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Nutritious becomes Delicious at Fairmont Hotels & Resorts

March 8 | meeting and event industry news | staff

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With a belief that eating well but wisely begins at an early age, Fairmont Hotels & Resorts will be ramping up its children’s menu offerings to include an expanded array of creative dishes that are both delicious and nutritious.

No Kidding: Fairmont Hotels and Resorts New Menus Offer Healthy Dining For Young Travellers

With a nod to the brand’s Lifestyle Cuisine, that addresses common dietary requests such as low-fat, vegetarian and low-carbohydrate, these new children’s menu options offer a healthy twist on the usual kid-friendly favorites such as chicken strips, pizza, spaghetti with meatballs and even chocolate mousse. More discerning young diners can choose offerings such as The Fairmont Sonoma Mission Inn & Spa’s Loch Duart Salmon with Glazed Vegetables or Chicken Quesadillas with Corn Tortillas and Oaxaca Cheese at Fairmont Mayakoba.

Fairmont Chefs ensure these pint-sized offerings reflect the same basic principals as Lifestyle Cuisine and address the nutritional guidelines established for children by the Institute of Medicine of the National Academies. Proactive steps include swapping out refined flour for whole wheat, incorporating fruits and vegetables into recipes to help meet the recommended daily fiber allowance, and employing alternative cooking methods to help ensure healthier choices are made available to young diners. Although the same nutritional parameters guide Fairmont chefs across the globe, actual menu offerings reflect the distinctive style and unique food products of each destination.

“In addition to adapting many favorite dishes to a healthier format, we have introduced new menu items created by our chefs under the watchful eye of Fairmont Nutritional Advisor Katya Baxter, MBA, RNCP, a leader in the culinary field.” says Mariano Stellner, Fairmont’s Corporate Director, Food & Beverage. “We are focusing on delicious, wholesome menu options parents want their children to have and that kids will actually eat.”

While these nutritious selections will be available at all Fairmont hotels by the end of March 2012, many properties have already begun sharing their healthy cuisine expertise within their local communities. Fairmont Monte Carlo in Monaco introduced their Little Chefs program in 2010 and to date has taught over 60 public school students about seasonality, nutritional values and how to prepare their favorite foods. Fairmont Sonoma Mission Inn & Spa’s sponsorship of the agricultural program at a local high school sees the hotel’s culinary brigade participate in and lead tutorials on campus, and Fairmont Pittsburgh recently established a partnership with Grow Pittsburgh that will turn an inner city school yard into an edible garden and result in the hotel’s kitchen team teaching students how to grow, harvest and cook fresh vegetables.

A pioneer when it comes to promoting healthful options for youngsters, The Fairmont Olympic Hotel’s Executive Chef Gavin Stephenson took healthy eating one step further when he introduced an all organic children’s menu to the Seattle market eight years ago. Gavin comments “Making real, free range chicken strips is much more time consuming than buying processed chicken products, but the taste and nutritional value is well worth it, along with the peace of mind a chef gets knowing he is doing the right thing for his guests.”

Fairmont’s nutritious take on childhood favorites and the addition of healthy beverage options such as spring water, unsweetened juices, smoothies and shakes is expected to turn the usual meal time battle into a much anticipated event for families staying with the brand. As part of the luxury hotel brand’s ongoing commitment to welcoming guests of all ages, kids five and under eat for free when ordering from the children’s menu while those 12 and under with a desire for something more grown-up can order child-sized portions from the adult menu or from Fairmont’s newly introduced Lifestyle Cuisine Plus menu that caters to such dietary needs as diabetic and gluten free at 50 percent off the listed price.

Tagged event planning, fairmont, Fairmont hotels and resorts, hotel news

Fairmont Zooms Past Mere “Local” Cuisine With New Hyperlocal Menu Items

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December 6 | meeting and event industry news | staff

Going local is so 2009. Upping the ante when it comes to sustainable food sourcing is Fairmont Hotels & Resorts, which has broadened the “go local” mantra by adopting local goats and chickens, allowed diners to catch their own dinner and gone out of its way to create homemade tofu. Long an advocate of green, fresh and healthy cuisine, the brand’s properties were some of the first to add onsite herb gardens and honeybee apiaries, and have pioneered myriad innovative projects that have brought farm and fork closer than ever.

Across the portfolio, Fairmont’s Green Cuisine program includes initiatives that cater to specific local and regional needs. In Quebec City, Executive Chef Jean Soulard of Fairmont Le Château Frontenac recently added five hens, who are the newest neighbors of the hotel’s resident honey bees. Chantecler hens, the only 100 percent Québec breed, have been carefully selected by Chef Soulard and have been placed in a coop equipped with a copper roof that matches the architecture of the hotel. Fed only organic grains, each hen produces about one egg per day with the collected eggs served up to guests dining within the hotel.

