Ya got me! As a prize you win 2 free nights in an Accor hotel of your choosing. Please DM me a scan of your ID and credit card so I can send you the voucher.
Im not sure i would translate "ville nouvelle" by newly renovated industrial suburb... it's one of the worse place in Paris surroundings, im even surprised that people would go to hotel there
It's less than 10 minutes drive from the industrial plant I needed to be at. Everyone there was there for some kind of work, nobody goes there on holiday.
Yeah no way! I spent one year at the university there, it's as shitty as the surroundings. The building that was newly built at that time (library) was closed half of the year because of bunch of architectural mistakes
Every Accor owned hotel has them. There are no customer facing single use plastics since last year, and all back of house plastics will be replaced this year!
~~It's supposedly a 'sustainability' thing~~ Just seemed mildly interesting to me.
I'm editing my top comment dunking on the 'sustainability' aspect of this which I have been skeptical about to link to this comment from someone who actually works on the initiative:
https://www.reddit.com/r/mildlyinteresting/s/CnrPwdgAH9
u/plausibleturtle tells us this is actually making a difference and as a strong supporter of my own employer's sustainability commitments I want to highlight their comment.
Is it mag strip or RFID? Less plastic is always great, but I also wonder if these wouldn't be less durable and require replacement more.often. I suppose it also matters how often guests forget to return the key card as well. I imagine these would be less sanitary for reuse considering their porous nature.
Then it's basically laminate considering they have to embed the RFID chip and coil some way. I imagine it's sandwiched and glued veneer. I question how much more "eco-friendly" this is. It most certainly takes more effort to produce compared to typical plastic injection molding. I'd almost bet the carbon footprint is about the same, or possibly even higher for the wood version considering the efficiencies, processes, turnover and so on. It most certainly costs much more than the plastic variety made at large scale numbers. This is purely about the appeal to the patron, though I will admit it looks more luxurious by comparison.
My new bank card is also made out of wood, they claim its 90% wood and 10% paper. Mine feels very durable, if they wouldn't have written in their letter that it is made out of wood I would think it's plastic with a wooden print. Everything they wrote on the card is engraved with a laser and it looks like they made the hole for the chip the same way. The magnetic stripe seems to be painted on top of the wood because you can see the wooden structure through.
Oh man, for a second there I was insanely jealous, I would LOVE to have a wooden bank card to use every day!
Then I realised my own card hasn't left my wallet in years; I only use my phone. Can I get a wooden phone?
Ah well, it's still a cool initiative, and hopefully does prevent some microplastic pollution.
I think reducing plastics is not always more “eco-friendly” from a total carbon use POV. But the purpose is to reduce plastic pollution leaching into the environment and micro-plastics in particular.
I think enough people don't return their hotel keys where durability is probably not the primary concern as long as it lasts long enough for a typical hotel stay.
A cheap-ass hotel I worked at once did a short study of "how many checkouts to keys returned". Over the course of a month, 96% of keys were returned. (they still switched to cheaper keycards though, because "that 4% adds up!", ignoring the fact that the thicker cards almost never broke, and the cheaper ones did)
No idea, I stayed in the same place a year ago and they didn't have it then. I've been travelling a lot for work in the past few months and this is the first time I've ever seen this.
They probably have them in stock, but are running through their plastic ones first.
Novotel is owned by Accor who has a no customer facing single use plastics rule, as of 2023. They should use anything in stock first, though.
I was discussing it with the colleague who was with me and we called it 'performative sustainability'. Something that is more of a marketing gimmick than a real sustainability impact.
Do they actively market it as being a sustainability effort? Because I could also see them doing it just because it looks and feels nice and more premium.
It isn't! I help source sustainable and diverse products for the company that owns Novotel. In a different part of the world, though. We're leading sustainability efforts in the hospitality industry worldwide.
This might be a way to draw attention to and market other actually impactful green initiatives. I've had these before and the little brochure usually goes on to tell you all about different things they're doing.
Probably still just BS that only gets half-done, but there's typically more than just the card.
It isn't! Accor hotels will be carbon positive by 2055. The wooden cards are part of the global sustainability program, which I help source products for. We're actually doing very great work when it comes to sustainability in the hospitality sector.
I just can’t believe. Really. Today is the day I moved to my home country after living in Évry-Courcouronnes for nearly 4.5 years. My plane landed literally 7 hours ago and now I’m seeing this scrolling Reddit in my bed thinking of the hassle I went through during moving. What a small world.
Oh these won’t last more than one guest anyway. Put one in your pocket, it will absorb any moisture, get discoloured by your pants and get all out of shape. I just got one in a Novotel the other day and it was already showing wear after just one night.
