The Ritz-Carlton Secretly Does Good

I recently stayed at the Ritz-Carlton in Rose Hall, Jamaica (remember the Jerk Center?), and found out they were doing all kinds of great stuff for the local community -- and that guests can get involved, too!

It's okay if you're surprised. So was I. We don't always think of big, luxury chains as being do-gooders.

See this blackboard? It's part of an orphanage I painted with a group of corporate event planners; we all got the chance to bond, and the kids got a better school. Yeah, the RC had professionals come in after us to clean up our mess finish (thank goodness), but we did our darndest. This sort of thing is going on at Ritz-Carlton hotels all over the world as part of their Community Footprints program, through which they donated $8.55 million in cash and 57,000 hours of volunteer work in 2008.

The trouble is, part of sophistication is modesty. The Ritz-Carlton doesn't want to brag about their work. I honestly didn't know much about Community Footprints until I was hours from hitting the orphanage. "We don't want it to appear self-serving," says Verona Carter, Area Director of Public Relations for Mexico and the Caribbean.

Having found this kind of thing (modesty) problematic in trying to bring you good news from elite companies like the Ritz-Carlton, I conducted a poll on Gadling.com --  "In this age, where we crave more corporate transparency, do we just want to know the bad things that our large chains are doing, or do we want to know the good things?" At the time of writing this, 82.6 percent of responders said "Yes, I want to know," while a small but significant 17.4 percent said "No, it would be self-serving." I wonder if that 17.4 percent would mind if the Ritz-Carlton weren't doing anything at all. They wouldn't, know, right?

For the record, the Ritz-Carlton is also partnering with Jean-Michel Cousteau to teach children about conservation with their Ambassadors of the Environment program -- children with, need I say it, the resources to grow up and make a difference.

And good news for all of us, Senior Vice President Ezzat Coutry remarked that he's seen a change in luxury consumers' attitude toward sustainability in general over the last few years. "It used to be that if we wanted to do it [conserve energy, water, etc.] in the back of the house, that was fine but they didn't want to have to see it, or feel guilty about it. That's changing now." The hotels are able to save tons of water and energy by encouraging guests to reuse towels and bed linens -- with just a simple paper notice left on the bed and in the bathroom, nothing you can't toss aside if you're not in the mood to be eco-friendly.

But then, of course, you should probably go to the Jerk Center.

If you're interested in getting involved with the local community next time you visit a Ritz-Carlton, ask about their Community Footprints programs!

Photos by Annie Scott.