A good hotel that is great

When friends who are visiting San Francisco ask for a recommended hotel, I usually have different categories with different criteria and it becomes a matrix of qualities that the particular friend might be most interested in. However, now it is simple. What hotel do I recommend? The Good hotel by Joie de Vivre.

The Good Hotel is designed with a conscience. “Our philanthropic and positive approach is designed to inspire the good in us all” they state on their website. And it works. I recently had brunch with Lee Schneider of DocuCinema (www.docucinema.com) who is staying there and he was talking about the “social engineering” and power of good design to inspire positive change.

Not only does the hotel incorporate sustainable materials such as reclaimed and recycled woods, blankets made from recycled soda bottles, empty Voss water bottles used as a chandelier, and water conserving solutions that tell a story (like the sink above the toilet that takes the used water from the sink to use for the toilet rather than wasting drinking water for the toilet), but there are also making it easier for people to act in a manner that is sensitive to the environment, but still with beauty. They offer bikes for use for free during one’s stay, and evoke a strong sense of community through interesting touches like the photo booth in the lobby where you can post your photos on the wall and computers for the One Laptop per Child program throughout. The concierge can help hook you up with volunteering programs throughout the city if you wish.

Rooms range from $89 to $149. Super affordable by SF standards.
Smart design, eco-friendly, with a conscience? That is way better than good; it is great.

www.jdvhotels.com
photos by Christian Horan

This entry was posted on Tuesday, March 9th, 2010 at 12:18 pm and is filed under blog and tagged with eco-tourism, hospitality. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed.