• by Danielle Oster , August 13, 2024

Hotel wake-up calls feel less relevant at a time when anyone can just schedule an alarm to wake them up with the push of a button. So the wake-up call was due for a reinvention.

Hotel Marcel New Haven, Tapestry Collection by Hilton is doing just that with a new initiative created in collaboration with agency Cornett. The effort reinvents the purpose of a “wake up call,” instead offering guests a “Climate Wake-Up Call.”

The initiative supplants the typical concierge room call with a morning wake-up call dedicated to providing guests with messages about climate change, delivered by important voices in the climaate change movement.

David Pogue, a “CBS Sunday Morning” correspondent and author of “How to Prepare for Climate Change” and ClimaData founder, chief atmospheric and environmental scientist John Morales lend their voices to the effort.

The campaign highlights the hotel’s sustainability bonafides as the first in the country to operate fossil-fuel-free, according to a news release. Hotel Marcel claims to operate entirely on renewable energy – a distinct selling point for sustainability-minded travelers to the Elm City.

A campaign video introduces the concept with a series of troubling headlines about the impacts of climate change, leading into the question: “Humanity is sleeping through the climate crisis. If headlines like these won’t wake us up, what will?”

“Other hotels have hit the snooze button when it comes to our changing climate. As the leading fossil-fuel free hotel in the United States, we are committed to being part of the solution,” Bruce Becker, owner and developer of Hotel Marcel said in a statement.

The initiative is a timely one, coming on the heels of record-breaking heat last month -- which saw the two hottest days on record, according to the European Union’s Copernicus Climate Change Service. It also arrives as college students and families are preparing for the fall semester, with Yale University and the city’s other educational institutions a primary driver of travel to the Pizza Capital of the United States.

Supporting campaign elements include a dedicated website providing tips for how to live a more sustainable lifestyle, and on-premises installations to drive guests to schedule their “Climate Wake-Up Call,” including signage and a large phone in the hotel’s lobby encouraging visitors to sign up for the service.

There’s also an effort to reach a broader public audience with the message, inviting audiences to visit the campaign site or dial 475-766-8903 for their own “Climate Wake-Up Call” message.

As part of the initiative, Hotel Marcel is also donating a portion of proceeds from guest stays to New Haven Climate Movement, a youth-led, intergenerational grassroots organization of New Haven area residents, dedicated to promoting climate justice, green jobs, and healthy communities.