Committed to Sustainability
At Hotel Barcelona Universal, we aim to ensure the wellbeing of our guests and visitors, but also of our planet. Every day, we strive to contribute towards minimizing our ecological impact, promoting energy efficiency and offering services aligned with protecting the environment.
We have received the Biosphere Sustainable Lifestyle certification, which highlights our commitment to sustainability, awarded by Turisme de Barcelona, the Chamber of Commerce and Barcelona City Council. We also form part of Barcelona+Sustainable, a network of over 1,000 organizations committed to environmental, social and economic sustainability, working together to build a responsible city for its people and the environment. This commitment is aligned with the 17 Sustainable Development Goals (SDG) and the Paris Climate Accords through the World Charter for Sustainable Tourism +20.
The Hotel Barcelona Universal also boasts the Safe Travel accreditation, the first global certification in health and safety for travel and tourism, awarded by the World Travel & Tourism Council, ensuring the maximum efficiency and protection of all our guests. We have also been awarded Ecostars Silver-3E*** accreditation, a specific certification for hotels that rates an establishment’s environmental impact per overnight stay, recognized by international organizations including the World Tourism Organization and the Global Sustainable Tourism Council (GSTC), as well as national institutions such as the Mesa de Turismo de España,
In all our day-to-day operations, we strive to raise our guests’ awareness of the responsible use of resources, primarily water and energy.
Throughout our facilities, we ensure a high level of energy efficiency. We are currently updating our heating and air conditioning equipment to install a more energy-efficient system. Moreover, we have implemented a centralized temperature control system to enhance our energy management. We also have energy recovery systems in place in our dining rooms and lounges, which optimize the energy consumption in these areas to the maximum. In addition, we are fitting condensing boilers to replace the hotel’s previous system. The performance of the new boilers is far better, enabling us to reduce consumption and optimize the production of sanitary hot water.
We strive to raise our guests’ awareness of the responsible use of resources such as water by fitting faucet aerators and implementing a voluntary system of changing towels. We have also updated the water tank filling and chlorination system, enabling us to improve the consumption of chlorine and guarantee the effective disinfection of the water and optimizing water consumption by preventing leaks. Moreover, our automated chlorine monitoring system in the swimming pool, always supervised by qualified staff members, ensures the optimal chlorine and pH levels for our guests to enjoy a great swim.
We embrace a no paper philosophy, informing our guests via the Smart TV in the rooms and implementing the digitization of the administrative processes in reception. We strive to raise our guests’ awareness of the responsible use of resources such as water by fitting faucet aerators, replacing single-use soaps for dispensers in the bathrooms, and implementing a voluntary system of changing towels. In the rooms, the lighting system is activated using magnetic cards to reduce energy consumption.
In our kitchen, we aim to minimize waste and correctly separate it to facilitate its effective recycling, reuse or disposal in collaboration with the authorized waste managers and the public administration services.
At our hotel, we are committed to taking the utmost care of our facilities and the safety of our guests and employees, with a team of in-house and external technicians and maintenance experts. We conduct checks, inspections, training and simulations on a regular basis.
We promote and embrace our commitment to equality and diversity of our team, a key factor in our quality of our hospitality and the best possible customer service. In 2023, we are launching monthly information campaigns to reinforce our teams’ motivation and awareness with respect to sustainability.
Our Corporate Sustainability Report 2022 incorporates the company’s 2030 SDGs and the reduction of our carbon footprint achieved throughout the whole hotel chain between 2019 and 2022.
We believe that every step towards sustainability counts. We encourage all our guests and visitors to boost their awareness of the importance of their contribution towards protecting our environment, for the benefit of all of us, from Hotel Barcelona Universal.