Thoughtful comfort with a lighter footprint
A guest room should feel calm, comfortable and cared for. At Horwood House, we also believe it should be considered.
The Guest Room pillar brings together the choices we make behind the scenes and the choices guests can make during their stay, from reusable glass water bottles and bamboo key cards to energy management, refillable amenities, water-saving measures and our Crisis UK room-servicing opt-out initiative.
Our aim is to make sustainability feel natural, thoughtful and easy to be part of.
Sleep Lighter: Skip a Service, Donate a Meal
For guests staying two nights or more, we offer the option to skip daily room servicing.
For every night a guest chooses to opt out, Horwood House donates the equivalent cost of a hot meal to Crisis UK, the national homelessness charity.
Since the hotel became independently owned, this initiative has helped us donate over £38,000 to Crisis.
The message on our recycled bamboo door hangers reads:
Thank you for choosing to postpone your daily room service today, it means we can donate the cost of a hot meal to our partner charity, Crisis UK on your behalf. Crisis UK help those who are struggling with homelessness to get back on their feet. It makes sense to us — a place where people rest their heads every night on a comfy pillow, to support them. Everyone deserves to have a safe place to sleep. Thank you for helping us to help them.
This initiative helps reduce unnecessary water, energy and chemical use while supporting people experiencing homelessness and hardship.
Thoughtful Room Choices
We continue to review the materials and products used in our guest rooms, replacing where we can with more responsible alternatives.
Our guest room choices include:
- Recycled bamboo key cards
- Bamboo room-service opt-out door hangers
- Bamboo toilet tissue
- Reusable glass water bottles
- Bulk bathroom dispensers instead of single-use plastic toiletry bottles
- Cruelty-free and more considered amenities
- Reusable fabric laundry bags
- Recycling facilities
- Fairtrade or ethically sourced tea, coffee and sugar
- Dairy alternative milk options
Our bamboo key cards are reused to reduce unnecessary waste, and we issue one room key per room where possible to help prevent extra cards being left in energy slots.
Water-Wise Comfort
We have reduced our reliance on purchased bottled water by offering filtered still and sparkling water on site in reusable glass bottles.
This means no unnecessary food miles, less packaging waste and fresh still or sparkling water available for guests.
We also have a number of water-saving features across the estate, including:
- Tap and shower restrictors to reduce water flow
- Dual-flush toilets
- Valves fitted to public staff toilets and urinals
- Energy-saving laundry systems through our laundry contractor
- Rainwater collection for irrigation
- Water softeners
- Hydroballs in garden beds to reduce irrigation needs
For guests who prefer bottled water, we also offer Thirsty Planet water, which supports Pump Aid through donations that help fund clean water projects in sub-Saharan Africa.
Smarter Energy
Energy use across a hotel is complex, especially on a historic estate made up of buildings from different periods. At Horwood House, we combine technology with practical daily management.
Our energy-saving initiatives include:
- LED lighting
- Motion-sensitive lighting in toilets and bedroom corridors
- Photocell-controlled external lighting across the estate
- Boiler time controls
- Smart meter data and utility billing reviews
- Night energy-efficiency walks to turn off unnecessary appliances
- Carefully monitored heating, lighting and air conditioning
- Energy-efficient equipment where possible
- Key card-controlled electricity systems in some guest rooms
We have improved our EPC rating from C to B following energy-efficiency works.
We are also exploring motion-sensitive lighting in meeting rooms and clearer temperature guidance for meeting spaces as part of our next stage of energy reduction work.
Bathroom and Spa Choices
In guest bathrooms, we use bulk or refillable dispensers to reduce single-use plastic toiletry waste.
Our public restroom amenities are free from parabens and petrol or mineral-oil-derived ingredients where relevant, and we use eco-friendly cleaning preparations where possible.
In the spa, we use Caudalie products. Caudalie is a family company based in France, using grape seed extracts from vineyards. The brand is a member of 1% for the Planet and contributes 1% of its global turnover to environmental organisations. As of 2026, Caudalie has planted over 10 million trees.
This supports our wider commitment to choosing products and suppliers with stronger environmental values.
Linen, Towels and Laundry
Guests are encouraged to reuse towels and linens where possible. Information in bathrooms explains how guests can help reduce water, energy and chemical use during their stay.
Our linen is hired from Johnsons Hotel Linen, which has a Silver EcoVadis rating, placing it in the top 15% of assessed companies globally and the top 4% of the linen industry. Johnsons Hotel Linen textiles are reused and repurposed across its sites, helping extend their lifecycle.