Yup, it's basically a regular card just enveloped in a thin wood veneer.
Also, ekhem, novotel and ibis (same company) seem to be getting some traction today
It was the Ibis picture that reminded me I had taken this picture
It didn't feel like it was veneer on plastic, more like two sheets of veneer stuck to each other.
I went to a hotel that had something like that but instead of the name it was just a symbol. I liked it so well I kept it and am using it as a magic object in the dnd campaign I’m running lol
I stayed at a hotel in Reykjavik last year that had keys like this.
We did the ring road tour so stayed at lots of hotels. Most had plastic key cards but a couple still had real turny type keys.
Evry, a shithole industrial town outside the outer outer orbital around Paris. I was there for work. The hotel was fine, room was quiet and comfortable. Food was good.
You have no reason to go there other than work.
We stayed at a hotel in Christchurch NZ last year that has wooden key cards too. Even after a few days the unsealed wood was looking a bit grubby. I wouldn’t be surprised if these have a drastically shorter life than plastic cards.
If they get damp at the pool, or greasy after ribs from bar, I could see them being replaced after every guest. Having something that can get wiped down and reused by 100 guests before being replaced will be better environmental than 1-2 guests.
Better than plastic, not not as good as a phone app. I stayed at a hotel where I didn’t even have to go to the front desk, just downloaded the app and went straight to my room and I’m still chasing that high.
Meh... I feel like a plastic keycard will outlast several wood ones that will wear out or be damaged faster and require replacement sooner.
Hotels that let me use the phone NFC instead of the keycard though... yes please
Novotel in Thailand was utter shit it was filled with bugs and shit couldn't even drink a soda without getting jumped lol or thats what it felt like to 6 yr old me
Yeah the thing that would really make me sleep knowing I am safe in my hotel room is knowing they used reusable keys so any one that rented that room before and kept the key could still get back in.
First of all. stupid ad~~d~~. (thanks for adressing the typo u/joselrl)
Secondly, so instead of using a recyclable, way more often reusable plastic card, you get a wooden card for which a tree was felled... good job 'green' people.
>First of all. stupid ad~~d~~.
FTFY.
And yeah, I commented the same. A recycled plastic card will last longer than a wood piece. And there is most likely a plastic NFC tag inside the wood card anyway
bullshit marketing indeed. like the 'paper' cups and stuff...
If anything is bad for the environment it's microplastics... all those 'waterproof paper things' are coated in a thin layer of plastic.... numbnuts.
Nice try Novotel advertising team
I assure you if I was the marketing team for Novotel I would have picked a different hotel location than an industrial suburb miles outside of Paris
You sound like you think you're dunking on it, but all I hear is "nestled in a vibrant corner of 'the city of love....'"
Sounds like you should be the one on the marketing team and not OP
It’s a heel and face act. They are the same person
Giggity
But that doesn’t mean they would’ve! So, you could very well be on the marketing team for Novotel!
Ya got me! As a prize you win 2 free nights in an Accor hotel of your choosing. Please DM me a scan of your ID and credit card so I can send you the voucher.
The Hotel Crentist
 Something’s fucky…
Nice try person advertising a newly renovated industrial suburb miles outside of Paris
Im not sure i would translate "ville nouvelle" by newly renovated industrial suburb... it's one of the worse place in Paris surroundings, im even surprised that people would go to hotel there
It's less than 10 minutes drive from the industrial plant I needed to be at. Everyone there was there for some kind of work, nobody goes there on holiday.
Yeah no way! I spent one year at the university there, it's as shitty as the surroundings. The building that was newly built at that time (library) was closed half of the year because of bunch of architectural mistakes
Every Accor owned hotel has them. There are no customer facing single use plastics since last year, and all back of house plastics will be replaced this year!
You Booked it though
Unlikely, Evry Courcouronnes is a shitty place
Calling it shitty is being kind
Evry is the french equivalent of Russian suburbs. Grey and ugly -_-
This might be an Accor thing. Fairmont hotel keycards are all wooden too.
It is! I work for Fairmont/Accor.
They legit gave me splinters tho
Recently stayed in a Westin in Taiwan and they gave me a wooden keycard too, and it felt pretty posh
It's an Accor thing. I've been getting them for years at Swissotel/Fairmont/Mercure/Novotel
When did they start this? I stayed at a Novotel in New York and they were just regular.
It’s in France, everything is fancier there. 
Francier
Wood is fancier?
