Environmental protection is a Zeitgeist thing
Environmental protection is not an empty concept here at Zeitgeist Vienna. We are constantly improving and rethinking processes as well as investing in sustainable solutions. This starts with our photovoltaic system on the roof, our free eFuel stations in our garage, and extends to the water-saving shower heads in our rooms and LED light bulbs in our seminar area.
Our environmental standards
We constantly ask ourselves the question: Are we doing enough for our environment? How can we make processes, such as purchasing, more environmentally friendly and sustainable throughout the hotel?
- In our hotel rooms we have water-saving shower systems, which help us to save costs and resources while maintaining the same water pressure.
- Furthermore, we use ecological care products in our rooms, which are provided in environmentally friendly refill dispensers – as we avoid small packaging wherever possible.
- In the hotel and banquet areas, we use 100% chemical-free toilet paper.
- We use LED lighting instead of incandescent bulbs throughout the hotel.
- We have implemented our own Green Rates where the room cleaning is compensated by an attractive discount and a voucher.
- For all other rates, skipping on-site room cleaning is rewarded with a restaurant voucher.
- We save energy by using motion detectors.
- We buy certified FAIRtrade products (such as coffee) and pay attention to efficient food handling – so we cook fresh every day and thus save refrigeration options and vacuum packaging.
- In the room categories Prestige, Loft and Suite we offer coffee makers from Julius Meinl – including plastic- and aluminum-free as well as FAIRTRADE certified pods.
That pays off: investing in renewable energies
We invest – even in difficult times – in renewable energies and digitization.
- Thanks to our photovoltaic system on the roof, we can partially produce and obtain our own electricity.
- In the entire house we use green electricity from Vorarlberg.
- In our garage, four eFueling stations are available free of charge.
- We invest in natural materials: from the pens for our seminar guests to the hotel furnishings, our focus always lays on renewable materials.
- To avoid paper, we invest in the development of a digital guest folder and offer a paperless check-in for our guests since 2021.
Environmentally friendly travel
Vienna’s public transportation network with 5 subway lines, 28 streetcar lines and 131 bus lines will get you from A to B comfortably and inexpensively. Due to our location at Vienna Central Station we are perfectly connected to the public transport network.
- Our guests are guaranteed an environmentally friendly and equally convenient journey thanks to our location near Vienna’s main railway station.
- Numerous public transportation options are located in the immediate vicinity of our hotel.
- In addition, our guests can borrow our rental bicycles free of charge to explore the city
- In our underground parking garage we offer four free usable eFueling stations.
Regionality - the good is so close...
- We select our partners and suppliers according to ecological and social standards
- We outsource our printing productions to printers with the Austrian Eco-label or print internally on FSC-certified paper
- Our laundries and dry cleaners clean with environmentally friendly detergents using renewable energy sources
- We rely on regional food suppliers from the surrounding area and offer organic, regional and homemade products
Together against Food Waste
Did you know? Around one third of the food produced for human consumption worldwide is wasted or thrown away. Therefore, we are constantly working with our kitchen team to prevent food waste at the breakfast buffet, restaurant and seminar area.
- We receive daily deliveries from our suppliers and only order as much as we currently need for our guests and employees in the house. In this way, we avoid food being thrown away in advance
- We cook fresh every day and avoid storing food in plastic vacuum bags and cold storage rooms
- Vegetable cuttings or cuttings from schnitzel, goulash or ragout are cooked into soups or sauces
- To ensure that even the last guest is satisfied, we continuously replenish fresh food at the breakfast buffet. If there is no more room on the buffet for food that has been prepared for this purpose, it is processed further: Fruit salad becomes a smoothie, bread rolls become breadcrumbs, etc.
Social responsibility
In addition to maintaining the highest standards of occupational health and safety as well as fair and equal conditions in the workplace, we are committed to a diverse, accessible and better world.
