On a recent trip to Pittsburgh, I visited what I think is one of the coolest hotels in the city: the Fairmont Pittsburgh. It was the first—and only—Gold LEED-certified hotel I had been in. And the only one in Pittsburgh, according to representatives with whom I toured the hotel.
Usually when I hear of hotels being LEED-certified, I think to myself, “Big whoop. They don’t wash their towels every day. Saves them more money operationally anyway, but they are bragging about how earth-conscious they are.”
As a consumer, I don’t fully understand what the levels of LEED mean. As a hotel writer, I know enough to get by. It wasn’t until during the hotel tour that I began to fully understand just what being certified at the Gold level means.
For the most part, a lot of the reuse comes from construction materials. At the Fairmont Pittsburgh, 99% of waste accumulated during the construction process was diverted from landfills. As a result, 900 tons of concrete, metals and other materials were reused in other projects or recycled into new products.
And that reuse translated to the hotel’s design. For instance, I-beams recovered during demolition were upcycled to create end tables.
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| I-beam end table at the Fairmont Pittsburgh (Photo: Alicia Hoisington) |
But most awe-inspiring to me were the unique artifacts on display throughout the hotel. More than 26,000 objects dating from 1840 to 1872 were found by archeologists during excavation of the site in 2007. Thus, the hotel also acts as a makeshift museum—and even offers guests self-guided tours of the relics. It’s history repeating itself in hotel design.
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| Artifacts are on display throughout the hotel, giving guests a taste of Pittsburgh’s history. (Photo: Alicia Hoisington) |
Telling the story
When I was in Pittsburgh, I went on several tours of hotels. There was a common theme during each tour: The hotel’s design told a story, usually of a local nature. The aforementioned artifacts on display at the Fairmont speak for themselves. And if they don’t, the descriptions on their glass enclosures certainly do.
But while on a tour of the yet-to-open Hotel Indigo Pittsburgh East Liberty I began to question the design stories that left me excited (as a hotel writer). As the hotel’s GM explained the lobby’s tile—it’s not just an arbitrary design; it mirrors the surrounding rivers—I had my doubts.
How do you tell this story to guests? And do they even care?
You take a little extra time with the guests at check-in, the GM said. But I’ve just driven or flown for hours to my hotel. The last thing I want to hear about is the lobby’s floor design. In actuality, I would love to bypass the front desk all together.
And I can’t help but wonder, as much as I love cool hotel designs, where do you draw the line? If the guest is never going to hear the story, is it worth being written?
And that’s coming from a writer.
#DogsinHotels
I’ll never stop harping about dogs in hotels. And here the Fairmont Pittsburgh awes me again.
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| Me with my new best friend, Edie, at the Fairmont Pittsburgh. (Photo: Max Frazier) |
Edie is the hotel’s canine ambassador. As a puppy, Edie was found as a stray and began training to be an assistant dog. She completed more than a year of training, but she failed because she was too friendly and outgoing to perform the duties required of the job. She’s the perfect fit for the hospitality industry.
Last time I blogged about #DogsinHotels, I received a comment from reader Anonymous: “Thanks, Alicia. Dogs are wonderful except when presented as fake service animals. What a scam these people pull on us as hoteliers when we do not accept pets.”
You’re in luck, Anonymous, because we’ve covered this topic on HNN before. Take a read.
Hotels and dogs are the perfect combination; don’t you agree? Tweet your #DogsinHotels pics at me at @HNN_Alicia.
Email Alicia Hoisington or find her on Twitter.
Editor’s note: VisitPittsburgh paid for travel expenses, hotel accommodations, food and entertainment for two nights. Complete editorial control was at the discretion of the Hotel News Now editorial team; VisitPittsburgh had no influence on the coverage provided.
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