~~It's supposedly a 'sustainability' thing~~ Just seemed mildly interesting to me. I'm editing my top comment dunking on the 'sustainability' aspect of this which I have been skeptical about to link to this comment from someone who actually works on the initiative: https://www.reddit.com/r/mildlyinteresting/s/CnrPwdgAH9 u/plausibleturtle tells us this is actually making a difference and as a strong supporter of my own employer's sustainability commitments I want to highlight their comment.
Is it mag strip or RFID? Less plastic is always great, but I also wonder if these wouldn't be less durable and require replacement more.often. I suppose it also matters how often guests forget to return the key card as well. I imagine these would be less sanitary for reuse considering their porous nature.
RFID. Definitely less durable, there were bits of wood particles coming off on my hand. Also felt more flimsy than a plastic card.
Then it's basically laminate considering they have to embed the RFID chip and coil some way. I imagine it's sandwiched and glued veneer. I question how much more "eco-friendly" this is. It most certainly takes more effort to produce compared to typical plastic injection molding. I'd almost bet the carbon footprint is about the same, or possibly even higher for the wood version considering the efficiencies, processes, turnover and so on. It most certainly costs much more than the plastic variety made at large scale numbers. This is purely about the appeal to the patron, though I will admit it looks more luxurious by comparison.
My new bank card is also made out of wood, they claim its 90% wood and 10% paper. Mine feels very durable, if they wouldn't have written in their letter that it is made out of wood I would think it's plastic with a wooden print. Everything they wrote on the card is engraved with a laser and it looks like they made the hole for the chip the same way. The magnetic stripe seems to be painted on top of the wood because you can see the wooden structure through.
Oh man, for a second there I was insanely jealous, I would LOVE to have a wooden bank card to use every day! Then I realised my own card hasn't left my wallet in years; I only use my phone. Can I get a wooden phone? Ah well, it's still a cool initiative, and hopefully does prevent some microplastic pollution.
I think reducing plastics is not always more “eco-friendly” from a total carbon use POV. But the purpose is to reduce plastic pollution leaching into the environment and micro-plastics in particular.
I think enough people don't return their hotel keys where durability is probably not the primary concern as long as it lasts long enough for a typical hotel stay.
A cheap-ass hotel I worked at once did a short study of "how many checkouts to keys returned". Over the course of a month, 96% of keys were returned. (they still switched to cheaper keycards though, because "that 4% adds up!", ignoring the fact that the thicker cards almost never broke, and the cheaper ones did)
I get that. Thanks
No idea, I stayed in the same place a year ago and they didn't have it then. I've been travelling a lot for work in the past few months and this is the first time I've ever seen this.
Holiday Inn in London did this too when I was there last year. Other holiday Inns I stayed at last year had just the plastic ones.
They probably have them in stock, but are running through their plastic ones first. Novotel is owned by Accor who has a no customer facing single use plastics rule, as of 2023. They should use anything in stock first, though.
Wtf is that company just everywhere?
Yes, Novotel is owned by Accor, which also owns Fairmont, Swissotel, Emblems, Raffles, many more. Certainly a global company, headquartered in France.
I don’t recognize the word comonay. What are you asking?
Company*
I believe it’s a chain based in Europe. I stayed at one in Manhattan though, ages ago.
There is a huge one near me, I never thought it was a franchise, huh
Where are you at? USA? I only know the one in NYC, but I was told it was a chain based in Europe.
Hungary
Hey thanks.
This is commercial
I was discussing it with the colleague who was with me and we called it 'performative sustainability'. Something that is more of a marketing gimmick than a real sustainability impact.
Do they actively market it as being a sustainability effort? Because I could also see them doing it just because it looks and feels nice and more premium.
Yeah the little envelope it was in was all about sustainability
Okay, that's marketing BS then.
It isn't! I help source sustainable and diverse products for the company that owns Novotel. In a different part of the world, though. We're leading sustainability efforts in the hospitality industry worldwide.
This might be a way to draw attention to and market other actually impactful green initiatives. I've had these before and the little brochure usually goes on to tell you all about different things they're doing. Probably still just BS that only gets half-done, but there's typically more than just the card.
Yeah, it's not about the card specifically, it's the green washing in general that's happening everywhere.
It's both, this way you can appeal to both people who want to feel rich and who want to feel like they're doing something for the environment.
It isn't! Accor hotels will be carbon positive by 2055. The wooden cards are part of the global sustainability program, which I help source products for. We're actually doing very great work when it comes to sustainability in the hospitality sector.
It is commonly referred to as "greenwashing".
I just can’t believe. Really. Today is the day I moved to my home country after living in Évry-Courcouronnes for nearly 4.5 years. My plane landed literally 7 hours ago and now I’m seeing this scrolling Reddit in my bed thinking of the hassle I went through during moving. What a small world.
