Vegas hotels first to receive five 'keys'

Las Vegas' CityCenter, home of MGMRI properties ARIA and Vdara

Twelve MGM Resorts International  (NYSE: MGM) properties this month received high ratings from the Green Key Global Green Key Eco-Rating Program. The resorts are the first in Nevada and Michigan to receive Green Key Ratings, which are specifically designed to recognize hotels, motels and resorts committed to improving both environmental and fiscal performance.

Hotels are awarded a one to five "key" rating based on the results of an online environmental self-assessment and onsite inspection. ARIA and Vdara at CityCenter in  Las Vegas were the only MGM properties that earned "5 Keys." Both properties also received Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design (LEED) Gold Certification for sustainable design and construction from the U.S. Green Building Council.

The Green Key Eco-Rating program allows participating properties to benefit on both internal and external fronts, says Tony Pollard, president of the Canada Hotel Association and managing director for Green Key Global.

"We are positioned as a baseline product that every hotel can use to see how to improve its energy and environmental performance," Pollard says. "Hotels can use results internally to determine what they are doing wrong and where they can improve, and externally they can use it by virtue of the fact that they can market their rating to environmentally friendly travelers."

The Green Key Eco-Rating program was originally established in Canada in 1996 for the Hotel Association of Canada  and currently works with approximately 1,500 properties worldwide. To date, there are 11 Canadian and three U.S. properties that have received a "5 Key" rating, according to Pollard.

In the United States, Green Key is a joint partnership between the Hotel Association of Canada and LRA Worldwide Inc. MGM Resorts International  has significant holdings in gaming, hospitality and entertainment, and owns and operates 15 properties located in Nevada, Mississippi and Michigan along with 50 percent investments in four other properties in Nevada, Illinois and Macau.