2025 Sustainable Leadership Award

The Palace, a Luxury Collection Hotel, Madrid, owned by Archer Hotel Capital, has been awarded the Sustainable Leadership Award at the Traveling for Happiness 2025 awards for promoting an ambitious comprehensive renovation that places sustainability at the heart of its management model. The project stands out for integrating environmental and quality criteria from the architectural design phase through to execution, with a special focus on carbon embedded in construction, an approach that is still uncommon in luxury hotel renovations.

The renovation of its 470 rooms, carried out in a protected historic building with more than a century of history, demonstrates that it is possible to combine heritage preservation and the high standards of the luxury segment with a significant reduction in environmental impact, supported by the selection of low-impact materials, design optimization, and the application of circular economy principles.

Innovation, efficiency, and environmental leadership

This new model has incorporated energy efficiency strategies and advanced lighting and climate control systems, contributing to significant energy savings. Thanks to this approach, a room has a built-in carbon footprint of only 18.25 kg/m²/year over its lifetime, approximately one-third of its annual operational carbon footprint.

This commitment is reflected in the hotel's attainment of renowned environmental certifications such as EMAS, ISO 14001, and BREEAM, as well as its ongoing process of obtaining Green Key certification. The hotel also has a Green Committee that meets regularly and involves the entire team in the implementation of an ESG strategy, which integratesenvironmental criteria related to energy, emissions, water use, waste management, and biodiversity; social criteria (Social) linked to employee well-being, diversity, equality, community impact, and a responsible supply chain; and governance criteria (Governance) associated with ethics, transparency, regulatory compliance, and decision-making processes.

Continuity and an inspiring model for the sector

Beyond a one-off measure, the sustainable renovation of The Palace is part of a long-term roadmap aimed at continuing to improve the building's energy efficiency. Among the next steps planned is the implementation of aerothermal energy, which will replace the current natural gas heating system, further reducing emissions associated with the hotel's operations.

This project positions The Palace, a Luxury Collection Hotel, as a benchmark for sustainable leadership within the tourism sector, demonstrating that responsible transformation is compatible with excellence, heritage conservation, and the generation of economic and environmental value. It is an inspiring example of how the tourism sector can move towards sustainable development through innovation and real commitment.