Sustainability
Castillo de Monda - Unwind in History
These days, good business practice is making sure that you run your business in a sustainable way, looking out for the environment.
In the hotel & Restaurant business that’s no different, and even more important.
Gone are the days of single use toiletries and leaving the airconditioning running all day.
It’s time for all of us to “do our bit”
LED Lights
We changed all our interior and exterior lighting to “LED” lights. This did not only positively affect our electricity bill and consequently kept the room rates low, LED lights are also better for the environment as they use less electricity, don’t have any toxic elements in them (Mercury or UV emission) and last much longer so need to be replaced a lot less.
We also replaced our exterior beams that light up the castle at night with these LED lights. You’ll be surprised how much light you still get from these lights at night! Come and see for yourself!
Solar panels
At Castillo de Monda we like to protect our environment and simultaniously look after our bills so we can offer you the best deal on staying in our hotel!
In addition to the already installed solar panels for water heating, double glazing throughout the hotel and a very effective waste reduction plan, we now have 96 solar panels for electricity with a total capacity of 43 KWh.
And as an added value, our guests can park in the shade!
Timers, Movement and light detectors
In the main public areas of the castle, we have switched to lights that work on movement, set timers or automatically switch on/off when it gets light/dark. This way, the lights are only on when they are used or when it gets dark.
This includes the bathrooms, hallways and much of the exterior lights.
We noticed that since installing these automated light switches, the electricity consumption was reduced significantly and guests were never inconvenienced, it’s a win-win!
Separating the carton, glass & plastics
In some countries it’s the law. You have to separate your glass and paper and dispose of them in special bins. Unfortunately, in Spain, even though the option is there, the law is yet to be enforced.
At Castillo de Monda we like setting the right example, so all our glass and carton goes in separate bins and is disposed of accordingly.
We have also started to separate our plastics and of course our food waste is kept to a minimum.
Every little helps!
Salt Water Pool
Our pool is a salt water pool- Not only is this so much better for your skin, it’s a breath of fresh air for our environment!
Saltwater pools rely on an electrolytic chlorine generator (ECG). The generator separates the salt in the pool water into its two primary elements, one of which is chlorine. The chlorine is then circulated into the pool to sanitise and disinfect the water.
It all sounds very complicated, but really, it’s not! You still get a clean and hygienic pool, but without the harmful substances!
No Single Use Toiletries
We switched to soap dispensers for the showers and the toilets. Where we used to have to dispose of thousands of single-use toiletries each week, we now simply have to refill our soap dispensers.
Not only do you now get a much better quality of soaps that we have on offer, it is obvious why this change has made a huge impact on the environment.
Still need a toothbrush or razor? Please ask reception, they are happy to provide them to you. Now they will only be used when they really are necessary!
Reusable water bottles
nstead of plastic water bottles to take on your hike, we have reusable bottles filled with fresh mineral water (also from reusable 10 litre water bottles) available. To refill your bottle, we charge a small fee, and of course you can keep the bottle. Feel free to take them with you everywhere you go during your stay!
These bottles are not just used by our guests! Our staff is also using the reusable and refillable water bottles, greatly reducing the amount of plastic or glass bottles we used to throw away each week.
The bottles are also used for conferences and events and are very popular with the local community!
Deposit bottle returns
Wherever possible the glass bottles we use at Castillo de Monda are returned to the supplier in return for a deposit we pay on each bottle!
This way, everyone in the hotel is encouraged to make sure the bottles are returned to the crates and not dropped or disposed of in the bottle bin or, worse, the normal trash.
Electric Car Charging Stations
Ever the front runner when it comes to innovative ways to help the environment, Castillo de Monda teamed up with Porsche and installed 2 Electric Car Charging Stations in our parking lot.
For the proud owners of Porsches – the charging is 100% free, everyone else pays a fee to charge their car at the Hotel.
The electric charging station has become very popular with hotel guests as well as passing guests. Who would not want to charge their car whilst enjoying a delicious lunch with a view in our Restaurant Albacar!
Solar panels for warm water
All the hot water in the hotel is heated by no less than 26 solar panels which you can see on the roof of the hotel.
As we’re located on the Costa del Sol, you can imagine these solar panels are working in overdrive every day and give off plenty of hot water, even if we’re fully booked!
We have planned to add a further 96 solar panels in 2022/2023 to produce electricity and go even further “off-grid”. Of course this also helps with the ever rising electricity bills.
Insulation in all the rooms
All our rooms have double glazing to insulate the rooms in winter as well as the summer.
Keeping the warmth in in the winter (yes, it does get a little chilly at night in December!) and keeping the cool from the air conditioning in during summer.
Since the castle was rebuilt according to its original plans and construction techniques, you will find that naturally these thick walls keep the heat in during the colder winter months, and naturally keep the rooms nice and cool in the summer months – sometimes there’s not even the need for the air conditioning!
Keycard Technology
As any good hotel should have these days; the keycard will switch your electrics on or off when you leave or enter the room, except from your mini bar of course!
No more electricity wastage when guests accidentally leave the air conditioning running all day while they are out on a hike in the mountains!
You leave your key card in its designated slot while you are in the room to be able to use all the facilities. And then when you leave, simply take the card out of its slot, and everything in the room will be switched off.
Individual Airconditioning
Our air conditioning units are individual units that allow us to switch the air conditioning on and off per area instead of complete floors.
Since the castle has excellent insulation and thick walls, the air conditioning is not always needed in some areas, regardless if it’s winter or summer.
Having individual units we can control the temperature in each room with ease, and save on our electricity usage.
Paper straws and recycled crockery
We did away with plastic straws a long while ago and replaced them with natural reed or paper straws which work just as well, if not better!
We also like to look at our trash to see what we can reuse, we found that certain tins have a great rustic design and can be reused to serve our cutlery and napkins on our terraces where it can be windy.
You will see dotted in and around the hotel things we decided were too pretty to throw out and reused them to replace single use or plastic items.
