The Hotel Griffon staff has made some big strides towards health consciousness in this last year under the tutelage of our General Manager, Norbert Mede. Norbert is a bit of an athlete himself, having completed 2 half marathons, 2 Olympic distance triathlons and numerous shorter running events.
Since joining the Hotel Griffon in 2008, Norbert’s mission has been to make the Hotel shine along with the many members of his team. His commitment to the environment and the wellbeing of his guests and staff is second to none.
The hotel industry hasn’t traditionally been accepted as being very “Green” – I’m sure you can remember all those years when you’d visit a hotel with plastic cups in bathrooms, collections of throw-away bottles of shampoo, or when you weren’t asked if you could re-use your sheets and towels or recycle your newspapers!
Now is a new era for hoteliers, especially the independent boutique hotelier, to make a mark on their product through the environmental values they believe in, and to deliver excellent service while to enhancing their level of hospitality, and Norbert’s style and ethos is a fine example of this.
Besides the hotel achieving accolades for sustainability certifications, lowering energy bills and cutting costs on water and garbage (and all the physical and operational things you can do within a hotel to be “Green”) it has been Norbert’s mission to also improve the health of his staff by offering educational “teach-ins” with nutritionists, personal trainers, and other health mined professionals, and by organizing weekly runs along the Embarcadero along the water’s edge. Front Desk workers, housekeepers, housemen and members of the Sales Team have all participated and encouraged one another, making this a great team-building experience.
As an avid runner himself, Norbert says there are few places to run that are as lovely as the Embarcadero, which runs in front of the hotel, past landmarks like the Ferry Building, Fisherman’s Wharf, the Maritime Museum, Fort Mason, Crissy Field in the Presidio and even to the Golden Gate, depending on how far you want to go.
A crowning achievement for “Team Griffon” (the moniker assigned to those in the fitness club Norbert started) was when 11 of the Hotel Griffon staff members participated in the 2010 Bridge to Bridge walk/ run on October 28th. For all but 2 of the group, it was the first-ever participation in an organized running event. Excitement was in the air at the start and the sense of accomplishment at the end was undeniably tangible.
The run started outside the hotel at the Ferry Building and proceeded all the way to the Presidio. Participants could choose a 7k or 12k course. Most opted for the 12k run, or 7.45 miles for you non-runners, or non-metric system users! The Bridge to Bridge run is dubbed “Americas Most Beautiful Run” as the vistas of the bay, Alcatraz, the Golden Gate Bridge and the SF skyline make this a truly enjoyable event.
It was a proud day for Norbert and the staff as the run was the culmination of his year long quest to improve the health awareness of the staff, many of whom either did not think their bodies could complete the event at the beginning of the year and others who have been combating diabetes, high blood pressure, high cholesterol and similar aliments.
We are all proud of the achievements, dedication and determination of Norbert and “Team Griffon” and look forward to more of us participating in the year to come. I know it’s on more than one of our resolution lists! Next event for Team Griffon is the Kaiser ½ Marathon and 5K run on February 6th, 2011. See you there!
PALO ALTO, CA (April 18, 2011) — Palo Alto Mayor Sid Espinosa (pictured below at left) joined Eric Horodas, President of Greystone Hotels, to cut the ribbon on the new electric car charging stations at the Creekside Inn in Palo Alto, CA last Friday, April 15.
According to Mr. Luis Carreno, General Manager of the Creekside Inn, “We have been practicing green procedures which include recycling, green cleaning products, green amenities, and the installation of water and energy savings devices provided by the City of Palo Alto. We decided the car charging stations were a natural next step and received a grant from the United States Department of Energy and the American Recovery Act.”
