The Considerate Hoteliers Association (CHA) is delighted to announce the association's very first 'Familiarisation Visit', which will take place on Tuesday, 30 June 2009 at the award-winning West Lodge Park at Hadley Wood in Hertfordshire, commencing at 10am for a 10.30am start and ending at 3pm.

The visit - the first in a series of CHA familiarisation visits nationwide to exemplary member hotels - has been designed to give hoteliers the opportunity to learn first-hand about the considerable benefits of CHA membership and view a leading environmental best practice hotel to see how sustainability can not only benefit the local community and the planet generally, but also bottom-line profits.

West Lodge Park is a luxury country house hotel that has been owned by the Beale family since 1945. Beales Hotels, also owner of ultra contemporary Beales Hotel in Hatfield, is renowned for its best practice sustainability initiatives which have earned the company top environmental awards (for details visit: www.bealeshotels.co.uk).

The programme includes presentations and tours comprising:

• An introduction to CHA and its people
• Introductions to the environmental approach of Beales Hotels
• The identification of best cost saving actions recently taken
• The importance of the role of Green Teams in hotels
• A guided tour of the property, demonstrating all environmental innovations, techniques and technologies that have saved money and benefited the hotel's bottom line
• A tour of West Lodge Park's arboretum, with 800 species of trees, and external areas
• The chance to meet some of Beales Hotels' key suppliers and understand how the relationship with the group's suppliers works
• The opportunity to meet CHA specially selected suppliers
• The importance of Corporate Social Responsibility - especially now!
• An open session/clinic, providing the opportunity for delegates to meet specialists - such as carbon management expert Carbon Clear and suppliers - to discuss environmental issues currently being faced and the means to resolve them

The cost of attending the familiarisation visit will be £65 for non-CHA members; free for the first CHA member, with a 50 per cent discount for each additional person (£32.50) representing that member establishment.

There are also special 10 per cent discount offers on CHA annual membership available to attendees - who are members of the British Hospitality Association (BHA), the Institute of Hospitality and BAHA (British Association of Hospitality Accountants) - for their hotels.

For further information and for bookings, please contact John Firrell at: [email protected]; telephone: 01308 482313, or complete the form on the CHA website: www.consideratehoteliers.com

CHA is an association of like-minded hoteliers, whose purpose it is to encourage, assist, cajole and motivate fellow hoteliers to adopt sustainable, environmentally friendly and socially responsible practices.