Message from the General Manager

Greetings!

At the Sheraton Dallas Hotel, going "green" in March is about more than celebrating St. Patrick's Day! Here at the hotel, we are celebrating our year-round efforts to nurture Mother Earth by implementing creative energy-efficient initiatives that have already produced significant results and continue to be well-received by our guests.

When we started planning the renovation of the hotel, we carefully thought about all the aspects that needed a fresh, new look and what we wanted the final results to be. Through our décor selections, which focused using earth-tones and organic imagery, we worked for countless hours to produce a relaxing environment for our guests during their stay at the Sheraton. Along the way, we realized that there were also many opportunities for the hotel to be more environmentally friendly by incorporating many energy-efficient products and state-of-the-art technology to help reduce our energy and waste costs.

One of my favorite initiatives is the revamping of the hotel's laundry system. We cleared out our old, traditional equipment, and installed a new, energy-efficient laundry system designed to reduce water and sewer demands. The system consists of a tunnel washer that allows the hotel to clean 110 pounds of laundry every two-and-a-half minutes and has reduced the hotel's energy and water consumption by 70 percent. The Sheraton Dallas is the only hotel in the region to currently utilize this technology.

Another program that has received rave-reviews from our guests is the "Make a Green Choice" program, which has seen a 17.2 percent increase in participation. This program rewards guests with their choice of 500 Sheraton Preferred Guest points or a $5 coupon for any of the hotel's restaurant venues when they choose not to have housekeeping attend to the room every day.

Our guests have also expressed appreciation for our inclusion of smart thermostats in the guest rooms. This next generation of temperature control technology includes both motion and infrared sensors, enabling the system to detect the presence of a guest in the room even when there is no constant movement. This means that guests no longer have to worry about the air conditioner shutting down in the middle of the night when there is no constant movement to trigger the traditional motion detectors. As a result of this technology, HVAC run time in guest rooms has been reduced by 45.3%.

For more details on the Hotel's many "green" initiatives, visit our website, www.SheratonDallasHotel.com/green

By the way, we have some great events coming up at the hotel! Wednesday, March 17, is St. Patrick's Day and your friends will be "green" with envy if you come to Draft for a St. Paddy's Day drink and don't invite them to join you. And, to help our guests get into the spirit of "March Madness," Draft is hosting a watch party on Thursday, March 25. For more details about the watch party, and other events taking place at the hotel, become a fan of our Facebook page!

We look forward to seeing you soon and enjoy the start of spring!

Ray Hammer