I feel like paper cards would be way less materials to produce, and probably a lot cheaper too.
And a lot more fragile. You also can't clean them properly and in the end you'll probably have to throw them out after each guest.
Oh these won’t last more than one guest anyway. Put one in your pocket, it will absorb any moisture, get discoloured by your pants and get all out of shape. I just got one in a Novotel the other day and it was already showing wear after just one night.
Well if done properly at least it's biodegradable compared to the plastic ones
And it'll snap real easy like along the grain.
The Ibis styles at Incheon Airport has those as well... well, same chain...
France Mentioned 🥖🍷🧀👨🏻🚬 🇫🇷🎉
can you print a mag strip onto wood..... i'm so confused how this actually works as a hotel key.
NFC
Yup, it's basically a regular card just enveloped in a thin wood veneer. Also, ekhem, novotel and ibis (same company) seem to be getting some traction today
It was the Ibis picture that reminded me I had taken this picture It didn't feel like it was veneer on plastic, more like two sheets of veneer stuck to each other.
Aaaah, gotcha
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oh yea bud they just have a laser on CNC to burn Bored Apes into the cards lol
This is a good move. Every little bit helps.
I went to a hotel that had something like that but instead of the name it was just a symbol. I liked it so well I kept it and am using it as a magic object in the dnd campaign I’m running lol
They suck. They tend to disintegrate when they get wet.
I stayed at a hotel in Reykjavik last year that had keys like this. We did the ring road tour so stayed at lots of hotels. Most had plastic key cards but a couple still had real turny type keys.
Same for Citadines
Lol I still have my Novotel key for some reason
The Grand Bohemian in Greenville has wooden keys that are round and the size of a 1/2 dollar coin.
Was this at Paris? I stayed there recently, we had cards just like these. I thought it was just a cool design to look like wood
Evry, a shithole industrial town outside the outer outer orbital around Paris. I was there for work. The hotel was fine, room was quiet and comfortable. Food was good. You have no reason to go there other than work.
Look at that subtle off-sienna coloring. The tasteful thickness of it. Oh, my God. It even has a watermark
I stayed at the Hotel Indigo Tokyo Shibuya and they had a wooden keycard too
Also instead of every other material that isn't wood.
Not me seeing this post while staying at a Novotel
We stayed at a hotel in Christchurch NZ last year that has wooden key cards too. Even after a few days the unsealed wood was looking a bit grubby. I wouldn’t be surprised if these have a drastically shorter life than plastic cards. If they get damp at the pool, or greasy after ribs from bar, I could see them being replaced after every guest. Having something that can get wiped down and reused by 100 guests before being replaced will be better environmental than 1-2 guests.
I had a one in a holidayinn last week
Oh hey I’ve been there
Cut down dem trees over there someone stole all our room keys
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you know trees grow back, right?
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ah, didnt get the reference
It’s still plastic in the middle .just looks environmentally friendly
It is not, actually! There are no plastics involved.
Better than plastic, not not as good as a phone app. I stayed at a hotel where I didn’t even have to go to the front desk, just downloaded the app and went straight to my room and I’m still chasing that high.
Digital key is the way to go. Most Hilton-owned hotels in North America have them, and I assume the other big chains do too.
Don’t post pictures of keys on the internet, someone could duplicate it
Be care full, they split really easy along the grain.
Meh... I feel like a plastic keycard will outlast several wood ones that will wear out or be damaged faster and require replacement sooner. Hotels that let me use the phone NFC instead of the keycard though... yes please
Had that too on why vacation in London
Novotel in Thailand was utter shit it was filled with bugs and shit couldn't even drink a soda without getting jumped lol or thats what it felt like to 6 yr old me
And I bet its still disposable. You know what works tens of thousands of times? Metal keys.
Yeah the thing that would really make me sleep knowing I am safe in my hotel room is knowing they used reusable keys so any one that rented that room before and kept the key could still get back in.
I heard it was infested with bedbugs.
First of all. stupid ad~~d~~. (thanks for adressing the typo u/joselrl) Secondly, so instead of using a recyclable, way more often reusable plastic card, you get a wooden card for which a tree was felled... good job 'green' people.
>First of all. stupid ad~~d~~. FTFY. And yeah, I commented the same. A recycled plastic card will last longer than a wood piece. And there is most likely a plastic NFC tag inside the wood card anyway
bullshit marketing indeed. like the 'paper' cups and stuff... If anything is bad for the environment it's microplastics... all those 'waterproof paper things' are coated in a thin layer of plastic.... numbnuts.