Fairmont Newport Beach in California is constantly in pursuit of the best local produce, and the recent adoption of seven goats is the hotel’s latest culinary initiative. In collaboration with Drake Farms Goat Dairy, where the female goats reside, the animals are cared for by dedicated farmers and staff and receive regular visits from the hotel’s Executive Chef. The farm uses the goats’ milk to produce organic and sustainable goat cheese, which the chef picks up and brings back to use in dishes for the restaurant and lounge as well for in-room guest amenities. Fairmont Newport Beach follows in the footsteps of Fairmont The Queen Elizabeth in Montreal, which adopted two goats, affectionately named Blanche Neige (Snow White), in 2010. While living at the local Fromagerie du Vieux St-François, the goats produce cheese for the menu at The Beaver Club, as well as for sale at the Fairmont Store.

At Fairmont Pittsburgh, Executive Chef Andrew Morrison of Habitat restaurant not only offers eggs from local heritage chickens, but has a side of grass-fed beef from Burns Angus Farm delivered each week so the culinary team can specially prepare every cut to their liking. The team butchers their own steaks, roasts and ground beef, utilizing every piece of the meat down to the bones, which are used to make stock. The hotel’s signature house-made soap is made using the leftover tallow (rendered beef fat) along with coconut oil, lye and natural scents. Beef is a staple in Kenya, where Chef Hubert Des Marais continually seeks out the area’s best to help support local farmers & serve sustainable cuisine. Chef Hubert recently debuted a special “platinum steak” from local Morendat Farm, which comes from selecting and breeding particular Angus/crossbred steers just for Fairmont’s East Africa properties. The cows have a specially crafted 180-day feeding program and are taken through a process of dry ageing for approximately 21 days, which further enhances the delectable flavor and texture of the cuts.

Luxury Hotel Brand Brings Local to the Next Level By Adopting Livestock & More

Many of the brand’s properties, from China to Washington, D.C., have added honeybees to their onsite herb gardens or partnered with local parks and organizations to source local honey for cocktails and menu items. Fairmont Yangcheng Lake in Kunshan, China has developed 200 acres as a private, organic herb and vegetable garden along the resort’s namesake lake, and has recently added 10 beehives housing 2,500 honeybees, which produce around 40 kg of honey in spring. In Seattle, The Fairmont Olympic Hotel plans to install five rooftop hives, while in nearby Victoria, The Fairmont Empress has installed 10 hives in the hotel’s Centennial Garden. With close to 20 active Fairmont bee programs in place around the world, new hives have also recently been installed at The Fairmont Jasper Park Lodge, Fairmont Southampton in Bermuda, Calgary’s Fairmont Palliser and Fairmont Newport Beach in California.

Toronto’s Fairmont Royal York has cultivated rooftop beehives for a number of years, and has recently partnered with nearby Mill Street Brewery to create a unique honey beer, called “Royal Stinger”. To make the beer, brewers add the roof top honey at the end of the aging process, immediately before sealing it in kegs for distribution. But, Fairmont chefs are taking advantage of more than just local honey – in Vancouver, chefs at Fairmont Pacific Rim go the extra mile to make their very own tofu. Homemade tofu allows the guests to taste the nuances and flavor profile of the soy bean, and is used in a dish with braised daikon, gai lan and shiitake mushrooms.

Some Fairmont properties have even taken their search for hyperlocal cuisine under the sea, such as Fairmont Battery Wharf, which offers access to the only lobster boat tour in Boston. Guests can arrange a private excursion with a Fairmont Chef aboard an authentic down-east style lobster boat to learn firsthand how to bait, drop, and haul in lobster traps. After a day at sea, guests return with their catch and stop in at the hotel’s restaurant, Aragosta, where the Chef will prepare the lobster to their liking.

Tagged fairmont, go local, hotel news, sustainability

Fairmont Reduces CO2 Emissions By 8.4%

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November 17 | green meetings, meeting and event industry news | staff

As part of its ongoing climate change strategy, Fairmont Hotels & Resorts (Fairmont) recently announced that it has cut its CO2 output by 8.4 percent. As a member of the World Wildlife Fund (WWF) Climate Savers program, Fairmont has pledged to reduce its operational CO2 emissions by 20 percent below 2006 levels by 2013, and was the world’s first luxury hotel group to commit to reducing its greenhouse gas emissions (GHG). The more than 8 percent decline, based on 2010 year-end data, means the hotel company is almost halfway to its ambitious reduction target.

“Everyone can agree that the debate on climate change has shifted from it’s here and real, to how can we all contribute to a low carbon future,” said Fairmont’s president Chris Cahill. “The business community needs to step up and take a leadership position if we’re going to affect any real, transformative change, and I’m very pleased that Fairmont has been able to take some positive steps in curbing its energy usage and lowering GHG emissions around the globe. From the daily efforts of our engineers to the determined conservation practices of our hotel-level green teams, we remain committed to persevering and protecting the destinations we call home.”

