Our environmental focus
34 of our hotels run on 100% renewable electricity (guarantee of origin) from solar, wind, or hydropower.
We also run regular energy audits and install key card holders that switch off room lights when guests leave.
We review our water use and focus on changes that save water without affecting guest comfort.
Most of our water use comes from room cleaning and guest services. To reduce waste, we:
- Offer room cleaning upon request, which helps cut down unnecessary laundry and cleaning
- Have started switching to water-saving aerators in our showers. So far, 13 hotels are equipped. These aerators mix water with air to keep pressure steady and can reduce water use by up to 20–30% without affecting comfort.
We aim to waste less and use our materials and resources more efficiently in our day-to-day work.
Each year, we track our waste and work with local partners to keep as much as possible out of the landfill.
Food waste
We’re working to reduce waste from our breakfast buffets, because there’s always room to improve when it comes to reducing what ends up in landfill.
Saving leftovers
We're also saving leftovers with our Too Good To Go partnership*.
Donations
Whenever possible, we donate leftover food, old IT equipment and used bedding to local organizations. Forgotten guest items like toiletries or clothing are passed on to donation centers after a holding period.
* available in DE, AT, NL, FR
We’re ditching single-use plastics and teaming up with RECUP.
So far, we've cut single-use plastic by 95% in the breakfast buffets of all MEININGER hotels.
In Germany, we use RECUP to avoid single-use cups. We're also looking for similar options in other countries.
Many MEININGER hotels offer group public transport tickets and walking tours with local guides.
Some also have e-charging stations and rental bikes.
Check our hotel pages for details.
Waste reduction, supply chains improvements and lowering GHG emissions.
Cutting waste takes time and some areas are more complex than others. Right now, we're working on lowering greenhouse gas emissions in our supply chain. This means working closely with partners and suppliers to better understand where emissions come from and finding practical ways to reduce them over time.
We raise awareness about the important role of bees and other pollinators.
In hotels with gardens or rooftop green spaces, we plant flowers that help feed bees and other insects. In some locations, we also host beehives cared for by local beekeepers who host workshops for staff and guests 2-3 times a year.
A small contribution to raise awarness about the importance of biodiversity and the protection of natural habitats.
At MEININGER Hotel München Olympiapark, we've teamed up with NearBees since 2019.
At MEININGER Hotel Paris Porte de Vincennes, we’ve been working with local beekeepers Apiflordev since 2020, caring for three beehives. The partnership also helps fund beekeeping projects in Cameroon and Togo.
Since 2019, our hotels and headquarters have been participating in Earth Day and Earth Hour with various activities to raise awareness.
For Earth Day, we run the MEININGER Earth Day Award to highlight great team ideas like river cleanups, insect hotels, or upcycling. Some hotels also offer free bike rentals for guests. Participation is voluntary, with 6-12 hotels and Berlin HQ joining each year.
During Earth Hour in March, participating hotels switch off non-essential lights for one hour and host cozy events like LED candle nights, unplugged concerts, film screenings, board games & more.
Our social focus
In 2025, our team of 1,190 people was 46% women, 50% men, and 4% who chose not to disclose or identify within these categories.
Our Executive Committee includes 4 men and 3 women.
Gender diversity in leadership is important to us because different perspectives lead to better decision-making, new approaches to guest experience and stronger long-term value.
Leadership in Operations:
54% Female and 46% male of 162 managers (Hotel Managers, Assitant Hotel Managers, Supervisor Reception/F&B/Housekeeping)
Leadership in HQ:
58% female and 42% male of 108 managers (Directors, Head of Departmetns, Managers, Supervisors)
*reference date: 31.12.2025
Our voluntary DEI board works to make MEININGER Hotels a more inclusive and welcoming place for everyone.
The board is made up of team members from different hotels and departments, bringing diverse perspectives together.
Here’s what the team focus on:
- Hosting quarterly virtual DEI coffee chats with people across the company
- Sending monthly awareness emails on social topics
- Supporting Pride events across our hotels
- Offering free period products for staff and guests & raising awareness about period poverty
- Running unconscious bias training for our senior leadership team and hotel managers
- Working on policies to improve accessibility & diversity in our hotels
We want every guest to feel safe, respected and welcome no matter their gender identity.
Our house rules now include an anti-discrimination clause supporting non-binary and trans guests in choosing the room type where they feel most comfortable.
These rules are displayed in our hotels to show guests and team members what we stand for.
