Hard Rock Hotel Desaru Coast invites guests to not only experience its buzzing vibes, but its meaningful sustainable initiatives that highlights the biodiversity of Desaru Coast. 

As the hospitality industry recovers post-pandemic, Hard Rock Hotel Desaru Coast is heralding the new year with meaningful and impactful initiatives that focus on biodiversity and sustainability. 

We were recently invited to experience the multitude of sustainable efforts put together by the hotel, which underlined two components —sustainable living through reducing waste and imparting knowledge on the rich biodiversity of Desaru Coast’s natural surroundings. 

In line with Hard Rock International’s commitment to ‘Save the Planet’ and its partnership with World Wildlife Fund, Hard Rock Hotel Desaru Coast celebrated a three-day Earth Hour 2022 event from 25th to 27th March with the theme ‘Shape Our Future’. During the trip, we were also introduced to the hotel’s new Sustainability Manager, Chew Siew Moon who was previously an Environmental Biologist in DHI Water & Environment, Singapore. In fact, she is also the first-ever Sustainability Manager in the Hard Rock International umbrella. 

“Sustainability is at the forefront of travel today and we are inspired to transform travel experiences for guests into a unique destination that has minimal impact on the environment and ecosystem. I’m excited to create itineraries that are both educational and experiential that will be impactful for guests to apply it at home, and everywhere else,” explained Chew. 

Through our experience, and the many excursions put together by the hotel team, here are some of the best takeaways from our recent Earth Hour celebration at Hard Rock Hotel Desaru Coast.

Water Stations

One of the first thing that the hotel did was to eliminate single-use plastics, resulting in successfully implementing 25 water stations along guestroom corridors for guests to refill with their Stainless Steel Thermos Flasks. This is a great message to impart to both adults and kids on the importance of reducing plastic wastes.

Hornbill Villas

Desaru Coast is home to Oriental pied-hornbills, Great hornbills and Wreathed hornbills. In effort to conserve biodiversity, Hard Rock Hotel Desaru Coast kickstarted the ‘Hornbill Villas’ project, aimed at providing homes for these extraordinary birds to nest, breed and feed. Using existing materials and woods from the hotel, the team led by Chew made little ‘homes’ that were hung on the tall trees within the hotel. Knowing that the existence of hornbills is vital for dispersing seeds to regenerate plant diversity and the green cover, this is a great start to many other initiatives to keep the biodiversity in the vicinity healthy. 

Mangrove Swamps

One of the highlights from the trip was the special tour into the thriving mangroves surrounding Desaru Coast. A 30-minute car ride takes you into the beautiful wetlands of Sedili Kecil that flaunt three ecosystems — a mangrove forest, a Nypa palm forest, and higher upstream, a freshwater swamp forest. Hotel guests can go on an educational tour organised by a naturalist from Junglewalla at a special price, learning about the beauty of the mangrove swamps. The excursion was been an eye opener to the wonders of the mangroves in Malaysia. And take it from us, these are also hidden gems that make a picture-perfect moment too. 

Farm-to-Bar

After a long day, enjoy your choice of drinks — be it a cocktail or a mocktail — at the bar. Choose your favourite herb from the hotel’s Herb Garden and the resident bartender will whip up a delicious concoction that celebrates the nuances of local ingredients like calamansi, mint, kaffir lime, locally-sourced honey and more. 

Composting and more

Guests also learned how to compost food wastes as fertilisers or cleaning agents. This followed a masterclass on mixing soils, and plant herbs and veggies with the seedling activity. The hotel team also thought guests how to up-cycle old bedsheets into tote bags into psychedelic art using plant-based dyes. 

To find out more about Hard Rock Hotel Desaru Coast and its sustainable practices, check out its official website.

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