Hotels: how to integrate indoor air purification in a CSR approach?

Whether it is to improve the customer experience or the working conditions of their teams, good indoor air quality is essential for hoteliers. Norbert le Menelec, owner of the Akena hotel in Rezé (France), is convinced of this fact. He explains how NatéoSanté professional air purifiers fit perfectly into his establishment, both in terms of value and the benefits they provide. Meeting.

NatéoSanté air purifiers are present in all areas of the Akena hotel

The choice of NatéoSanté air purifiers in line with an eco-responsible approach

From the moment he drew up the specifications for the construction of his hotel, Norbert le Menelec, owner of the Akena Rezé hotel (80 rooms), wanted to integrate eco-responsible and sustainable materials and components.

Norbert Le Menelec, owner of the Akena Rezé hotel

Deeply committed to preserving the environment, he wanted to build a hotel (of which the Akena group has 30 establishments in France) with the lowest possible carbon footprint. His twofold objective: to differentiate the hotel thanks to its eco-friendly specificity and, above all, to offer its customers and staff the healthiest possible establishment.

An environmental commitment that takes shape at many levels

"I wanted to put my stamp on this establishment, the newest of the franchise, by bringing in eco-responsible alternatives right from its construction".

Norbert le Menelec

In practice, this translates into a series of concrete actions:

• use of hemp wool to insulate the hotel walls. Recyclable and environmentally friendly, it presents no allergenic or irritating risks (unlike glass or rock wool).
• installation of a water heater on the roof, to recover solar energy and use it naturally.
• choosing furniture that is as free as possible of formaldehyde and other Volatile Organic Compounds (VOCs)

However, there are still many other sources of pollution in the air (bacteria, viruses (including coronavirus), allergens, VOCs released by materials, odours, etc.). All these pollutants are likely to cause discomfort to staff and guests in a hotel.

Eco-designed air purifiers, consistent with the hotel's commitments

It is precisely for this reason that Norbert le Menelec wished to equip his hotel with devices to improve the quality of indoor air. Responding to this need and echoing his values, he naturally turned to the NatéoSanté solutions.

NatéoSanté's eco-designed professional air purifiers have been developed according to precise specifications in order to have the minimum negative impact on the planet. Whether it is the choice of raw materials, packaging, French manufacturing, use or even the recycling of components and filters, each stage of the purifiers' life cycle has been thought through according to the principles of eco-design.

"I chose NatéoSanté because it is an ethical company. It produces French-made devices, sourcing their components as locally as possible. These are very courageous and virtuous choices. That's why I'm really convinced of the NatéoSanté brand.”

Norbert le Menelec EOLIS Air Manager air purifiers are placed in the common areas of the hotel

Real indoor air quality benefits for customers and staff

With two EOLIS Air Manager 1200S, two 600S and two Hygeolis models, all areas of the hotel (reception, breakfast room, meeting room, hotel rooms, corridors) are within the range of the air purifiers.

For the customers, it is an immediate benefit: "The air is much healthier to breathe, we do not suffer from certain unpleasant odours which disappear. We would have problems if we didn't have the purifiers: persistent odours, perhaps some various allergies that might arise... The benefit is already in not having to complain about anything.”

Hygeolis, an air purifier specially designed to eliminate bad odours, is suitable for hotel rooms

For the staff, the presence of air purifiers improves their daily working conditions. More specifically, hotel housekeepers immediately perceive the benefits, especially when they have to clean a room that has hosted "indelicate" guests (tobacco, body odours, etc.).

The staff activate the "active oxygen" mode of EOLIS Air Manager (easily transportable from one room to another thanks to its transport trolley) or Hygeolis to deeply purify the air: "After half an hour, or an hour if the odour is really strong, the room becomes totally healthy on a general sanitary level.”

A "purified air room" offer promoted to customers

For people who are sensitive to air quality (asthmatics, allergic people), having an air purifier in the room is a real plus, ensuring a good night's sleep. At the Akena Rezé hotel, this service is offered in two ways: either the guest chooses a "purified air room", i.e. the air purifier is already present in the room, the room being equipped as standard, or they request it themselves at the reception desk when they book (option available at an extra cost).

NatéoSanté air purifiers are suitable for all hotel spaces

As more and more people are becoming aware of the issue of indoor air quality, apart from those who are allergic to air pollution, the hotel is developing its strategy to promote this offer: "We want to emphasise to our guests the option of having an air purifier in the room during their stay”.

Every day, everyone is a little more aware that the quality of the air, the first vital resource, has consequences on our quality of life in general, in the same way as the water we drink or the food we eat. Intimately convinced by these subjects, Norbert le Menelec wishes, through his establishment and his many eco-responsible choices, to continue to raise his clients' awareness of IAQ: "I am not a scientist, but I am convinced that we have a duty to make progress on the subject of air quality. As soon as we are aware and informed, we have to make sure that others are as aware and informed as we are, in order to protect ourselves. I give us, at Akena Rezé, this mission, which is to say to everyone: "We're going to help you get better".”

Watch Norbert le Menelec's testimony