Electric Car Owners Can Plug-In at Parker Palm Springs

Garden produces hotel's herbs, vegetables

Lawrence Karol Hotels & Resorts

 

Many Coachella Valley hotels have adopted sustainability in exciting and inventive ways.

We’ve checked in to some of our favorites and see what they have to offer.

We’ll be highlighting one hotel a week, and throughout this series you’ll read about everything from herb gardens to beauty products made through ‘green chemistry’ to vehicle charging stations, and lots more.

So sit back, relax, and come along on our eco-friendly vacation.

This week: Parker Palm Springs

Brandon McCurley, general manager at the Parker Palm Springs, was more than willing to tackle our Proust questionnaire-style survey, and he highlighted a number of the hotel’s most interesting green initiatives.

Just don’t ask him about cows.    

When did you first introduce eco-friendly features and how did you start?
“From the time the hotel opened, the owners were sensitive to the changing direction of consumers’ stance and demands for eco-friendly practices. The values of the company are in line with those practices, so implementation was seamless and natural.”

Do you receive many comments and how do guests react?
“Guests comment on new applications, for example the electric charging stations for vehicles — Teslas are a commonplace sight at the hotel. But generally it is now an expectation. I would imagine a business not embracing eco-friendly practices would get more comments than those that do.”

What qualities do you think are most important to male guests?
“Actions that have an immediate and obvious impact that they can take part in. Most choose not to launder all linens automatically each day.”

What qualities are most important to female guests?
“Our female guest are more in tune with the community benefits of our programs — products that are produced locally or procured from farmers markets, charitable contributions of soaps, foods, etc.”

Can you tell me about the most unusual eco-related request you’ve ever received?
“We grow and produce most of the herbs and vegetables right here on the estate. We've been asked if we could do the same with meat. No, we cannot.”

What’s your favorite eco feature?
“I love cars so it’s fun seeing the various electric vehicles coming in, but my favorite feature is the herb garden. I wanted to do this in New York City, but real estate is not conducive to it. After arriving in California, I realized this would be the ideal opportunity to create one. It’s about 150 feet long by 30 feet wide. Our culinary and landscaping teams share the responsibility for maintaining it, and we built a small area in the center to do tastings and demonstrations. It is beautiful.”

Any changes or additions coming up?
“The future for the Parker is about looking at new and better ways to contribute. Technology changes so fast that we find what was good five years ago is now obsolete. Specifically, we are looking at new systems to manage and recycle our food waste. With 13 acres of landscaping, producing our own compost out of the food waste in an eco-friendly manner is just common sense.”

Parker Palm Springs, 4200 East Palm Canyon Drive, Palm Springs, 760-770-5000

Next Week: Miramonte Resort & Spa, Indian Wells

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