The Emirates Palace Mandarin Oriental in Abu Dhabi is pioneering sustainable luxury with the first-ever fully vegan hotel suite in the region. As the vegan lifestyle drastically grows in popularity, the Mandarin Oriental recognizes that veganism is not limited to food and beverage alone. In their vegan suite, all fabrics are non-chemically treated, the bedsheets are 100% organic and biodegradable, and the staff cannot enter the room in leather shoes. As the hotel makes plans to expand its offering of vegan rooms, they’re paving the way for a more sustainable future for the luxury market.
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LifestyleTranscript
00:00 (water running)
00:02 In five star luxury hotels,
00:06 there typically is a good amount of waste.
00:09 At the Emirates Palace,
00:10 we want to make our purpose to not add to the waste.
00:14 The date palms are an integral part of our resort ecosystem.
00:18 We've got more than 500 of them
00:20 and six types of distinct different dates.
00:23 We pollinate, they grow, we harvest.
00:26 All dates harvested in our hotel
00:28 are incorporated in the one or the other food experiences.
00:32 We do a date jam that accompanies our scones
00:34 for afternoon tea.
00:35 We use date syrup to produce sweetness
00:37 to various our desserts.
00:39 And we share them with our staff
00:41 during Ramadan breaking fast.
00:43 Dates are an invaluable source for this region.
00:47 Harvested since millennia,
00:49 in Islam breaking the fast with a date
00:51 is the one thing everybody does.
00:53 The key efforts of Mandarin Oriental
00:55 are to act with responsibility wherever we can.
00:58 In the local communities, globally,
01:00 whatever we can do to improve the environment.
01:02 Welcome to the Emirates Palace Mandarin Oriental Abu Dhabi.
01:16 We are a unique five star luxury hotel in Abu Dhabi,
01:22 the capital of the United Arab Emirates.
01:24 And also the first hotel in region
01:26 that offers a vegan room experience.
01:29 Veganism has nothing to do with simplicity.
01:41 We realized that the vegan lifestyle
01:43 is not limited to food and beverage alone.
01:45 And this is what we wanted to give to our guests
01:48 in a complete different, but elevated luxury way.
01:51 These rooms are composition of many individual items
01:55 and all leading to making sure
01:56 veganism chain is not broken.
01:59 So everything we do for minibar products,
02:01 the sheets, the bathroom amenities,
02:03 everything is completely vegan.
02:05 Even our colleagues who are cleaning the rooms
02:07 will never go in with leather shoes.
02:09 So we go to an extent that I believe we can be proud of.
02:12 While veganism is absolutely growing
02:15 and the lifestyle choice by so many,
02:17 it is currently mostly anchored
02:19 in the food and beverage industry.
02:22 Sourcing vegan linen, sourcing companies
02:26 that produce these guaranteed qualities
02:27 at this incredible high standard level
02:29 has been a real challenge.
02:31 And it took us quite a while to source the right manufacturer.
02:34 If we don't take care of the product that we have procured,
02:37 we will disrupt the entire value chain.
02:40 Our cleaning cycle, the detergents we use
02:42 are all chemical free and are all aligned
02:45 in the full veganism style.
02:46 The beauty about the bed sheets and the bed linen
02:48 is that they are incredibly, incredibly comfortable.
02:51 This is a small company that produces a very small quantity
02:54 of totally organic material, 100% organic by-product.
02:58 So it is made of cupro, it is made of viscose,
03:01 and it's biodegradable, it feels good, it's sensational.
03:04 The guests absolutely love it.
03:07 They approach us and said, "Where can we buy the linen?"
03:09 It became a real trend,
03:10 and we have made this part of our retail line,
03:12 and we landed a hit.
03:15 As we started researching about vegan lifestyle
03:18 and vegan rooms in general,
03:19 we realized there's so much more than just the bed sheet.
03:22 So we needed to start by eliminating the wooden carpet,
03:24 which normally hotels are proud of.
03:26 There is no leather application, no leather trim.
03:28 Everything is exchanged by faux leather.
03:31 Everything is exchanged by fabric.
03:33 And even the fabric, everything is non-chemically treated.
03:36 One of the major objectives, of course,
03:38 is to make sure all our products we offer
03:41 and we have in place in the room are cruelty-free,
03:43 non-animal tested, and completely comply
03:46 to the vegan lifestyle.
