Site Visit - Omni Fort Worth

Site: Omni Fort Worth
Host: Mike Davis
http://www.omnihotels.com/findahotel/fortworth.aspx

The Omni Hotel in Fort Worth was hoppin' on a Saturday afternoon. It's a busy place on the weekends with reunions, weddings, and vacationers. It's easy to see why sustainability iniatives could take a backseat in the busiest of times when employees are just trying to survive and don't have time to go the extra mile to conserve.

 The Omni has 614 rooms plus 84 condos available for purchase. According to our guide Mike, 22 of the conds have sold since the property was developed. Unfortunately for the Omni, many of the condos were finished at a challenging time in the late 2000's which has made sales difficult. If I remember correctly, the asking price for a standard 800 sf condo had decreased down under $3/ft from a high of near $5/ft.

The energy needs of a hotel of the Omni's size are tremendous. The average electric bill varies between $115,000 and $160,000 on a monthly basis according to Mike. The property has three 600 ton chillers that are used for air conditioning. The chiller system is monitored through a computer system, which allows the technicians to monitor the temperature remotely.

There are areas where the Omni could improve their focus on energy conservation, although I don't see them as guilty of behaving any differently than any major hotel. The Omni focuses on providing an excellent customer experience moreso than they focus on energy conservation. A few ideas that come to mind that could potentially help improve the efficency of any major hotel with minimal impact:
- adding a recycling program using high quality recycling containers. The hotel reported that guests may respond negatively to recycle bins, but I disagree and think that many customers may appreciate their efforts
- replacing current light fixtures once they die with more efficient lighting
- encouraging guests to conserve water by reusing towels on multi-night stays (many hotels do this, the Omni may have a program like this that I was unaware of)
- utilizing their rooftop garden for producing fresh products that could be used in the restaurant. They have plenty of space to farm produce if they have some on their staff that has the capability

Overall, the Omni is a nice but busy hotel that is focused on operating a profitable business more than they are concerned with creating efficencies. They seemed to understand that they could be more efficient but that short term concerns and customer service currently take precedence, which I completely understand. The Omni would benefit from a third-party review of their operations with suggestions on how they can easily make improvements. Many improvements could pay for themselves if implemented properly. Perhaps some intelligent, forward-thinking MSRE student could make a business out of helping busy businesses become more efficient ...