The hunt for a San Francisco hotel for our wedding week was a marathon. Why? Because I'm picky, okay?
But like, for good reason. Let me hit you with the facts:
★ Our wedding has an aesthetic. A mood, if you will. A vibe. Because we aren't traveling around the city for photos (that's going to be a NO from me on transportation costs, thank you very much), we really needed our hotel to be stunning. Our hotel isn't going to just be where we lay our heads down at night, but honestly a really big part of our wedding day photos.
★ I've been making a BIG effort to have our wedding (and thus, our vendors) align with our personal values. We really hate waste. We aren't perfect - we still have paper towels around the house. We are; however, making small steps to be better. We use rubber bags instead of disposable plastic, we use 100% recycled paper towels and toilet paper, etc. When picking a hotel, I really wanted to find one that had the same sustainable mindset that KB and I do.
Enter, the Omni San Francisco.
Spoiler alert: we'll be staying at the Omni San Francisco for our wedding. PERIOD. I'll be doing an entire blog post dedicated to how to make your hotel feel like home the night before your wedding (anyone else out there a mega anxious bride/human like myself?), but I actually wanted to dedicate one entire post just to the Omni's "green" initiatives. I'm that impressed by their efforts.
Let's break down why the Omni San Francisco is my only hotel recommendation in SF and why you have to add it to your list for your next visit to the city.
The Omni San Francisco has a jaw droopingly high diversion rate
Alright, let's start with, "what the heck is a diversion rate?" According to CleanRiver.com, "Your waste diversion rate represents how much of waste you divert from your facility without burn (incineration) or buy (landfill). When you are looking to improve the success of your recycling program it is critical to know your current waste diversion rate as a benchmark." Basically "diversion" is where the heck your trash ends up at the end of the day. The goal? HIGH diversion.
My amazing rep at the Omni San Francisco actually clued me in that the Omni used to have ten black bins for the entire hotel (think those giant trash bins you have for your very own home) - now they're down to three. My jaw seriously dropped - we have one bin for our entire apartment (10 people in this building max) and the Omni has three for their entire hotel.
The Omni San Francisco actually won the Hotel Hero's Sustainability Award two years ago specifically because of their high diversion rate.
All personal care items are repurposed and sent to countries in need
The Omni currently partners with the Clean the World program to recycle personal care products at the hotel (all those shampoos and conditioners you have waiting for you on your counter!). After a guest departs, personal care items are collected from the room then shipped to the Clean The World facility where they sanitize these items and ship them to the different countries.
When you (or your wedding guests!) book at the Omni San Francisco, one meal is provided to someone in need
One of the BIGGEST reasons we wanted the Omni San Francisco as our wedding hotel partner was because we learned the Omni partners with Feeding America. For every completed stay, the Omni San Francisco partners with Feeding America to provide one meal to someone in need. This means that not only our reservations, but all the reservations of our guests, help to support an amazing cause.
Honestly, my heart could just melt. I want to feel like our wedding is beautiful and big and all the extravagance we want in the world - but goodness do I also want to feel like we're doing GOOD at the same time. My Omni contact actually told me that the Omni San Francisco alone since the program has started has given back a total of 270,000 meals to the community.
Save the bees!
Apparently there are BEES on the roof of the Omni San Francisco, ya'll!
The Omni San Francisco works with A Bee Well Production to create a safe home for honey bees on their roof! The Omni hosts bees not only to help with the San Francisco bee population, but they also include the honey harvested in their amenities, bar cocktails, and honey butter in the restaurant.
...I got to taste some of the honey, ya'll. It. Is. UNREAL.
The "Green Team"
The Omni San Francisco actually has a group of associates they call "The Green Team"! The Omni created a team with individuals from different parts of the hotel to keep up on and innovate new green initiatives - and to just generally keep everyone thinking how they can help support sustainability at work or in their personal lives.
I dig it.
This entire wedding planning process has been honestly exhausting, and throughout it I have a few KEY moments that have really warmed my heart: our engagement party, my bridal shower, and, honestly, my chats with our Omni contact. Sometimes the wedding planning process feels so draining because, at the end of the day, it's a GIANT party. Sometimes it can feel like a lot - a lot of emotions, a lot of energy, a lot of money, and even a lot of waste. It feels good to work with partners who are out there DOING good.
So real talk - whether you're an San Francisco bride or just looking to visit the city, the Omni San Francisco is my one and only hotel recommendation.
Consider me and the Omni engaged.
A warm thank you to the Omni San Francisco for hosting KB and I so we could shoot all the content for this post. And a BIG thank you to all you Bagel Babes for supporting the businesses that support Blondes & Bagels!