Hometel brand room2 is giving the festive season a circular economy makeover, converting the coffee grounds from its cafés into 3D printed tree decorations, artisan soaps and festive cocktails. The Circular Christmas programme runs from 1 to 31 December across the brand’s Chiswick, Southampton and Belfast properties.
For UK business travellers, the timing is useful as well as festive. Alongside the seasonal activity, room2 has launched a stay offer running from 1 November to 31 January, covering the quieter winter booking period when many SMEs schedule year-end client visits and January planning trips. With double rooms starting from £129 per night and a claimed carbon footprint 76 per cent lower per night than a standard UK hotel, the brand is making a direct play for companies that need their accommodation choices to stand up to scrutiny in a sustainability report.
What the circular programme includes
The centrepiece is a range of limited-edition tree ornaments, shaped as gingerbread men and local landmarks, 3D printed from the hometels’ recycled coffee grounds. Printing happens live on site, so guests can watch their decoration being made while they drink a barista-made coffee. Ornaments are sold exclusively at room2 from £5, with £1 from each sale going to local homelessness charities: SPEAR London, The People’s Kitchen in Belfast and Street Support in Southampton.
The same waste stream supplies a run of handmade natural soap bars, made specially for room2 and sold in limited quantities on site from £7. The bars carry subtle coffee notes and a gently exfoliating texture, pitched as stocking fillers for anyone heading home from a work trip empty-handed.
At the bar, reclaimed coffee grounds also feature in a low-waste festive cocktail, mixed by room2’s bartenders and available in alcoholic and alcohol-free versions. As with the ornaments, £1 from every cocktail sold goes to the brand’s partner homelessness charities.
Part of a wider circular design push
The Christmas activity sits within a broader circular design programme led by room2’s Circular Design Manager, Josh Renouf, who has developed a collection of products made from coffee waste, including lamp shades, bins and storage boxes. These are already fitted in selected hometels and are due to go on public sale in 2026, with the aim of feeding waste materials back into the brand’s own operations.
room2 has built its reputation on this territory. Its Chiswick property is billed as the world’s first whole life net zero hometel, accounting for emissions from construction through to eventual demolition, while the 100 per cent electric room2 Belfast opened as the brand’s first site outside England. Larger groups are moving in the same direction, with Radisson scaling its verified net zero hotels programme towards a target of 100 properties by 2030, so documented carbon performance is fast becoming a point of competition rather than a marketing footnote.
The offer for winter bookings
Guests booking between 1 November and 31 January receive 20 per cent off the best available room rate, live music every Friday and 20 per cent off the signature Low Waste Cocktail at Winnie’s Café & Bar, using the code CircularDesign at checkout. For travel bookers weighing up aparthotel-style stays against conventional hotels this winter, the combination of kitchen-equipped rooms, a published carbon figure and a fifth off the rate is a straightforward case to put to the finance director. Full details are at room2.com.
