Costa Rica Environment and Nature l Doubletree Resort social responsibility

DoubleTree Resort by Hilton Central Pacific – Costa Rica Our Environment

Protecting our environment is one of our top priorities. In compliance with Hilton Worldwide’s Sustainability Policies, we are committed to all the necessary actions to become a sustainable and responsible hotel for our community.

Being beautiful requires dedication

DoubleTree Resort by Hilton Puntarenas awarded the BLUE FLAG

A tropical paradise like the one you are going to visit, requires the interest of each of the people who inhabit it; programs regulating their use, which encourage a constant effort toward sustainable development, and are friendly to our environment. DoubleTree Resort by Hilton Central Pacific – Costa Rica cannot be the exception, we are the first hotel in the area to become aware of the irreparable damage being done to our planet. For the last few years we’ve walked hand in hand with government organizations in implementing programs that benefit our natural environmentfor the purpose of keeping the lush beauty of Puntarenas intact. We take pride that our resort is a strategic point of departure to explore the rest of our country.These programs are recognized both nationally and internationally by such organizations as the Blue Flag program and CST (Certification for Sustainable Turism); we are pleased to announce that the beach of DoubleTree Resort by Hilton Central Pacific, El Roble has been awarded the “BLUE FLAG” for its pristine beach.The Costa Rican institute, Laboratorio Nacional de Aguas de Acueductos y Alcantarillados (AyA), periodically checks the quality of the water from the beaches in Costa Rica in its laboratory to diagnose the sanitary water conditions in order to protect visitors to these costal regions. Each year AyA evaluates the conditions of different costal areas in Costa Rica and awards the “Blue Flag” to the beach communities that satisfy water quality standards, have access to drinking water, treatment facilities for residual water, environmental education, security and administration to keep beaches clean.The Ecological Blue Flag project was established by an initiative of hoteliers, the tourism institute, and costal communities to protect in an integrated way the beaches of Costa Rica. This Blue Flag campaign has been adapted from the European Union since 1985 in Costa Rica.The DoubleTree Resort beach, El Roble (Puntarenas) has been classified a Class A beach. This classification means satisfactory water quality of the beach, access to drinking water, water treatment facilities, trash cans, environmental education, security and administration.

What is CST all about?

It is a program that seeks to categorize and certify each tourism company according to the degree to which its operations comply to a model of sustainability.To this effect, four fundamental aspects are evaluated:

Physical-biological parameters
Evaluates the interaction between the company and its surrounding natural habitat.
Infrastructure and services (Exclusive for Lodging Companies)
Evaluates the management policies and the operational systems within the company and its infrastructure, regarding the energy saving, water polluting and waste handling policies and technology.
Service Management (Exclusive for Tour Operator Agencies)
Comprises the process by means of which, the company considering all the elements internal and external, and designs a turistic product in accordance with the trends of the market and the proper characteristics of the country and places in where to operate.
External Client
Evaluates the interaction of the company with its clients in terms of how much it allows and invites the client to be an active contributor to the company’s policies of sustainability.
Socio-economic environment
Evaluates the identification and interaction of the establishment with the adjacent communities, analysing for example, the degree in that the tourist companies answer to the growth and development of the region, with the generation of new employment or the achievement of benefits in pro of the collectivity.

How it works?

For each and every one of these items, a list of specific questions was designed to help evaluate how thoroughly the firm complies with a series of standards previously established.

Each and every one of the questions refers to an element of sustainability with which the firm should comply in order to qualify in any one of the different stages or levels of fulfillment.

Levels

To measure and fix these different levels, the CST program provides a system of “sustainability levels”", on a scale of 0 to 5, in which each number indicates the relative position of the firm in terms of sustainability.

What does it mean for the Tourist Companies to be categorized by the CST?
If the first level of a category is achieved (level 1), it means that the company has taken the first step on the process of sustainability. The higher levels correspond to stages that are each one more advanced than the previous one, peaking on level 5, which means that the company is considered outstanding in terms of sustainability.

In terms of sustainability, the degree of fulfillment signified by each level should be concomitant with the different aspects mentioned. For example, to achieve a level 3, it is necessary to complete at least 60% of the established conditions for the four areas evaluated: physical-biological parameters, infrastructure and services, service management (excusive for Tour Operator Agencies), external client and socio-economic environment. The level assigned to any company will always be the lowest level achieved in any of the areas. It is expected that this policy will encourage companies to advance towards the model of sustainability by giving the same degree of consideration and importance to each of the four areas evaluated.

The tourist that selects a tour company that has the logo of the CST can be sure that the company is engaged in actions, in all areas, to avoid negative impacts on the environment, culture and society.

The CST is an innovative program, which opens opportunities for business development in a sustainable way. The need to use recycled, reusable, and natural products, to use devices for energy and water savings, waste management, information and others, opens the door to a new market for environmentally and socially friendly products. This will generate a synergy among different economic sectors and an overall positive balance in terms of sustainability.

The DoubleTree Resort by Hilton Central Pacific – Costa Ricais located on level 3, and we are moving greatly to get the level 4, thus bringing us closer to the highest level of certification and commitment to the environment.

But very few of our visitors know the great effort that many Costa Ricans made to present a Costa Rica so friendly to the environment.

Come Up and discover the magic of our country. A natural paradise without artificial ingredients rather than their Ticos Pura Vida.

Our Commitment

At the Doubletree Resort by Hilton Central Pacific we are strongly committed to the protection of the environment and our community, which is why we declare that:

We oppose all extraction and selling of any marine or continental fauna or flora species.
We discourage and prohibit artificial animal feeders in our green areas, as well as feeding wild animals.
We prevent and denounce all selling and/or marketing of any national architectonic and/or archeological patrimony inside and outside our property.
We respect all cultures with whom we interact and coexist and we are committed to diminishing all negative impacts on live cultures, traditions and their heritage inside our national territory.
We strongly oppose and denounce any sexual crimes such as prostitution and/or sexual exploitation of children and adolescents.