Description | Vendor
Case Study 1 - Las Vegas Hotel
Many hotels are replacing individual shampoos, lotion containers and soap bars with dispensers for liquid personal care products in their guest rooms. They have found that using dispensers and purchasing bulk quantities yield large savings while having little impact on their guests. Furthermore, the dispensers are more environmentally sound than the individual containers for shampoos, lotions and soaps because of the reduction in solid waste destined for landfills.
One hotel and casino in Las Vegas, Nevada installed liquid dispensers in all of their 300 rooms. Previously this hotel and casino provided individual containers of bar soap, shampoo/conditioner and lotion. With the average cost for the individual containers at approximately $0.18 per bottle, the hotel was spending roughly $27,800 per year. After installing the dispensers, the cost for toiletries is approximately $4,700 per year. In fact, the hotel has upgraded the quality of their personal care products while realizing a large savings.
The hotel invested $13,000 in the cost of the dispensers: each guestroom contains a single unit for lotion at the vanity and a two-chamber unit for a combination shampoo/conditioner and liquid soap in the shower. Factoring in savings from avoided disposal costs and labor costs, the actual annual savings total of over $30,000 with a payback time of less than one year.
Benefits
This hotel and casino has realized several benefits, including
- A $30,000 - $35,000 savings each year
- Reduced labor required to replenish amenities
- Less maintenance required to clear drains clogged with soap solids
- Positive guest feedback
- Payback period of less than one year on their investment
Case Study 2 - Best Western Oceanside Inn
Like many hotel chains in Europe, many hotels here in the United States are discovering the ease of using personal care product dispensers in their guest rooms. Replacing the individual disposable soaps and bottles of shampoo are decorative fixtures that are installed in the shower and at the vanity.
In 1998, the General Manager at the Best Western Oceanside Inn in Oceanside, California decided to install soap and shampoo/conditioner dispensers in each guest room, mostly because he found the appearance of the dispensers attractive. The savings that the dispensers generate is merely an added bonus.
Guest comments have been positive, although there is still an occasional visitor who requests an individual soap bar, or bottle of shampoo or lotion. Best Westerns are required to provide bar soaps to their guests. The Oceanside Inn provides the requisite bar of soap and in addition has two personal care product dispensers: a dispenser at the vanity that dispenses lotion and a three-chamber dispenser in the shower that contains liquid soap, shampoo and conditioner.
Benefits
In addition to substantial cost savings, the other benefits that the Best Western Oceanside Inn has realized include:
- Attractive look that appears to be an upgrade to the guestrooms
- Easier to maintain, no daily replenishment
- Less material to order and store