Working conditions
- We provide our employees with workstations with height-adjustable desks and modern equipment
- Our company stands for absolute equality & equal opportunities
- We offer – where possible – a flexible arrangement of working hours; the introduction of the 4-day week is currently under consideration
- In addition to fair pay, we offer a bonus system
- Defaults are logged in our employee handbook
- Regular internal opinion & mood surveys by a certified agency collect objective data on the mood and requests in our team
Possibility of training and internal education
- We provide regular Going Green and Covid-19 safety trainings for our staff
- Individual courses such as language classes, sign language or opportunities for personal coaching sessions with certified trainers are covered by us
- Continuing education opportunities are defined in annual employee reviews
- We are a company that continuously trains apprentices
Employee bonuses and benefits
- We offer an additional, 6th week of vacation to all employees
- For lunch and dinner, we always cook fresh, varied and seasonal meals for our employees.. Besides the main dishes and desserts to choose from, fresh salads and fruit are also available
- Optionally, each employee can choose to receive the Wiener Linien annual ticket (worth € 365) free of charge OR a free parking space in our hotel garage.
- In addition to company discounts such as -20% discount in the restaurant and bar, our employees can look forward to discounted conditions for overnight stays for friends & family as well as at selected partner companies
- As a family-friendly company, we provide support in family and childcare issues as well as when returning to work after maternity leave thanks to flexible working time models
- For birthdays, each colleague receives a consumption voucher; at Christmas we give Sodexo vouchers
- We provide our teams of the reception, service and housekeeping departments uniforms. Cleaning is done through our free laundry service
- We host regular Get-2-Gethers with current and former employees
- Whether it’s a graffiti course, an exit game or an evening at the movies together – the bill is on us! As an employer, we cover the costs of up to two get-togethers per year and department.
- Our external coach Johanna Lässig-Pirker is available to every employee to discuss important personal development topics in a one-on-one meeting – in absolute confidence, of course.
Our contribution to a barrier-free world
- We have built four barrier-free parking spaces in our hotel’s underground garage with direct lift access to the lobby
- Our hotel has ten 100% barrier-free rooms with height-adjustable bed, fold-down clothes rail and barrier-free accessible bathroom
- Connecting doors to the neighboring room are available for companions
- A barrier-free check-in is ensured, among other things, by the specially designed wheelchair-accessible tray
- Our reservationist Nina speaks sign language
Social commitment
- With our seminar & event center Mezzanin we create a new cultural center in the Sonnwendviertel with regular concerts, shows, readings and workshops for residents and guests
- Through this we also support local artists (musicians, cabaret artists, visual artists, …)
- In the construction of our seminar center or in the renovation of our hotel rooms, we commission only local businesses
- Accordingly, our seminar equipment also comes from a local company that focuses on ecological and sustainable production
- We donate every year to a charitable organization
- We support Make A Wish in website optimization with our know how
Customer satisfaction survey
- The feedback of our guests is extremely important to us. By taking an honest “look from the outside” we can uncover where things are not going so well and implement ideas to improve our services
- We have our own employee in charge of quality assurance and management system
Governance
As an employer of more than 60 employees and as a commercially active company, it is our responsibility to conduct all activities in accordance with valid legislation as well as our actions in accordance with ethical and economic principles.
Forming a long-term, sustainable and transparent company development
- Our focus is on long-term corporate development
- We operate sustainably and build reserves – thereby achieving financial stability and creating job security
- We seek, find and develop leaders of integrity
- We communicate transparently and openly with our team and externally too
Sustainability and environmental protection at management level
- All measures (existing as well as new) of an ecological and social nature are checked with regard to sustainable criteria
- Sustainability is established and (pre)lived as a guiding principle of the company
You snooze, you lose.
In addition to the continuous review and evaluation of established processes, we are also constantly working on new ideas and projects such as, among others, the implementation of climate-neutral events and overnight stays or measures for further waste avoidance and optimization (reduction of ecologically problematic materials such as plastic, composite packaging, cleaning agents).