Omaha’s dynamic Midtown Crossing district is now the site of a new Element hotel, the much-talked-about “green trailblazer” from Starwood Hotels & Resorts Worldwide, Inc. Element Omaha Midtown Crossing, which opened on the 4th November 2010, is the first hotel in Midtown, and marks Element Hotels’ debut in the U.S. Midwest. The hotel is owned by East Campus Realty and managed by Aimbridge Hospitality.Part of the thriving Midtown Crossing development, and just minutes from downtown Omaha and Eppley Airfield, Element Omaha Midtown Crossing is ideally situated beside the natural beauty of Turner Park. Omaha is home to five Fortune 500 companies and cultural attractions such as The Orpheum Theater, Rosenblatt Stadium and Joslyn Art Museum. The hotel will be Element’s 8th property in the U.S., with the highly anticipated opening of Element Times Square West in New York City later this year.
Element continues to make history as the first major hotel brand to mandate that all its properties pursue the US Green Building Council’s (USGBC) Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design (LEED) certification for high-performance buildings. Designed to be “green from the ground up,” Element hotels blend nature-inspired smart design, inspiring public spaces, and comfortable modern touches.
With 132 spacious guest rooms, Element Omaha Midtown Crossing delivers a no-compromise, eco-chic experience where guests can stay active, healthy and balanced while on the road, including complimentary wellness programs and healthy food options. Rise, Element’s daily complimentary breakfast, includes well-balanced breakfast wraps and fruit smoothies, while Motion, the state-of-the-art, 24-hour fitness center, allows guests to maintain their fitness routines on the go. The hotel also features a Bikes-to-Borrow program, which encourages guests to stay energized every day during their stay.
Element:Green from the Ground Up
From spacious guest rooms featuring fully-equipped kitchens, spa-inspired bathrooms, and the Heavenly(R) Bed to sustainable design and eco-friendly practices, Element Hotels is a smarter, better place to stay, perfect for the traveler visiting for a few days or a few weeks.
Element hotels’ green features are cleverly designed to be as aesthetically appealing as they are eco-friendly, so guests never compromise on style and comfort. Eco-friendly materials are used whenever possible and natural light is maximized throughout the hotels. Element conserves water and energy with low-flow faucets and fixtures, compact florescent light bulbs and energy-efficient appliances. To further reduce waste, guest room bathrooms are equipped with amenity dispensers, kitchens are supplied with silverware and glassware instead of plastic utensils and paper cups, and filtered drinking water is available rather than plastic water bottles among other initiatives. Recycling bins are available in guest rooms and public areas. Even the ubiquitous “Do Not Disturb” sign has been replaced with an environmentally-friendly magnet.
SOURCE: Starwood Hotels & Resorts Worldwide, Inc.
Editors Note: Concepts of what is ‘green’ in the US are strangely divorced from any real ecologically sound measures. Contrast the description of ‘green’ here with the ‘green’ credentials of Premier Inn in our article of Sept. 20th Burgess Hill to realise how much of this article is just PR spin from Starwood rather than any real attempt to to use current state of the art approaches to building a carbon neutral hotel.
