Starwood launching green hotel brand in Lexington, Mass.
LEXINGTON, Mass. — Starwood is launching a "green hotel brand" called Element, with the first property opening in July in Lexington, Mass., and 20 more hotels scheduled to open in the next year.
The hotels are built with technology that saves water and cuts electric use, including heat-reflecting roofing materials, energy-efficient appliances and 16-foot windows to allow natural light into common areas. Laundry bags will be reusable, hybrid cars will get preferred parking, and garbage cans in the rooms will make it easy for guests to recycle.
Starwood has applied for certification for the Element hotels under the Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design Green Building Rating System. LEED is a nationally recognized benchmark for design, construction, and operation of high-performance green buildings. LEED certification means that third-party experts have verified that the building satisfies criteria for sustainable site development, water savings, energy efficiency, materials selection, and indoor environmental quality.
Only six U.S. hotels are LEED certified, though well over 100 have registered to be evaluated. The six are the GAIA Napa Valley, American Canyon, Calif.; the Orchard Garden Hotel, San Francisco; the Inn & Conference Center, a Marriott in Adelphi, Md., part of the University of Maryland University College; the Vancouver Conference Center and Hotel, a Hilton in Vancouver, Wash.; and the Len Foote Hike Inn, in Dawsonville, Ga.
Museum opening at the site of Woodstock concert
BETHEL, N.Y. — A new museum is opening June 2 at the site of the 1969 Woodstock concert.
The Museum at Bethel Woods, located about 90 minutes north of New York City, will offer exhibits, personal stories, multimedia experiences and programs about the 1960s focusing on everything from music and fashion to political protest.
The original three-day festival epitomized the era's "sex, drugs and rock'n'roll" counterculture while drawing 400,000 people to hear Jimi Hendrix, Janis Joplin, Joni Mitchell, the Who and many other performers.
The Museum at Bethel Woods is part of the larger Bethel Woods Center for the Arts, an outdoor performing arts center and complex with an eclectic concert series and other events. Performers scheduled for this summer include the "True Colors" show with Cyndi Lauper and The B-52s, Ringo Starr, the New York Philharmonic, Donna Summer, The Klezmatics, the Boston Pops and many others.
Tickets for the museum are on sale now from www.BethelWoodsCenter.org or Ticketmaster at 845-454-3388.
Elkfest kicks off in Wyoming
JACKSON, Wyo. — One of the world's largest elk herds lives at the National Elk Refuge, and nearby Jackson is celebrating the animals with a weekend event known as Elkfest, May 17 and 18.
The annual festival includes an antler auction to benefit the refuge and several local Boy Scout troops. The antlers are shed by elk wintering at the refuge. Artisans transform the antlers into everything from chandeliers to furniture; others use them as wall decorations. Last year's event sold 5,379 pounds of antlers for a total of $59,748.
There will also be a chili cookoff, music, a kids' activity corner and a crafts sale.
For more information, visit http://elkfest.org.
— Associated Press