Over the last few years, Fairmont has identified and implemented a number of key initiatives to help reduce its carbon footprint. These have included the creation of an internal framework to track, monitor and report on key energy and carbon data, appointing regional champions to oversee audit and data controls, and the introduction of a new Engineer of the Year award to recognize and reward outstanding environmental performance. Additionally, the brand adopted a formalized sustainable design and construction policy and relocated its corporate offices to a LEED NC Gold-certified building.

Luxury Hotel Brand Makes Progress Toward Reducing its Greenhouse Gas Emissions by 20% as Part of WWF’s Climate Savers program

On the property front, several Fairmont hotels have also had success with projects aimed at decreasing GHG emissions. At The Fairmont Dubai, the hotel has optimized its temperature control and building humidity settings, resulting in a 17.1 percent reduction in greenhouse gases over the last four years, while Quebec’s Fairmont Le Manoir Richelieu converted two boilers from oil to electric, helping the hotel cut emissions by more than 75 percent, despite having higher occupancy levels. Over the same time period, the iconic Fairmont San Francisco added occupancy-sensing guestroom thermostats and adjusted its daily HVAC scheduling in meeting rooms to decrease its GHG emissions by 12.1 percent.

In London, the restoration of The Savoy included the addition of several new environmental technologies including a new combined heat and power (CHP) plant that reduces the hotel’s reliance on the national grid by approximately 50 percent. New energy efficient boilers, smart meters, and a waste management system that recycles up to 90 percent of the property’s waste and converts it into an energy source, have also been introduced making it one of the greenest hotels in London.

WWF’s VP of Strategic Partnerships Hadley Archer commends Fairmont for its ambitious carbon reduction targets. “As a member in WWF’s global ‘Climate Savers’ program, Fairmont is advancing carbon management within its industry by committing to absolute emission reduction targets and demonstrating that cutting carbon yields a host of benefits – from cost savings to employee engagement and reputational benefits.”

Added Sarah Dayboll, Fairmont’s Director of Environmental Affairs, “Looking ahead, we’re confident that we can reach our 20 percent reduction target in 2013 by continuing to focus our efforts on improved energy efficiency, increased conversion to low carbon technologies and solutions, and by promoting conservation practices among our 30,000 colleagues worldwide.”

For more than 20 years, Fairmont’s Green Partnership has been the company’s award-winning environmental program focused on minimizing the impact of hotel operations on the environment. In addition to publishing “The Green Partnership Guide”, a “going green” handbook used by its hotels and others in the hospitality industry, initiatives include recycling and organic waste diversion in hotel kitchens, purchasing sustainable seafood, a green conferencing solution dubbed Eco-Meet, creating rooftop herb gardens at properties, and redistributing gently used goods and food to those in need. For more information on Fairmont’s Green Partnership and the company’s industry leading environmental initiatives, please visit www.fairmont.com/environment.

New Research to Focus on Incentive From the Travel Participant Viewpoint (mywelcometothecity.com)
Hotel Companies Demonstrate Leadership Through New Initiative (mywelcometothecity.com)
Award-winning Year for the Vancouver Convention Centre (mywelcometothecity.com)
GBTA Acquires ITM’s Project Icarus to Create Travel Industry’s First Global Sustainability Program (mywelcometothecity.com)
Fairmont Hotels Now Offering Everyone a Ride Worldwide on BMW Bikes (hotelchatter.com)
Fairmont Green Cuisine: Going Local (mpiweb.org)

Tagged fairmont, green meetings, hotel news, sustainability

Orbitz and StarCite Launch Orbitz for Business Meetings

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October 19 | meeting and event industry news | staff

Orbitz for Business, the corporate travel brand of Orbitz Worldwide, and StarCite, Inc., the leading provider of web-based solutions to strategically manage corporate meetings and events, recently launched Orbitz for Business Meetings, a new meetings booking channel powered by StarCite and delivered through the Orbitz for Business website. Orbitz for Business customers can now quickly and easily source meeting venues from and send e-RFPs to hotels and other suppliers.

Orbitz for Business Meetings allows customers and meeting planners to access thousands of potential venues, compare highly competitive supplier rates and review project status using an integrated online booking process. Hotels that opt-in to the Orbitz for Business Meetings channel will immediately benefit from increased visibility with hundreds of thousands of qualified, in-market business travelers.

Orbitz for Business Customers Can Now Source and Book Meetings at Competitive Rates Through the StarCite Online

“Orbitz for Business Meetings gives corporate meeting planners an automated way to plan, source and manage meetings at the same time they book their air, hotel and car arrangements,” said Frank Petito, president, Orbitz for Business. “We are excited to expand our relationship with StarCite, which adds an important piece to the growing spectrum of travel products we deliver to customers. With an intuitive, easy-to-use system and a great shopping experience, our customers can now book thousands of the best venues at the best locations while saving time and money in the process.”