Times Square Element property goes local

Element New York Times Square West has partnered with a CSA program to provide fresh food and produce to its guests. // (c) 2011 Starwood Hotels & Resorts Worldwide

Element New York Times Square West is giving its guests and neighbors easy access to fresh, seasonal produce and artisanal farm products with its newest partnership with Holton Farms, an eighth-generation Vermont-based farm and Community Sponsored Agriculture (CSA) program. 
 
According to hotel parent company, Starwood Hotels & Resorts Worldwide, the partnership makes Element Times Square West the nation’s first hotel to participate in a Community Sponsored Agriculture program.
 
Element will join Holton Farms’ CSA as an active member, supporting the program by purchasing a “share” in this season’s harvest.  Memberships are usually available only to individual CSA members.  The hotel will also become the designated weekly drop-off location for other Holton Farms CSA members in the neighborhood. 
 
Element hotels are green by design and inspiring by nature. When the brand launched in 2008, Element made history by becoming the first major hotel brand to mandate that all its properties pursue LEED certification.  There are now nine Element hotels across North America. 
 
Thanks to the new partnership, guests at Element Times Square will be able to place their own orders to prepare a meal in their in-room kitchenettes or prepare a picnic in Central Park. Element’s signature Rise breakfast and Relax evening receptions – both complimentary for guests - will also feature fresh ingredients from Holton Farms.

“We like to say that Element draws on nature for inspiration, so it’s exciting for us to inspire our guests the same way by connecting them to fresh, organic, locally-sourced produce.  Even our associates are eager to place their own orders,” said Brian McGuinness, Senior Vice President, Specialty Select Brands for Starwood. “It’s also a privilege for us to be able to participate in a CSA with our neighbors, reduce our own food miles, and support a valuable family-owned business like Holton Farms.” 
 
Jurrien Swarts, co-owner and chief operating officer for Holton Farms, agreed.  “When businesses like Element Times Square West step up to the plate, CSAs become a lot more viable in a city like New York.  We’re looking forward to partnering with the hotel to bring its guests and neighbors a little closer to the land.”

According to food web site Local Harvest, Community Supported Agriculture (CSA) has become a popular way for consumers to buy local, seasonal food directly from a farmer. Here are the basics: a farmer offers a certain number of "shares" to the public. Typically the share consists of a box of vegetables, but other farm products may be included. Interested consumers purchase a share (also known as a "membership" or a "subscription") and in return receive a box, bag, or basket of seasonal produce each week throughout the farming season.  Local Harvest says more than 4,000 farms now operate CSA programs nationwide, with tens of thousands of members.

Element Times Square West, opened in November 2010, features 411 guest rooms and seven suites, two meeting rooms, a lobby atrium and rooftop terrace with  views of The Empire State Building, Hudson River and Midtown Manhattan. Guest rooms and public spaces feature carpets, furniture and floors made from recycled content.  Wall art is mounted on bases made from recycled tires.  Low-VOC paints improve indoor air quality.  Energy Star-rated appliances and recycling bins in each room, make it easy for guests to incorporate green living into their daily routines.  Since the first Element hotel opened in 2008 in Lexington, Massachusetts, the brand has continued to sprout across the country.  Additional properties have opened in Las Vegas, Baltimore, Denver, Dallas, Houston, Omaha and Ewing, NJ. 

Visit www.elementhotels.com.