Is Dalata Hotel Group Really Eco Certified? Green Tourism Gold Explained

When Dalata Hotel Group announced in 2024 that it had achieved Green Tourism Gold certification across 48 of its 50+ hotels in Ireland and the UK, two questions immediately arise.

First: is this genuine? Can a hotel group with 50+ properties, operating chain 4-star conference hotels, actually hold a meaningful eco certification?

Second: does this change where an eco-conscious traveller should book?

The answer to both questions is more interesting than you might expect.

What Dalata Did

Dalata Hotel Group, the largest hotel group in Ireland, put all of its Clayton and Maldron brand hotels through the Green Tourism certification process. Not a group certificate. Not a single audit covering all properties under a blanket pass. Each hotel was individually assessed by independent auditors against Green Tourism’s published criteria.

48 of the 50+ assessed hotels achieved Gold, the top tier. Two achieved Silver.

Green Tourism is a UK-based certification programme aligned with GSTC global sustainable tourism criteria. It assesses properties across energy management, water conservation, waste reduction, biodiversity management, supply chain sourcing, and community engagement. Gold requires strong, consistent performance across all assessed criteria, not just the implementation of management systems.

The audits were conducted by independent Green Tourism assessors. The certification is registered, verifiable, and time-limited. Properties must renew it.

Is This Greenwashing?

This is the right question to ask.

Greenwashing is when a company makes environmental claims that are not backed by verified evidence. The question is whether a chain hotel group submitting its hotels to independent third-party audit and receiving Gold certification from a credible certification programme constitutes greenwashing.

The answer is: no, this is not greenwashing. It is the opposite.

Green Tourism Gold is an externally verified, independently audited certification. The certification is based on actual operational performance, not self-declaration. The audits assess real systems: energy consumption data, water usage records, waste diversion rates, supply chain documentation. Hotels that do not meet the standard do not pass.

What the certification does not tell you is whether a Dalata hotel is as environmentally committed as an independently owned, purpose-built eco property with an owner-operator who has spent 20 years managing the land. That is a different question, and the answer is clearly: probably not.

But that is a comparison between different types of certified property, not a comparison between a certified property and an uncertified one. A Dalata hotel with Green Tourism Gold has more verified eco credentials than an uncertified boutique property that uses the word “eco” freely.

Where This Matters for Eco Travellers

Dalata’s Green Tourism Gold certification fills a significant gap in the EcoStay Ireland directory: it provides certified eco accommodation in counties and cities where certified options were previously absent.

Without Dalata, these areas would have no certified eco hotels:

Limerick city: Clayton Hotel Limerick is the only certified eco hotel in Limerick.

County Laois: Maldron Hotel Portlaoise is the only certified eco option in Ireland’s most central county.

Derry: Clayton Hotel Derry and Maldron Hotel Derry are the only two certified eco hotels in the walled city.

Belfast: Clayton Hotel Belfast and Maldron Hotel Belfast City are two of nine certified Belfast hotels, contributing to the city’s status as the most certified eco city on the island.

Dublin suburbs: Clayton Hotel Liffey Valley, Clayton Hotel Dublin Airport, Maldron Hotel Tallaght, and Maldron Hotel Newlands Cross cover the parts of Dublin that independent certified boutique hotels do not reach.

For a traveller who needs to stay in Portlaoise, or who is connecting through Dublin Airport, or who needs a conference hotel in Limerick for a meeting, the Dalata Green Tourism Gold certification means they have a verified eco option where previously none existed.

What Green Tourism Gold Requires

To be concrete about what Dalata properties have been assessed against:

Energy: Properties must demonstrate active energy monitoring, investment in efficiency, and pursuit of renewable energy sources. The assessment checks actual consumption data, not stated intentions.

Water: Conservation measures, monitoring, and documented reduction targets.

Waste: Documented waste separation, recycling rates, and waste reduction initiatives. Composting, food waste management, and disposal chain documentation.

Biodiversity: Management of outdoor spaces for wildlife, partnerships with local conservation, and grounds management practices.

Community: Local sourcing in supply chain, community engagement, support for local economy.

Green Meetings: Several Dalata properties also hold Green Meetings Gold accreditation, assessed against criteria for event and conference sustainability.

How to Think About This as a Traveller

A Dalata hotel with Green Tourism Gold is not the same as a purpose-built eco lodge on a rewilded estate. It was never going to be. It is a 4-star conference and city hotel that has put its operations through independent assessment and been certified at the highest level of an internationally recognised scheme.

If your priority is the most immersive, most distinctive, most landscape-connected eco stay, you are looking at the independent certified properties: Rock Farm Slane, Lough Mardal Lodge, Ard Nahoo, Pink Apple Orchard, Blackstairs Eco Trails, Gregans Castle, Gougane Barra. These are smaller, owner-operated, and often certified under Ecotourism Ireland Gold or EU Ecolabel standards that emphasise biodiversity, community, and off-grid practices more deeply than Green Tourism.

If your priority is a practical certified hotel in a city or town where you need to be for other reasons, and you want verified eco credentials rather than marketing claims, a Dalata Green Tourism Gold property is a legitimate, independently verified choice.

Both types of property appear on EcoStay Ireland. Both are certified. The certification is real in both cases. The type of stay is different.

Verification

You can verify any Dalata hotel’s Green Tourism Gold certification directly on the Green Tourism directory at greentourism.com. The certification is registered to each individual property, not to the group.

Browse Certified Eco Hotels in Ireland | Read the Certification Guide