Nestled in the heart of Philadelphia, Windsor Suites embodies the city's unique blend of rich history and progressive spirit.

Combining classic elegance with modern amenities, and proudly displaying their pledge to go green, this award winning hotel not only honors Philadelphia’s storied past but champions a forward-thinking approach to hospitality, ensuring a stay that is as responsible as it is memorable.

After pinpointing sustainability as an area of value for both customers and their building, Windsor Suites have leveraged Ecodrive technology to support tree planting projects in Rwanda.

Now, they offer hotel guests the opportunity to plant two trees for each night that they choose to opt-out of housekeeping - an initiative that has seen The Windsor Suites forest grow to over 5,000 in just 6 months, dramatically cut costs, and garner 5 star reviews.

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The initiative has most certainly been a team effort and we were looking forward to catching up with everybody involved to learn more about its impact.

We were thrilled to be joined by Burnell Goldman, Area General Manager, Alan Robinson, Area Director of Finance, Stephanie Sandlin, Assistant Operations Manager, Rachel Hanon, Senior Manager for Marketing and Ecommerce, Kandell Jones, Front Office Manager, Allison D'Amora, Regional Director of Sales and Marketing, Ryan Butler, Corporate Director of Sustainability and Energy for PM Hotel Group, and Riley O’Connell, Sustainability Manager at PM Hotel Group.

Check out the full conversation below!

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Ecodrive: Hey everyone, thanks for taking the time to chat with us today! First up, could you provide a little more information about The Windsor Suites Philadelphia, please?

Burnell Goldman: Sure! Our property is an independent, full-service, all-suite, lifestyle hotel that's located right in the heart of Philadelphia city center. We're just a few blocks away from Museum Row, on Benjamin Franklin Parkway, which, if you ever come into Philadelphia, is in the center of where everything happens. So, if you’ve ever seen the movie Rocky where he runs up those stairs, we are located just a few blocks away from that famous staircase. There are many world famous arts and cultural sites just steps away from our hotel.

Our property features a rooftop sky deck with a fantastic view. I personally think that's the best view of the city right here from our hotel. We have a fire pit. We have an infinity edge pool. And every year we are a Trip Advisor Certificate of Excellence award winner which is great recognition of our phenomenal staff. In 2024 we were voted the favorite family-friendly getaway by the Philadelphia Inquirer’s Philly Favorites.

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Ecodrive: Awesome! How important do you think sustainability is to your guests?

Burnell: I think it’s huge. Our guests consistently inquire about sustainability directly to us. And we also hear indirectly from them via our partner websites and online travel agents who ask those questions about what we're doing from an environmental standpoint.

We also have lots of questions from groups who want to work with us who will always ask about our stance on sustainability, which is often a prerequisite to partner. It is definitely at the top of everyone's mind.

So, it's not an option to not be sustainable at this point!

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Ecodrive: That's great to hear. Your Ecodrive powered offering is to plant trees for each guest that opts out of housekeeping, which is an awesome incentive and implementation of our technology. What has the feedback been like from guests?

Burnell: Guests have definitely responded positively! Before we started this initiative, we had a housekeeping opt-out rate of 15.4%. After integrating Ecodrive we are now at a 29.3% opt-out rate. So that demonstrates the huge impact of Ecodrive.

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Ecodrive: Do you have any statistics or insight around what your Ecodrive partnership has saved you in operating costs per month?

Burnell: Yes. We've had the Ecodrive tree planting initiative in place since April, so it hasn't been a full year just yet but we can provide some numbers for up to this point.

We’ve taken a look at our costs spent per occupied room year-over-year and it's now flat.

Now that's a really big deal because as you know costs are always going up - our cost of labor goes up, the cost of materials, linen, guest room supplies, all those things typically increase. But we've already been able to maintain a flat cost per occupied room. That means Ecodrive has been a big win for us so far.

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Ecodrive: Amazing! How do you promote the initiative to guests?

Burnell: We introduce the partnership on our website and when our guests check-in we directly speak to them about the option. We’ve also included Ecodrive in our email booking confirmations. And then we send guests a text message shortly after check-in, we'll remind them about the opportunity to opt-out of housekeeping and that they can plant trees if they make that choice.

Finally we have ‘Do Not Disturb’ signs which include the Ecodrive marketing on them as well.

So, we’re always showcasing our incentive before, during, and after check-in.

