Australia’s ‘greenest’ hotel pioneers

The Observatory is an independent 4.5 star hotel overlooking the beaches of Port Macquarie and the dedication of it’s 80 strata title owners to tackling climate change has earned it the moniker of ‘Australia’s greenest hotel’.

“Our sustainability plan stemmed from variety of factors,” explains Managing Director Chris Denny. “We want to be socially responsible, our staff enjoy working in this environment but most importantly, as an independent hotel, it helped create our brand identity.”

However, Chris says the 230 solar panels on the hotel roof that provide power for 5000 guests annually, had to be economically viable and show a forecasted return on investment for apartment owners.

“We had to present a business case to the owners, that was justified in economic terms.  While we very much believe in the triple bottom line of ‘People, Planet, Profit’, in our case we had to ensure the guest experience met with our sustainability objectives, while delivering a return to our owners.”

“I’ve found it interesting over the years to find that those three things impact on each other; for example, sustainability has become our defining brand and becomes part of the guest experience, which has has in turn driven profit. We have great beachfront location and great service, but so do many other hotels. Our sustainability is our point of difference, as well as being a good social thing to do.” Managing Director Chris Denny

Chris explains that the 230 Pv panels on the roof were funded by strata fees, which, he says, has caught the imagination of other strata managers who are always looking for the best return on investment.

“Every strata building sits on a sinking fund that is earmarked for maintenance works,” says Chris. “Typically, it sits in a bank getting 4 to 5% return.”

“We used ours to fund the solar infrastructure and, following some quite conservative economic modelling, we’re now able to show a 16% return on investment. This means we’ll be cash positive by 2019, so over the life of the system, around 20 to 25 years, that’s an enormous positive cash implication.”

While guests to The Observatory aren’t charged a premium to enjoy a clean and green stay in one of the hotels regular rooms, they can opt into the O-Zone program.

Named for the protective layer of atmospheric gasses, the O-Zone program invites guests to pay a voluntary premium of $50 which allows them the extra benefits of a fresh local food platter, green bathroom products, in-room fitness equipment and Wii-Fit set up as well as tour bikes for getting around town.

In another first for an Australian hotel, The Observatory have recently installed a car-charging unit for the Tesla electric vehicle which are anticipated to hit the road in the next 12 months. Complimentary for hotel guests, the charger means visitors will be able to charge overnight and reach both Sydney and Brisbane the following day.

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