News

Hilton to go boutique?

6 Jan 2009 by Mark Caswell

Rumours are rife that Hilton will announce at least one new brand this year, with the favourites being a boutique offering and a further mid-market concept.

Internet forum chatter suggests Hilton will make an announcement at ALIS (Americas Lodging Investment Summit), which coincidentally is being held at the Hilton San Diego Bayfront from January 26-28.

The conference is traditionally an occasion for hotel groups to announce new brands, with last year’s event seeing the official unveiling of Edition Hotels, a boutique concept being jointly developed by Marriott and Ian Schrager.

It was originally thought that Hilton would use the ALIS platform to announce its boutique offering, but this may now not happen until later in the year, possibly at the Berlin Investment Conference in March. This could leave an opportunity to unveil a mid-market brand to sit alongside its Garden Inn offering, which made its debut in the UK last summer (see online news August 5, 2007).

If the rumours are true, Hilton would be following rivals such as Starwood and IHG into the increasingly popular boutique market. Starwood has established the W Hotels brand in the US, and is gradually expanding worldwide (with properties currently due in both London and Manchester in 2010), while IHG will officially unveil its first Indigo hotel outside the US later this month, with the opening of the Indigo London Paddington.

What would you like to see from a boutique Hilton concept, and what do you think the brand should be called? Leave your comments below, or visit our forum to have your say.

Visit hilton.com.

Report by Mark Caswell

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