In a worldwide first, the Mandarin Oriental Palace Lucerne has been equipped with a system for producing bottled drinking water using AI. Falstaff spoke to the hotel's general manager, Christian Wildhaber, and Johanna Mattsson, CEO of Nordaq, the Swedish provider of the facility, about sustainability in top hotels and the taste of pure water.
Falstaff: How did the collaboration between the Mandarin Oriental Palace Lucerne and Nordaq come about?
Christian Wildhaber: Mandarin Oriental decided back in 2008 to reduce the presence of single-use plastics in its hotels as much as possible. While preparing the opening of the Mandarin Oriental Palace Lucerne, it was clear that we wanted locally-produced water, rather than imported bottles from abroad. Nordaq was on the market with a new technology that makes it possible to produce the same high-quality tap water worldwide – without plastic waste and on site.
Johanna Mattsson: Our technology filters local tap water, making it safe and palatable. This enables hotels to dispense with single-use plastics and significantly reduce their carbon footprint.
Disposable plastics can found in many places in the hotel, not just in water bottles – how important do you think Nordaq's role is in eliminating it?
Christian Wildhaber: Very important. Without a sustainable water solution, our goal would hardly be achievable. The bottles we use are made from 80 percent recycled glass and the caps from 100 percent recycled aluminum. Today, we are 100 percent free of single-use plastic.
Johanna Mattsson: A comparable hotel in Singapore saved around 150,000 bottles a year after switching to Nordaq. This saved as much CO₂ as is released during 15 return flights between Stockholm and Singapore. This study was previously carried out by an external institute.
What was it like to integrate of the Nordaq system into hotel operations?
Christian Wildhaber: The integration was surprisingly easy. We make sure that the water is bottled directly in-house – dated, sealed and safe. The biggest challenge was to convince the team and our guests that local, filtered water is just as good as imported mineral water. But we sell more Nordaq water than any other brand.
How do you communicate these sustainability initiatives?
Christian Wildhaber: We provide information transparently, for example through QR codes on the bottles. Guests are more sensitive to environmental issues and consciously choose sustainable options. French mineral water used to be a status symbol. Today, the opposite is the case.
The hotel was the first in the world to install a new AI unit from Nordaq. What makes that special?
Johanna Mattsson: The NQ600 is a compact, automated system with low energy consumption. It uses smart sensors and AI to predict demand and detect problems at an early stage. Sustainability data is available at all times.
How does water quality affect the culinary experience?
Johanna Mattsson: Our water is the cleanest in the world and enhances the flavor of food and wine. We offer pure, filtered water without taste-altering minerals.
Christian Wildhaber: That fits in perfectly with our claim – we want our guests to experience the destination, not the water.
How do you see the future of water consumption in the hotel industry?
Johanna Mattsson: The trend is clearly moving toward sustainable solutions. More and more hotels are switching to systems like ours.
Christian Wildhaber: For us, sustainability is an integral part of luxury. We want to show that excellence and environmental awareness can go hand in hand.
Thank you very much for the interview!
