Berea’s historic Boone Tavern Hotel and Restaurant is a contender as the Best Eco-Friendly Hotel in a travel award contest conducted by USA TODAY. A panel of experts selected Boone Tavern as a nominee in the latest 10 Best Readers’ Choice award. The contest, which is being promoted by USA TODAY, gives voters four weeks to vote for the candidate of their choice among 20 U.S. hotels that have gone above and beyond to promote environmental sustainability. All voting is digital and the 10Best Readers’ Choice Award contest is accessible on the 10Best.com website. Voters can choose Boone Tavern at: http://www.10best.com/awards/travel/best-eco-friendly-hotel/
As the contest organizers point out, Historic Boone Tavern Hotel and Restaurant proves that you don’t need to be new to be ‘green.’ The hotel, built in 1909, has earned LEED Gold status through its eco-forward renovation, completed in 2009, which added an energy efficient heating and cooling system, energy star lighting, “green approved” cleaning products and a comprehensive recycling program in partnership with Berea College that owns the hotel.
All the hotels in the contest have earned certification in Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design (LEED) by the U.S. Green Building Council. Boone Tavern achieved the Gold standard by LEED.
“Boone Tavern is competing with ‘green’ hotels all across the United States,” said Gary McCormick, General Manager of Boone Tavern Hotel and Restaurant. “Many others are modern properties in large, metropolitan areas, including New York, Chicago, Las Vegas, San Francisco, and Beverly Hills, California, so the competition is keen. Even so, we know that our guests like the historic charm and Southern hospitality that blend with state-of-the art, environmentally friendly facilities making Boone Tavern the ‘greenest’ hotel in Kentucky and this region.”
In choosing the 20 nominees for Best Eco-Friendly Hotel, 10Best editors considered the input of a panel of hotel experts, as well as industry awards, LEED certification level and guest reviews.
McCormick says the contest allows each person to vote for Boone Tavern Hotel and Restaurant once a day during the run of the contest, which ends Monday, August 1st, 2016 at 11:59am EDT. “We hope our guests will vote for Boone Tavern daily and will encourage their friends, families, and co-workers to do the same,” he said.