This is not a suggestion that would necessarily make my pulse race: ‘Darling, do you fancy going to stay in the word’s first carbon-neutral hotel for the weekend?’
The poshest hotels have 12 towels for each guest and an enormous bed. They also offer a mini-bar, decent breakfast, and well-stocked minibars.
I’m not complaining, it just sounds a bit shabby. You’re not welcome.
So it was with trepidation that I made my way to room2, a new hotel on a quiet residential street in Chiswick, West London, which claims to be exactly that: the world’s first carbon-neutral hotel.
I say ‘made my way’. I drove, but there’s no car park at this eco hotel (‘We’d love to encourage our guests to use public transport whenever possible,’ a leaflet explains in my room), so I parked and paid on the street nearby.
Sophia Money–Coutts shares her opinion on room2 Chiswick West London ahead of the opening ceremony in February. Pictured: Sophia at room2’s bar
This was fine for me. Although I did have a tiny overnight bag, if your family had multiple bags and buggies you may feel less enthusiastic about the green initiative.
The structure is still impressive from first sight. Once a dull grey lump which served as the Wimpy headquarters, this has been pulled down and in its place is a four-storey red-brick hotel with large, loft-style Crittall windows which wouldn’t look out of place in New York.
The sliding door opened and I was led to the reception.
It’s also quite surprising how the interiors look. It doesn’t look drab or joyless. Ground floor is one big room. It includes reception and seating, as well as a dining area.
It’s inviting and cosy. Fashionable, even. The space is filled with large couches, pot plants and pendant lighting. It also features colourful wall art, a bar that looks promising, as well.
The hotel doesn’t officially open until February 1, but has been in its soft-opening phase since the start of the month so there are a few guests milling around, drinking tea and deliberating over a plate of muffins and brownies at the bar.
Luana, the smiling general manager checks me in before sending me up to my third-floor room.
The rooms can’t possibly be that nice, I think, walking down the corridor towards mine, along a spongy red and green carpet which, I later learn, is made from old fishing nets recovered from the sea. I’m expecting something spartan and monkish; a small bed, probably quite a chilly room with no frills and certainly no mini-bar. But I’m wrong here, too.
Sophia said that the kitchenette in her hotel room was a necessity because they don’t only cater to overnight guests. Photo: Sophia, in her hotel room
Some years ago, I visited Chicago to review the city’s new Soho House hotel and this room isn’t wholly different: wood floor, a large bed with a pretty blue and white striped headboard, rattan chairs, a Roberts radio and marbled wallpaper in the bathroom where there is also, and (I promise this is true) the biggest shower I have ever seen.
Doers London, a vegan brand, has huge shampoo and conditioner bottles in the shower. There are pretty, dried flowers in a vase (they only use dried flowers because they last, and, therefore, there’s less waste). There’s a patterned blanket on the end of my bed which is made from 80 per cent recycled yarn.
My hand is brushed across the pillowcase. It was perfect. It’s not scratchy.
I open the fridge to find it’s stocked with beers from a small Yorkshire brewery, along with small bars of vegan chocolate made by a London-based company called Seed & Bean.
The only indication in the room that you’re staying somewhere uber environmentally-conscious is a large blue wooden bin containing three different chambers — for recyclables, food and non-recyclable waste. This is a great first. Yes, I do recycle at home. What about in a hotel?
I also have a kitchenette — a small counter and wooden cupboards, a Smeg oven, a kettle and a sink — because this hotel isn’t just targeting short-term overnight guests, but those who might wish to stay for longer. Rob Cahn (head of group operations), says that the hotel can host up to a month at a stretch. He cites nearby Chiswick Business Park for a source of guests. This explains why the room2 website declares it’s not just a hotel, but a ‘hometel’ — ‘a place to live, work and entertain’.
Sophia (pictured) stated that the whole building was designed to reduce waste, and it is the brainchild brothers Robert Godwin.
It’s the brainchild of brothers Robert and Stuart Godwin, who run a property development business called Lamington Group.
Last year, they opened their first ‘hometel’ in Southampton, which has 71 rooms and the same hipster aesthetic — exposed metal pipes and wooden floors.
But it wasn’t as environmentally ambitious as the Chiswick one.
Your average hotel is expensive. There’s a lot of waste from people like me who use every towel when they take a bath, turn the air-conditioning up, leave the lights on, drink the bottled water on the bedside table and so on.
