Georgia Hotels: The Jekyll Island Hampton Inn & Suites Story
Hampton Inn & Suites Jekyll Island is one of the few oceanside eco-friendly hotels built using sustainable practices. The Jekyll Island hotel is proud to preserve and honor one of the eastern seaboard's few remaining true maritime forest and dune eco-systems. New Castle Hotels & Resorts and co-developers Jekyll Ocean Oaks, LLC, an affiliate of the ownership group of the island's existing Jekyll Island Club Hotel, saw an opportunity to fill a need for additional hotel rooms on the island. They built the Hampton Inn and Suites as a joint venture. Based on state laws, this was a daunting task for the developers as they strove to comply with state laws and use leading edge sustainability practices when constructing the hotel.
Respecting Our Environment
State law restricts development on Jekyll Island to less than 35% of its upland area with the rest of the island remaining as undeveloped natural conservation area. Hampton Inn & Suites is one of the Jekyll Oceanside hotels to have embraced the guidelines and become part of the island hotel community creating eco friendly hotels that respect and preserve the natural environment and historic character of Jekyll Island.
Sustainable Development
Leading edge sustainability practices in the construction stage of the hotel included adjusting the hotel footprint to maximize the ability to preserve trees, some as high as 55 ft tall. Other practices included the mapping of tree locations and planting new live oak trees to replace ones in ill health. Recycling materials such as steel, copper, concrete and aluminum from the demolition of the older motel on the site was utilized in the construction. Mounting elevated exterior down lighting on exiting trees avoided cost and energy use related to manufacturing and installing aluminum poles for parking areas.
Eco Friendly Beach Access
A leader in eco friendly hotels, the Hampton inn & Suites Jekyll Island provides guests with beach access while maintaining the unique natural area with dunes ranging from 18 to 30 feet above sea level with an elevated wooden walkway, minimizing the impact on flora and fauna providing guests a scenic route to access the Jekyll Island oceanside.
Hotel Operations with Ongoing Commitment | Earth Friendly Daily Practices
Daily hotel operations maximize the Jekyll Island hotel's eco-friendly nature with sustainable practices that include rainwater collection, reduction of laundry energy consumption by 50%, use of solar panels reducing carbon dioxide and other greenhouse gases, ENERGY STAR rated appliances, low-flow toilets and 40% reduction of water used for bathing with water conserving showerheads.
The Hampton Inn & Suites Jekyll Island opened January 2010 and is the first new hotel to be built on the island in 35 years and among the first eco-friendly hotels, unique to Jekyll Island Georgia hotels.
