Green Hotel Sustainability Initiatives

Eendracht has installed an Electric Vehicle (EV) Charging point for its guests. The EV point is connected to the nationwide GridCars network and can be utilized by all EV car manufacturers available in South Africa (Audi, BMW, Jaguar etc.) by means of a RFID card and App system. Both Type 1 and Type 2 points are available with up to maximum charging capacity of 22kw DC power. The countrywide network of live publicly available charging points is obtainable on GridCars website.

Our partner hotel – Montagu Country Hotel in Montagu – has also recently installed a similar EV charging point. It is a beautiful two-hour drive via Route 62 away from Eendracht. Just a good distance away for the average EV!

Our management philosophy is that we do not do business for short term profits, but for long term gains – therefore we have embraced the green philosophy even before it came into fashion.

When the Hotel was rebuilt in 1997, the sun’s angles were calculated to maximize the heating and cooling possibilities. Extra isolation was placed wherever possible and shutters, blackout curtains, etc. were used. From the start we used Golden Products’ biodegradable cleaning materials and a programme was introduced to save water by not washing towels unnecessarily. More examples: Before Eskom introduced subsidies for water heating, we already installed the best available systems. As soon as CFL lights were available, we installed them and are now all replaced with LED lights. Subsequently we installed air conditioners that work with inverters and use a fraction of the power of a normal air conditioner. All the TVs are low wattage LED and we use an induction stove top in our kitchen, along with gas.

More recently we have added heat pumps to the geysers to eliminate any use of elements. We also installed a PV Solar System. We are thus counteracting load shedding ensuring guests always have a comfortable stay and going greener.

From the onset, we tried to minimize our footprint in the environment and will continue doing just that.