We’re also rolling out support materials and LMS training to help our front-line teams handle sensitive situations with confidence, care and professionalism. Our operations leadership teams have also completed training on unconscious bias.
We want inclusion to be part of how we operate every day.
We work to make our hotels and website more accessible for people, including guests with physical impairments.
Many of our hotels offer accessible rooms with features like wheelchair access, adapted bathrooms with emergency cords, and step-free entry to key public areas.
Our Berlin hotels are also certified under “Tourism for All” (Reisen für Alle), giving you clear, reliable info on accessibility. You’ll find details and photos on each hotel’s page under “Accessibility.”
We’re also working on improving digital accessibility to make our online experience easier to use.
We encourage our team to give back to the community with up to two paid volunteer days each year.
Our corporate volunteering program gives our people the chance to support social and environmental projects they care about while on paid time.
Some examples our teams have joined include:
- Kayaking river clean-up projects
- Spending a day at L-Werk Berlin, an organization that supports people with disabilities. Our teams joined them to support them in their daily work
It’s a chance to make an impact, connect with local communities and experience meaningful teamwork outside our hotels and headquarters.
Life has its ups and downs. OpenUp gives our team and their families free, confidential access to mental health support whenever it’s needed.
OpenUp offers:
- 1:1 sessions with certified psychologists and lifestyle experts
- Masterclasses, mindfulness, and group sessions
- Self-guided programs, articles, and tips for daily life
98.7% of our employees recommend OpenUp to others with the most common support topics including:
- Stress
- Relationships
- Health
The platform is free, confidential and available to employees and up to 3 family members.
Our governance focus
We carefully choose our suppliers to reduce risks like modern slavery and make sure our partnerships meet legal and ethical standards.
When we work with higher-risk suppliers, our procurement team requires due diligence.
Our approach includes:
- Contractual clauses in higher-risk and standard supplier agreements covering compliance and monitoring
- Commitment to legislation and best practices for tackling modern slavery and human trafficking
- Ongoing supplier oversight to maintain ethical and legal standards throughout our supply chain
This way, we make sure our partnerships stay responsible and compliant.
We have a zero-tolerance approach to modern slavery and human trafficking and are committed to keeping our business and supply chains ethical and responsible.
As part of the travel industry, we recognize our responsibility to prevent and address human rights risks. Our approach includes:
- A robust framework to identify and mitigate risks in our operations and supply chains
- Clear processes to help ensure that modern slavery and human trafficking have no place in our business
- Ongoing assessment to better understand potential risks and strengthen our commitment to human rights
For full details, see our Modern Slavery Statement on our website.
We provide secure, anonymous ways for employees to report concerns because speaking up should always feel safe.
In line with the EU Whistleblowing Directive (effective December 17, 2021), we maintain clear reporting channels for employees to raise concerns or share feedback.
Key points of our approach:
- Independent third-party system allows anonymous reporting in several languages
- No fear of retaliation, ensuring concerns can be raised with confidence
- Open-door communication is encouraged alongside formal channels
By following our Code of Conduct and using the whistleblowing system when needed, our employees help us maintain a transparent, trustworthy workplace and support our sustainability and governance goals.
We protect personal data and system integrity with strict security measures that meet GDPR and EU standards, keeping guest and company information safe.
Our approach to data protection and security includes:
- Strict GDPR compliance to ensure all data processing is lawful, fair, and transparent
- PCI-compliant payment systems to protect sensitive cardholder information
- Multi-factor authentication (MFA) and single sign-on (SSO) to prevent unauthorized access
- Mandatory security training for employees through our Learning Management System
Our data infrastructure is designed for safety and resilience:
- Critical systems are stored in a secure Berlin data center, with daily backups in a secondary Essen site
- All cloud data is stored in EU-based data centers, fully compliant with EU regulations
These measures make sure we have a secure, reliable and privacy-focused environment for our guests, employees and partners.
FAQs | Sustainability activities
Why not all MEININGER Hotels have a green-building certificate?
Why do not all MEININGER Hotels have a sustainability label?
Does MEININGER Hotels offer vegetarian and vegan options?
Why is my room not cleaned every day?
But be assured that all rooms are, of course, thoroughly cleaned before arrival and after departure, according to the legal Health & Safety standards.
Got any sustainability related question?
Reach out at sustainability@meininger-hotels.com and we'll get back to you as soon as we can.