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Ecodrive: Have you had any direct feedback from guests about the option to plant trees by opting out of housekeeping?

Burnell: One thing that was really cool is we had a five-star Trip Advisor review which specifically mentioned the opportunity to opt-out of housekeeping and plant two trees. The guest wrote about how thoughtful they thought it was and how it enhanced their stay. So that was very cool.

But we do also have guests that verbally give our staff positive feedback as well.

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Ecodrive: Outside of planting trees with Ecodrive, are there any other kinds of methods that you guys are using to integrate sustainability into day-to-day operations?

Burnell: We're now at over 5,000 trees planted through Ecodrive as of the end of October which is something that we're really excited about. Beyond that, we've implemented recycling throughout the entire building. That's something that both guests and tenants are really positive about.

We also have sustainable guest room keys, we have water refill stations, and we have LED lights throughout the entire building for energy efficiency as well.

Ecodrive has fit right in with what we're already doing in leading the charge from a sustainability standpoint.

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Ecodrive: Moving away from the hotel, are there any methods that the team uses to implement sustainability at home?

Rachel Hanon: I live in the Midwest and I compost and do quite a bit when it comes to food waste minimization. I don't use a ton of plastics and try to keep things reusable at all times. I’ve moved away from a lot of single use items in the past few years.

Burnell: I'm definitely recycling at home. I've done that for a number of years. And I think it's just kind of in my blood - I don't think you can ever do too much, right?

Allison D'Amora: Yeah, I choose to live in the city. I really like to be walking distance to things and don't put a lot of mileage on my car, which is also just good for my pocketbook too! I also use a company called The Rounds who will do composting for you, and take care of delivering your everyday needs and goods made from sustainable materials. Things like your trash bags, they will drop them off and you send back the packaging that they come in. So they're eliminating a lot of the packaging waste that happens.

Ryan Butler: I was just going to comment on something that's portfolio-wide which is Procure Impact. The partnership is more focused on the social side of ESG, but has regional impact and helps vulnerable communities. Shoutout to Windsor Suites as a top three contributor to our goal in terms of work hours produced for vulnerable populations and communities. We’re also always looking to reduce carbon impact from areas like transportation and things like that.

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Ecodrive: Excellent! Two final questions then before we let you go. First up, what's next? Are there any big plans for you guys going into 2025?

Burnell: Yes, two big things for us at Windsor Suites. Firstly, we will be eliminating plastic water bottles from our guest rooms probably within the next month. We'll be partnering with Open Water to make that happen and we’re really excited to reduce our carbon and plastic footprint.

As far as our wider company, we just announced a big merger with Sightline Hospitality which I’m sure will help us to continue implementing all of these changes we’ve been discussing.

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Ecodrive: Congratulations! And then finally - I'll throw this out to everyone - what are the top recommendations for Philly? What should our community be doing when they next come to visit?

Ryan: Number one is grabbing a cheese steak in South Philly!

Stephanie Sandlin: I always recommend South Street in general. You can go there to eat, shop, eat more, night life, and then eat again!

Burnell: I know I mentioned the Rocky Steps and the Art Museum when we first started talking. Folks have to go see the Rocky statue which is kind of the must do but of course there's so much more to Philly than that.

Allison D'Amora: The mural art and street art is really great around Philly, and then definitely check out Love Park.

Rachel Hanon: Walnut Street Theater! Though it’s very commercial in what it shows, it's one of the oldest theater landmarks in the country. So, growing up outside of Philly, it was always a treat to go there with my grandparents who were actually ushers there. So, I have a little warm spot in my heart for Walnut Street Theater.

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Ecodrive: Thanks so much for all of the varied recommendations and for your time today guys! We’re looking forward to seeing The Windsor Suites forest grow even further and we’ll be sure to check in on how sustainability is helping you in your wider operations in the future!

Windsor Suites team: No problem, thanks for chatting with us and for everything that you help us and our guests do for the planet!

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Windsor Suites have chosen to support Agroforestry projects in Rwanda via Ecodrive.

You can find more information on the hotel’s commitment to sustainability, and book a stay at the award winning location, here!

Learn how the agroforestry projects Ecodrive partners support can help to protect and restore our planet’s fragile ozone layer here.

Your company can contribute to tree planting projects around the world in minutes by booking an Ecodrive demo here.

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