Four hotel chains named most ethical

(Marriott International)

If you're looking for an ethical bed for the night, Marriott or Wyndham might be the easiest options, according to a recently-released survey.

The hotel giants were selected among the four most ethical hotel chains in the world, along with two smaller competitors - luxury chain Kimpton and German group Rezidor Hotels (operators of Radisson Blu and Park Inn).

All four were chosen as the leading travel providers among the world's most ethical companies by Ethisphere, an international think tank.

They were chosen by a committee of leading attorneys, academics, government officials and leaders on the basis of performance in areas such as corporate citizenship, innovation that contributes to public wellbeing, industry leadership and ethics and compliance programs.

Being green is now big business for the world's hoteliers - a TripAdvisor survey last year suggested that 22 percent of US travelers were planning to be more conscious of the environment in the future.

However, a similar study conducted at the end of last year in Britain said that the economy could be making travelers less eco-considerate, with the percentage of travelers stating that they were planning to be eco-conscious falling compared to the year before.

Nonetheless, ethics appear to be more important than ever for the hoteliers involved, with Marriott saying that the award was "testament to Marriott's commitment to doing business with integrity" and Rezidor saying it wanted to "raise the bar for ethical standards within the industry."

See the full list of companies here: http://ethisphere.com/wme2011/