The Chiswick hotel aims to be 89 per cent more efficient than that, so it’s not just the 86 en-suite bedrooms and communal areas that are eco-friendly.
Construction began on the site in 2019 and it has since been completely redesigned to reduce waste. To install the state-of-the art heat pump, they had to dig 200 metres.
Why so deep, I ask Keith Crawford, the hotel’s chief engineer, who explains that at such a depth, it’s possible to extract heat from the ground to funnel into the heating system. Think of the London Underground’s Central Line, he tells me, when I look confused. ‘Think of how hot it is down there. It’s the same principle with the pump.’
Every watt used comes from renewable sources and there are solar panels on the roof (along with three beehives, home to 75,000 bees, which make the hotel’s honey). These panels, along with the heat pump, provide 100 per cent of the energy needed for the hotel’s heating, cooling and hot water.
Sophia (pictured) stated that the hotel does not have a phone in its bedrooms, but there are instructions placed beside each door to help guests dial a WhatsApp number if they need it.
The showers, fitted with restrictors, use 40 per cent less water than your average one, but use air pressure to ensure the water flow doesn’t feel feeble. To reduce carbon emissions, all furniture is made from materials that are natural, recycled, or reclaimed.
It has also been taken into consideration the food. But this doesn’t mean it’s chickpeas and unappetising weeds foraged from pavements. The restaurant’s name is Boca. It was opened by Elisabetta Boi (an Italian chef who trained at Aqua Shard, on London’s 31st Floor).
The Burrata came from Shoreditch from Puglian, the Salami is from Islington from a butcher who only uses British meats and the coffee beans come in huge buckets from a nearby roastery (with less packaging).
When it officially opens in February, the aim is that this restaurant won’t just be used by guests, but locals, too, to drop in for a sustainable dinner.
Any unavoidable carbon emissions, such as in its construction, or from food or supplies that can’t be sourced locally, are offset with a reforesting business in Nicaragua, thus taking the hotel’s carbon footprint to zero.
After I’ve finished my Shoreditch Burrata and made focaccia, it is time to order room service.
Although there aren’t any phones in my bedrooms, instructions posted beside mine tell me that I can WhatsApp for help.
Dubious about this, I message the number asking for a glass of red wine; less than five minutes later it appears at my door (it’s delicious, but Italian, so I presume the carbon footprint from this is offset in Nicaragua, too).
Sophia (pictured) said if you’re after a night away in a hotel which feels futuristic and innovative, this might just be the place
Greta Thunberg enthusiasts will appreciate the many perks offered.
In the basement is an impressive gym — not large, but stocked with weights, yoga mats and two gleaming Peloton bikes. There’s also a laundry room with eco-friendly washing powder on the house for guests.
The hotel allows pets to stay for up to 24 hours. There’s none of that check-in-at-4pm-and-check-out-by-10am nonsense. You can check in at 2pm, and leave the next day at 2pm. They’re little initiatives, but they feel forward-thinking.
John Wiltshire, the director of the restaurant, adds that they’re hoping to launch their own brand of vodka in time for the official opening, made from potato peelings and from the same Yorkshire brewery as the beers.
As for the downsides, well, if I’m being picky the hot water took a while to come through in my shower, so perhaps that heat pump takes longer to get going than a gas boiler. Chiswick could also be an interesting place to live if you are a tourist who wants to see central London.
You’re six and a half miles from Big Ben, although the nearest tube station (Turnham Green) is a short 500-metre stroll away. But it’s also a green leafy area, close to the Thames, and the prices aren’t bad.
The average cost for a hotel room in Mayfair is £318 a night; here, a room with its own kitchenette, TV area and those free beers, starts from £123.
The business of sustainable tourism is growing rapidly. Or, at least, that’s what those in the industry hope once travel gets properly going again after the pandemic.
The global eco-tourism market was worth an estimated £135 billion in 2019 and is set to nearly double by 2027, according to Allied Market Research.
Eco-friendly hotels will open in 2022 at far-flung locations like Australia and Greece, providing eco-friendly, sunny, sandy vacations.
Alright, Chiswick isn’t quite the same, but if you’re after a night away in a hotel which feels futuristic and innovative, this might just be the place.
It is important to think about the best way you will get there, as parking can be tricky.