel is LEED-certified to meet the highest in sustainability standards. They even use exclusively organic ingredients in their spa treatments and fill their pool with saline, rather than chlorinated water.
Kimpton Alexis Hotel
As part of the Kimpton family of hotels, the Alexis Hotel works to give back to the environment at the same time as minimizing their negative impact. They recycle as much as possible, conserve water, minimize energy waste, use nontoxic cleaning chemicals, and even serve organic coffee. They also offer options where you can opt to donate part of your room fee (and get a discount!) to green organizations.
Motif Seattle
This hotel’s “Destination Earth” initiative takes ambitious steps to curb their negative impact on the environment. They work to decrease energy and water consumption, reduce waste across the board, recycle and compost as much as possible, and purchase local and organic food and beverages for guests and meetings.
Pan Pacific Seattle
Their Pan Earth program helps this hotel track their energy and water consumption and find ways to conserve and more effectively manage resources. They also partner with non-profits like local shelters to donate uneaten food. Their Pan Earth Escapes even make it easier for guests to find eco-friendly activities around town.
Westin Seattle
In addition to their popular “Make a Green Choice” program, which encourages guest to reuse towels and linens, Westin also installs high efficiency lighting in guest rooms and public areas, occupancy sensors in rooms, plus low-flow faucets, toilets, and showers across the hotel. They even utilize a water and heat reclamation system to reduce waste.