Taking the environment to heart, Pan Pacific Hotels’ Parkroyal Collection Marina Bay, Singapore hotel says it has transformed into the city’s first ‘Garden in a Hotel’ with over 2,400 plants and trees spread across 1,400 sq. m. of space in the hotel.

As part of its long-term commitment to both sustainability and business growth, the hotel has actively embraced sustainable practices across a broad spectrum of its operations. Taking on a ‘rejuvenate’ approach to enhance existing assets instead of tearing down and reconstructing the building during its US$33 million transformation in 2020, the hotel preserved the iconic structure, designed by architect John Portman, and prevented over 51,300 metric tonnes of carbon dioxide from being produced, equivalent to cutting down 8.7 million trees.

Among the hotel’s other green initiatives are:

Energy & Water Management: To enhance energy management, motion sensors in guestrooms and public areas power down lights and air conditioning when guests are not present. The hotel has also recently installed 210 solar panels, which generate more than 350kwh of electricity daily, sufficient to power 540 typical households in Singapore in a day. The overall energy consumption is now reduced by 1.4%. With an expected lifespan of 25 years, the solar panels are projected to save US$330,000, which can help fund other sustainability projects. The hotel has also installed low-flow shower heads that reduce water flow from 27 to nine litres per minute.

Plastic Waste Management: The in-room water filtration system has eliminated the need for bottled water, eliminating the carbon impact from the production and eventual waste processing of over 360,000 plastic bottles annually. Straws, containers, and cutleries used for takeaways have now been replaced with bio-degradable alternatives.

Food Waste Management: Better planning of meals months in advance help reduce the hotel’s food waste by close to 72%. The hotel always tries to offer seasonal greens so that the vegetables can be grown at the Urban Farm, or at least sourced from local suppliers.

Food waste is often recycled or usage from every part of the food is maximized. For example, at the hotel’s restaurant, Peppermint, the chefs utilize the beef trimmings from other beef dishes to make Shredded Beef Ragu Pasta. Another ingredient that the hotel recycles is the watermelon rind – the white parts of the rind are used like a vegetable for stir-fried dishes. The hotel has also recently installed energy-efficient digesters, which break down food waste in an environmentally friendly manner, into a liquid that is safe for disposal into the waste pipe.

The hotel also eliminated sharks fin from its menu in 2019.

Urban Farm: The hotel is home to one of the largest urban farms in the Central Business District, with over 60 varieties of vegetables, herbs and edible flowers, forming the backbone of the hotel’s farm-to-table, farm-to-bar and farm-to-spa concepts. Used coffee beans are processed and used as compost in the Urban Farm.

“As the issue of climate change and awareness of business’ impact on the environment have grown, so too has adopting policies that have a favourable effect on that impact,” says general manager Melvin Lim. “Sustainability is everyone’s responsibility, and adopting green innovations is at the core of our hotel’s green values. Sustainability is what is best for the planet, and our guests are increasingly demanding this level of commitment from us.”

To date, Parkroyal Collection Marina Bay, Singapore has been recognized at the World Travel Mart World Responsible Tourism Awards 2021 with a silver award in the “Reducing Plastic Waste in the Environment” category and has won “Best Sustainable Hotel Award 2021” by Savour BlackBookAsia Awards 2021.