03:47 Whether it is the foam pillows that substitute
03:50 either down or feather pillows,
03:51 or the skincare products that we deploy,
03:54 everything is really, really taken care of individually
03:57 and hand-selected.
03:58 And therefore, the growing demand, the growing need,
04:01 we serve it really, really well.
04:03 Whilst we consider it self-explanatory
04:07 that within the confines of our vegan rooms,
04:09 you will only have a vegan room service menu,
04:12 across the entire hotel,
04:14 all our food offering is specialized for vegan,
04:17 but in a very smart way.
04:19 A vegan knows what to eat and what not to eat.
04:21 So we don't indicate on the buffet,
04:23 this is the vegan area.
04:25 A major factor that assists us to be truly vegan
04:29 is the abundance of vegan food that we have
04:31 in this Middle Eastern region.
04:33 Mediterranean diets, Arabic food is all around hummus.
04:36 It's all about mutabal.
04:38 We've got these wonderful products that are plant-based,
04:40 that are olive oil enriched,
04:42 and that give us already an organic variety of choices.
04:46 With our UAE partner, Green Hearts,
04:48 everything is pesticide-free.
04:50 It would not be advantageous for us
04:52 if we built a greenhouse
04:53 and we artificially cool it or warm it.
04:55 So highly seasonal, organic,
04:57 it's just a natural continuation
05:00 of our environmental engagement,
05:01 but particularly focused for Italian fine dining.
05:04 - In the kitchen, when you see your ingredient growing,
05:11 you take care of it more,
05:12 almost like your baby, you know?
05:14 I think I'm really lucky because
05:16 when you have your garden, your place,
05:19 you can go there, you can pick.
05:20 Every day you can discover,
05:22 you can do some different thing.
05:24 With one ingredient, you can do really nice, unique dish.
05:28 In our hotel, we grow these dates.
05:31 We know there's so many variety,
05:33 but this one I really love.
05:35 I will use for the affogato on top of ice cream.
05:38 I cook with a bit cream.
05:39 I make this jam, I will put on top of the ice cream.
05:43 I mean, I'm also lucky because
05:45 since when I'm in Abu Dhabi,
05:46 I start to use it.
05:47 In Italy, you can find a lot.
05:49 It's really nice.
05:50 My most popular vegan dish is Bistecca mushroom,
05:55 Bistecca di funghi in Italian.
05:56 It's four different consistence of mushroom.
05:58 I will use vegan juice for the mushroom.
06:08 And same dish I use also as a nut.
06:10 The local ingredient is really important for the chef.
06:14 I think it's something really unique.
06:16 You can say, look, this ingredient this morning,
06:18 we just take from our garden.
06:20 It's super fresh, it's super,
06:22 I think give something a bit more, no?
06:25 For the experience.
06:26 - Overall, the hotel has 400 rooms and suites.
06:35 Our initial phase, which started two years ago,
06:38 we allocated six rooms in the hotel as it was a startup.
06:42 I believe the need for vegan suites is absolutely critical
06:45 because luxury is limitless
06:48 and vegan lifestyle is limitless too.
06:51 So I think the expansion into larger accommodation,
06:54 into better and more luxurious stay,
06:56 is just waiting for us.
06:58 We are confident that we have set a trend.
07:00 We are pioneering.
07:01 It's a little bit the wild west of what we are doing here.
07:04 - We at the Emirates Palace
07:05 have abolished single-use plastic two years ago.
07:09 We are recycling whatever we can.
07:10 - And I can only encourage other people to follow suit
07:14 and to help us to create a better world,
07:17 a more plant-based food chain
07:20 and more awareness about a healthy lifestyle.
07:23 To define luxury at the Emirates Palace
07:25 is a really interesting task.
07:28 18 years ago, when the hotel was built,
07:29 luxury was defined with gold, with granite,
07:32 with marble, with opulence.
07:34 18 years later, it is defined by humility.
07:37 It is defined by experiences.
07:39 So our mission today is to satisfy customers
07:42 from all walks of life
07:44 and introduce them to experiences and to moments of delight
07:47 that without us, they probably couldn't have had.
07:50 - It was a pleasure having you
07:56 at the Emirates Palace Munde and Oriental,
07:58 and we hope to welcome you soon again.
08:00 (gentle music)
08:03 [BLANK_AUDIO]