Travel hospitality

Hotel Brand Debuts Refillable Amenity Stations to Reduce Single-Use Plastics

Lotte’s L7 Hotels Debuts In-Room Refillable Amenity Stations, Eliminating 1.2 Million Mini Bottles Annually

Chicago, December 2, 2025 L7 Hotels by Lotte today announced the full-phase launch of refillable amenity stations across all 345 guest rooms at its U.S. flagship, L7 Chicago, a move that will prevent an estimated 1.2 million single-use plastic toiletry bottles from entering the waste stream each year. The initiative, which began pilot testing in March, is the first domestic implementation of the brand’s global “Stay Refilled” sustainability program and places L7 two years ahead of Illinois’ forthcoming ban on small-format plastic hotel bottles.

Property engineers retrofitted every shower with locked, tamper-evident aluminum dispensers holding premium, paraben-free shampoo, conditioner, and body wash supplied by certified B-Corp vendor Bamford. Life-cycle analysis completed by the Cornell Sustainability Roundtable shows the switch cuts associated plastic weight by 91 % and trims total bathroom-waste volume 38 %, even after accounting for courier back-hauls of 5-gallon refill totes.

“Our data indicate that if every U.S. hotel adopted bulk dispensers, the sector could divert roughly 18,000 metric tons of polypropylene annually—equal to the plastic in 720 million straws,” said Professor William Lesser, co-author of the 2024 Green Lodging Trends Report, which found that 99.9 % of surveyed American properties have already replaced mini bottles.

The new stations dovetail with in-room Apec reverse-osmosis faucets installed at a cost of just $15 per sink, giving guests unlimited filtered water and eliminating the need for an estimated 380,000 single-use bottles each year.

Visitors receive a 750-ml aluminum Path bottle at check-in; RFID-enabled hydration boards on every floor track refills and reward guests with loyalty points after ten uses.

“Travelers don’t want to choose between luxury and responsibility,” said Selwyn Robles, Assistant General Manager of L7 Chicago. “By integrating refill culture directly into the room, we remove friction, protect our waterways, and deliver the design-forward experience Gen-Z and millennial guests now demand.”

Market research firm STR projects that sustainable amenity upgrades will boost RevPAR 2.3 % among upper-upscale brands, while Booking.com’s 2025 Sustainable Travel Report shows 71 % of global travelers are more likely to book accommodations with visible waste-reduction programs.

Following Chicago, L7 will roll the stations to six Asia-Pacific properties—Seoul Myeong-dong, Busan, and Danang—by Q4 2026, eliminating an additional 4.3 million bottles annually. Lotte Corporation has earmarked $2.8 million for dispenser hardware and staff training, funded in part by the savings from purchasing product in bulk, which lowers cost-per-ounce 22 %.

About L7 Hotels by Lotte

L7 Hotels is a lifestyle brand of Lotte Corporation, operating 11 design-led properties across South Korea, Vietnam, and the United States. Grounded in the philosophy of “Lifestyle 7th Sense,” the brand blends art, wellness, and sustainability to create immersive guest experiences.