Sustainability:
Villa Caletas Sustainable commitment

Electrical Savings

Villa Caletas Hotel has taken the responsibility to make awareness to its personnel as well as its guests, of the importance of caring and protecting the environment. Villa Caletas has started the implementation of the last energy savings technologies, making large and important changes like, the use of photo cells in almost the total of the public areas of the hotel, it is also outstanding the exchange of normal electric bulbs to high technology ones, saving more energy and being more friendly to the environment.

In other areas and departments of the hotel, they have tried to introduce new proceedings for energy savings, like the use of movement sensors on lights in our storage rooms and different public areas of the hotel. Villa Caletas has also started with the installation of solar panels in the rooms, designed to recollect the irradiated solar energy converting it in electricity.

To summarize, Villa Caletas know they have a long way to go to be an example in the hotel market and to make other businesses or companies follow their steps. The goal is, little by little create an image to provoke a potential impact in our surrounding natural environment. For this reason the hotel took actions, like asking clients to cooperate, putting lights and air-conditioning off when going out of the room and if it is not necessary, providing like us, all their collaboration with a common goal: looking after the environment and conservation.

Helping our communities

With reference to the conservation of the environment, Villa Caletas Hotel has seen the need to participate in the progress, advances and changes of its nearby communities. From that feeling, starts the initiative to contribute with monthly donations as well as donations of fruits or needs of the help centers, foundations and communities, for example: the “Asociación de Desarrollo Específico Pro Cen Cinai y Benestar Comunal” and elderly homes like “Centro Diurno Josefina Ugalde Céspedes”, both located in Quebrada Ganado. We also give to Cen Cinai, an annual donation from personal savings from the Food and Beverage employees.

Villa Caletas have started a project of help in different areas like infrastructure, services, facilities and monetary resources to different institutions, to which a helping hand is very important. The hotel also give donations to some churches and support with paint and other materials to improve school facilities like the “Escuela República de Guyana” in Playa Azul, the “Iglesia Católica de Tárcoles”, “Iglesia Cristiana Remanente Fiel de Tárcoles”, “Caja Costarricense del Seguro Social” and the “Liceo Quebrada Ganado”.

To finish, this property also create awareness, to support all activities directed to social wellness, being of great importance to the communities like health and arts fairs, as well as recollection of funds programs, because only with everybody’s help they will make advances in our common goal, to be an important part to provide a better quality of life to all the people of the communities.

Training Programs

Villa Caletas have created a training program addressed to entities in charge of the hotel education, with the purpose of sharing acquired knowledge to produce capable and competent employees in this industry. These training programs are given in different areas, for example:

Customer service, being this one of the most important factors in the touristic sector.
Financial studies.
Costs.
Housekeeping.
General cooking.
Banquets set ups and wines.

Compostable & Reusable Products

In the hotel constant effort to cooperate with the environment, Villa Caletas has decided to replace foam and plastic containers, used for butter, mayonnaise and some other products consumed daily by guests, and go back to our reusable sugar pots, butter dishes, etc. These polluting materials, despite its benefits like dampness resistance and its easy handling, have a huge negative impact in human health and the environment, due to more than a century of decomposition period, not being biodegradable. These products are also fatal for the marine fauna, and they segregate toxic substances causing damages to human beings.

Because all of the above, the staff work for the introduction of new compostable packages, made from palm fiber and natural oil from the same palm, this is a 100% friendly option to the environment, reducing contamination and degrading in less than 90 days, transforming itself in a natural fertilizing. This looses small amounts of CO2, penetrating into the ground as nutrients, water and humus. We also use reusable containers and put soap, shampoo and conditioner dispensers in every room and public area, to eliminate the use of small plastic bottles. We think this is the best way to motivate our guests to participate in our environmental conservation project.

Recycling - Why recycling?

Villa Caletas can confirm that recycling is one of the activities helping to resolve part of the problems caused for millions of tons of solid garbage produced daily. This is the reason why the hotel decided to start a waste management education program, for their personnel as well as their guests. This is the way Villa Caletas wish to become aware of the fact that a hotel can save large amounts of non renewal natural resources like oil, carbon and metals; this place also save time and money in the production of new products. This project consists in classifying garbage to be placed in well identified containers for plastic, paper and glass.

Villa Caletas are also providing training to their employees as well as interested people from the surrounding communities, to create awareness of the importance of recycling, always focused in a clean environment to our future generations.

Reforestation

Costa Rica is worldwide known for its exuberant landscape, green areas, natural beauty and its great variety of flora and fauna. Unfortunately, deforestation has knocked to our doors and many of our woods and forests have started to disappear. Villa Caletas firmly believe that it is not enough to see over the window and complaint over the consequences of humans acts, observing year after year the lost of part of nature that makes Costa Rica a valued green destination.

Since the construction of Villa Caletas the reforestation of the region has been a fundamental priority, planting thousands and thousands of trees every year so guests can continue enjoying the beauty of the surrounding landscape and to be the habitat for many species of the region, like scarlet macaws, toucans, hummingbirds, raccoons and others. One of the main projects this hotel has boost up is the “Friends of the Forest” one, inviting the guest to participate in the conservation and reforestation of our tropical forest by buying a tree for $20 and if the client wishes, plant the tree by themselves, on the contrary, an employee of the hotel will plant it for them. The recollected funds in this project are used to help with social programs.