Hundreds of major accommodation hotels across Australia participated in Earth Hour last Saturday night by turning off lights, neon signs and various other electrical appliances.

The Australian Hotels Association (AHA) estimates that approximately 80 per cent of major accommodation hotels participated in the initiative.

AHA's national corporate affairs manager, Hamish Arthur, said that hotels did their bit by turning off lights and neon signs and providing guests with a letter outlining different ways for them to save energy.

Many hotels across the country did more than just turn off their lights for the hour. Many hotel restaurants held their dinners by candlelight and implemented a special organic menu, some of which were hand-written. Butchers paper was used instead of linen, air-conditioning was turned off and some guests were forced to use the stairs when elevators were temporarily out of order. There were even a number of wedding receptions held in hotels where the couples chose to celebrate with little or no electrical lighting.

According to Arthur, the high level of participation within the industry is evidence of its commitment to environmental sustainability and corporate social responsibility.