By Dan Korman

Usually, we associate a luxury hotel like Chicago’s Fairmont with amenities that insulate guests from urban noise and commotion: Jacuzzi suites, fine dining, health clubs. But the Fairmont has taken a different approach. It encourages its guests to immerse themselves in Chicago’s urban environment through bicycling.

Partnering with the Millennium Park Bicycle Station, the hotel began offering bicycle rental last summer so guests could capitalize on Chicago’s existing bicycle culture. The Fairmont also offers a bicycle rickshaw service to popular nearby destinations like Grant Park.

“Feedback about this service has been overwhelmingly positive,” said Mark Sergot, director of marketing at Fairmont Hotel, Chicago. “People look for things that are unique in a hotel … and in a city environment [these services] are very unique.”

Guests who use the bicycle rental service have enjoyed the unique, up-close view of Chicago that only biking can provide.

Chief concierge Vincent Poladian recalls, “One guest who used a bike rental for an all-day excursion was blown away by the friendliness of the bike path and the greenness of the city.”

Fairmont Hotels & Resorts, which owns the Fairmont Hotel, Chicago, operates 45 hotels worldwide. Each hotel has a “green team,” consisting of 10 members that tailor its environmental efforts to the location and environment of the hotel.

“All of our hotels have a desire to support health and wellness for the community,” Sergot explained. “We look for ways to support the environment like recycling, protecting wildlife areas … We do what we can to support the surrounding habitat.

“Every hotel has its own perspective. We do this as a part of our corporate culture.”

The Fairmont offers bicycle amenities to its employees, in addition to sponsoring bicycle events in Chicago like Chicagoland Bicycle Federation’s Bike The Drive. The hotel also participated in the Commuter Challenge; and it recently installed bike racks and began offering shower facilities for bike-commuting employees. Since the hotel began offering these amenities, more of its employees commute by bicycle.

One of the Fairmont’s most resilient bicyclists is Leon Gunn, chef de cuisine at the hotel’s restaurant, Aria. He won a $300 bicycle shop gift certificate during the 2005 Commuter Challenge and purchased a bike trailer so he could shop for produce by bike.

Offering bicycling amenities has been virtually expense-free for the Fairmont Hotel. The real benefit is the improvement in the quality of the guest experience.

Claire Micklin is a volunteer Bike Traffic editor