Inn Marin/Rickey's Earns 'Green' Award from Huffman

The “green” awards keep rolling in for Inn Marin/Rickey’s, the 68-room hotel/restaurant in Ignacio.

On Friday, Assemblyman Jared Huffman will present Sustainable North Bay Award for the month of June to Inn Marin in recognition of its environmentally conscious accommodations and commitment to using sustainable materials.

“This is awesome. I didn’t expect it at all,” said Robert Marshall, who owns Inn Marin with his brother John. “I was shocked when they called. It feels great to get recognized because we’re constantly trying to figure out more ways to be green and minimize our carbon footprint.”

Two years ago, Inn Marin remodeled its rooms and created countless energy-saving upgrades such as low-flow showers and sinks, recycling containers and motion-sensor heating and air conditioning systems. Last year Inn Marin was certified at the “leadership” level through the state’s Green Hotel certification program. Last month Inn Marin became the first hotel in Marin County to install an electric vehicle charging station.

Robert Marshall said he was excited to see visitors start to use the EV charging station.

“The number of people out there living green continues to increase all the time, and we’re finding that people are seeking us out on the Internet based on the fact that we’re green,” he said. “It’s not just that we’re green but that we’re actually pushing the envelope. I think the EV charging station pushed us to the top of the list for this (Huffman) award.”

Inn Marin’s business has picked up in recent months; April was 50 percent better than April 2010, Marshall said.

“We’re not back to where we were in 2007, but we’re definitely on the rise,” he said. “We’re probably looking at 6 to 8 percent increase in business volume this year, and I think part of that is because of the green things we’ve done here. We’re pretty happy about it.”

Huffman, who represents Marin in the state capitol, will be at Inn Marin for the 11:30 a.m. presentation Friday.