It’s easy to miss the little sign outside the Charles Hotel parking garage, but it's worth noting the Charles Hotel Green Parking program.

After I got over my immediate Cambridgey knee-jerk reaction “nobody should drive, we should all be on Public Trans or bikes” attitude, I climbed down off my high horse and admitted that some people do have to drive some of the time and that the Green Garage program includes some innovative ideas.

Such as…
Free Bike lending and parking
The Charles Hotel has a free bike-lending program available to all hotel guests. The Men's and women's Electra Amsterdam Classic bicycles each come with a handlebar-mounted basket, a Giro helmet, a Kryptonite lock, and a local bike trail map.

The garage also offers complimentary bike parking.

Small rate for small cars
Small cars get a discounted parking rate. The garage’s nanoMAX ™ small car detection system measures a vehicle upon entry and assigns a unique parking rate based upon the vehicle's actual size. Smaller, environmentally friendly vehicles are assessed a lower rate (from 5am to 5pm).

And there is a free charging station for electric vehicles and hybrids.

Small small Car Parking Perk
The garage has a special area reserved for smaller cars like Minis and Smart Cars. This re-striped area maximizes the parking footprint to accommodate more small cars. In the same vein, the garage has upgraded their lighting system to a more energy efficient one.

Tire Inflation Station
Under-inflated tires sabotage gas mileage. Hotel guests can take advantage of the free Tire Inflation Station to maximize their gas mileage and lessen their fuel consumption.