Hilton Worldwide has unveiled its latest mid-market brand, aimed at “filling a massive void in the midscale category in the US and Canada”.
The group says that Tru by Hilton is a “revolutionary new midscale brand” which is “simplified, spirited and grounded in value”.
Properties within the brand will be either new-builds or conversions of existing hotels, and to that end Hilton says it has already signed up 102 properties, with 30 more “in various stages of approval”.
It says that the new brand will “appeal to a broad range of travellers who span generations but think alike; they are united by a millennial mindset – a youthful energy, a zest for life and a desire for human connection”.
Highlights of Tru by Hilton include:
- A reimagined lobby experience – The Hive, with four areas for lounging, working, eating or playing
- The Play Zone – a games area with large flatscreen TV and tiered, “stadium-inspired seating”
- The Command Centre – the new name for the reception, with a social media wall featuring real-time content, and a 24-hour market shop
- A “Build Your Own” breakfast concept, with 30 sweet and savoury items allowing guests to customise bagels, doughnuts, Greek yoghurt and oatmeal dishes
- Guest rooms with 55-inch TVs, all-white platform beds, eigh-foot wide windows, “access to power everywhere”, and “surprisingly spacious bathrooms”
- Free wifi throughout the hotel, as well as “plentiful power sources”, mobile check-in and Digital Keys available through the Hilton HHonors app.
Hilton says that the Tru by Hilton concept has been designed so as to be “easily scalable to fit urban, suburban, highway and airport adjacent locations”.
Jim Holthouser, executive vice president, global brands, Hilton Worldwide said that the brand “addresses a gap in the marketplace by appealing to the youthful mindset demographic, pushing the industry to marry quality and value”.
The first Tru by Hilton property is scheduled to open in the US at the end of 2016. It will be the 13th Hilton brand, following the launch of Canopy by Hilton and Curio in 2014.
Subscribers to Business Traveller can read Jenny Southan’s feature on the new breed of lifestyle hotel brands here, and for David Churchill’s report on how hotel groups are finding it easier to announce new brands than actual deliver them, click here.
Mark Caswell
