Offering bottled water feels like a generous touch. 

But those bottles keep costing you long after your guests have checked out. 

You pay for the bottle. 

You pay to freight it in. 

You pay to store it, chill it, restock it and throw it out. 

Meanwhile, more guests arrive with their own reusable bottles and expect easy ways to refill.

Booking.com’s Australian research found 54 per cent of travellers care about travelling more sustainably, and 67 per cent say seeing sustainable practices on a trip inspires them to act more sustainably themselves. 

That shift matters. Bottled water is no longer just a nice extra. Now it can look wasteful, overpriced and out of step with what guests want. 

Some hotels have already cut plastic waste by 15 to 30 per cent just by removing bottled water and switching to refillable options. 

The savings can stack up fast. 

Take a mid-sized hotel with 120 rooms, two bottles per room, 78% occupancy and a landed bottle cost of $2.50. 

That adds up to 68,328 bottles a year and $170,820 just on bottled water. That does not even include staff time, storage, fridge space or waste handling. 

That is where the numbers matter. A simple calculator can turn a broad sustainability goal into a real business case.

Ready to see how your hotel compares? Try our bottle impact calculator at civiq.com.au/hotel-calculator

Refill Stations: Simple, Visible Impact.

Water is the simplest part of the minibar to change. Guests need it from the moment they arrive and use it all day. 

A refill station on the guest floor, near the gym or in shared areas cuts out plastic waste and gives guests something they actually value. 

It also makes your sustainability story easy to see. 

At the Adelaide Marriott Hotel, refill stations were installed as part of a broader push to remove single-use bottled water without compromising design, hygiene or guest experience. 

Early results showed more than 45,000 bottles already saved from landfill, against an original forecast of about 110,000 bottles a year. The hotel also reported fewer housekeeping logistics tied to bottled water.

Making Water Changes That Matter

Policy is moving the same way. Australia’s packaging targets call for all packaging to be reusable, recyclable or compostable, plus the phase-out of problematic and unnecessary single-use plastic packaging. 

For hotels, that does not mean in-room bottled water disappears overnight. It does mean the market is moving towards refill and reuse, not more disposable packaging. 

For operators, the benefits go beyond cutting plastic. Refill stations can reduce purchasing, free up storage, lower waste handling and make life easier for housekeeping. 

They also change how guests see your hotel. Instead of a plastic bottle in the fridge, guests find a practical service that matches how they already travel. 

If you want to see what the switch could look like in your own property, book a free hydration review with Civiq. 

We can help you map your current bottled water use, spot quick wins and show where refill stations could cut plastic, save time and reduce cost. 

Less plastic. Less spend. Better guest hydration. 

That is a strong place to start.