RIU Palace Aquarelle showcases hotel chain’s push for self-sufficiency, sustainability

WESTERN BUREAU:

RIU Palace Aquarelle, located in Falmouth, is set to open its doors to guests on May 4 and with 753 rooms, and will become RIU Resorts’ largest five-star hotel in Jamaica. Speaking at a sneak preview event held on property for local media on Thursday, construction manager at RUI, Francene Wright Acosta, shared that property will bear 795 solar panels, a push for self-sufficiency at RIU Resorts.

This will cover about 10 per cent of the resort’s total energy use and is part of RIU’s Sustainable Energy Transition Plan.

“RIU is highlighting sustainability as it regards to solar energy, and this is our first hotel that we have introduced that concept.”

The introduction of these solar panels is expected to produce approximately 470,000 kilowatts of energy each year, and according to RIU’s electrical engineer, James Estrany, “this will be saving annually 470,000 megawatts and we are very proud that we can reach this”.

“This project belongs to our transitional plans to become more environmentally friendly and is one of the pillars of our strategy to reach that goal,” said Estrany.

“Installing solar panels in the Caribbean, especially on tall buildings like this, is always a challenge because of the risk of hurricanes, but we came up with a solution with two of the manufacturers and we are proud to have been able to put it to work. This will reduce the emissions of CO2 from 200,000 tonnes,” the electrical engineer added.

In addition to the solar panels installed, RIU’s Regional Director of Operations, Frank Sondern, says RIU Palace Aquarelle will also host “a state-of-the-art sewage plant” that is expected to play an integral role in the hotel’s water treatment plant

He said this will be RIU Resorts’ most technologically advanced sewage plant across the Caribbean.

“I would say not even only for our hotel chain, [but] overall, in the Caribbean,” Sondern said.

“It will help with the water treatment, so the filtration process is called ultra filtration and prevents the passage of any solids, bacteria and pathogens greater that 0.3 micrometre. And we are going to be able to use all the water for irrigation,” he said.

“We have two heat machines that will help with the heating and cooling so we can save a lot of gas. There are quite a few measures in place for sustainability,” Sondern added.

The RIU Palace Aquarelle is the seventh five-star hotel by the Spanish hotel chain, since its entry to Jamaican shores in 2001 and according to RIU’s director of sales, Niurka Garcia-Linton, the hotel is expecting an influx of guests when it officially opens its doors in three weeks.

“The property will be opened on May 4, and we have an expectation of ending the month surpassing 70 per cent. For the summer, we are expecting that this property will surpass 80 per cent occupancy, which also speaks volume to what the destination is able to produce,” said Garcia-Linton.

At Riu Aquarelle, Garcia-Linton said, there will be 536 double occupancy rooms, 180 for triple, 26 family rooms, 11 suites, and 29 rooms are swim-ups. There will also be six restaurants, serving Italian, Asian and Jamaican cuisine, among others; six bars, and six swimming pools. Other facilities, she said, include a Kid’s Club RiuLand, a wellness centre, a gym, and several gardening areas.

She added that Jamaica’s local market has been instrumental in RIU Resorts’ success on the island.