Chateau Mcely luxury hotel wins the EU's Eco-label award

A man’s home is his castle.

The aphorism holds literal truth for Academy Vice Chairman for Europe, Dr. James Cusumano. With his wife Inez, Jim restored a ruined castle an hour’s drive northwest of Prague. Last year they opened the 24-room Chateau Mcely luxury hotel, resort, and conference center.

January was an eventful month for the Cusumanos and their castle. Chateau Mcely became only the second five-star hotel in the entire European Union to win the EU’s prestigious Eco-label award. Since this “Green” award was launched in 1992, the only other five-star hotel which has won is in Switzerland.

To win the award, the castle had to meet scores of criteria covering the entire life-cycle of its many operations, including its use of energy, water, and on-site chemical substances; procurement practices; waste handling; and staff training. Chateau Mcely’s Green operations include generation of electricity from renewable resources, a wastewater recycling system, a heating system powered by burning discarded wood chips from local sawmills, and staff who sort its trash from recyclables.

On January 16, the New York Times Great Homes section ran a feature on the Chateau, highlighting both the hotel’s luxuriousness and the state-of-the art high technology hidden behind its walls.