More general is the tendency in tourism to gradually become… five-star, and in our country, as in the last decade the number of super-luxurious hotels in operation has more than doubled, while the rooms and beds in these hotels have almost doubled.
This trend, with continuous investments in luxury units, has significantly upgraded the tourist product which means an increase in arrivals but above all a significant increase in tourist receipts as the number of middle and upper income class tourists increases.
In this climate, Hilton Hotels Worldwide Holdings wishes to enter the list of super-luxury hotel brands and join the Four Seasons Resort & Club, Marriott International’s Luxury Collection, Ritz-Carlton Hotel, although many consider that it is already there at least with the brands Waldorf Astoria Hotels & Resorts and Conrad Hotels & Resorts.
But even the most … Hilton fanatics admit that the hotel giant’s reputation rests primarily on everyday, international travelers rather than luxury seekers. “Here’s the irony — Hilton didn’t have luxury brands across the board a few years ago,” Dino Michaels, senior vice president and global head of Hilton’s luxury brands, told Bloomberg.
“But if you look back before today’s proliferation of luxury brands, Hilton was an international hotel brand,” he adds, citing its prominence from the 1950s to the 1970s. “We have legitimacy in this space, just we changed focus for a while.”
That’s what Hilton is aggressively pushing to change. The corporate hospitality giant is in the process of acquisitions and partnerships to expand its luxury lifestyle portfolio. Its hope is not just to grow in a segment that has sustained high demand since the Covid-19 pandemic, but to offer its most loyal customers – 190 million Hilton Honors members – more enticing ways to spend their earned points .
“We’re going from 100 to 500 luxury hotels in 2024,” says Chris Shylock, Hilton’s president of global brands and commercial services. “This will be amazing for our customers and will continue to fuel our loyalty program – it’s a huge, huge year for us.”
Hundreds of hotels in one year
Hilton’s concerted luxury push began in February 2024 when it signed an exclusive partnership with Small Luxury Hotels of the World, a collection of 560 luxury boutique hotels in 90 countries. Most of these can now be booked from Hilton points.
Also in February, Hilton partnered with outdoor brand AutoCamp. By the time the summer travel season began, Hilton loyalists could book the brand’s custom Airstreams and luxury tents, located near US national parks in locations such as Zion in Utah and Yosemite in California.
Then came the acquisitions. In March, Hilton spent $210 million on Graduate Hotels, a collection of about thirty elegant hotels strategically located near college campuses, which in 2024 will add locations near Princeton and Auburn universities. By acquiring majority control of Andrew Zobler’s Sydell Group, it then added expansion rights to the boho-luxe NoMad brand, which Hilton envisions growing from a London flagship to up to 100 hotels worldwide.
The deal with NoMad is especially sweet. While most hotel groups manage the properties in their portfolios without owning them, Hilton won’t be doing anything for NoMad, only providing property development services for the brand while keeping it in the mix for Hilton Honors members.
Revisiting old brands
Hilton is also trying to raise interest in the Waldorf Astoria and Conrad as it rapidly expands both brands. It opened 50 beachfront villas and six restaurants on an ultra-secluded private island in the Seychelles in late January, all set among lush forests, lagoons and coral reefs. The Waldorf Astoria Maldives Ithaafushi, meanwhile, opened in 2019. It spans three islands, with overwater villas perched above the Indian Ocean. Each has its own glass-floored walk-in closet and infinity pool, as well as access to the country’s largest spa.
The Waldorf Astoria flagship in New York will reopen in 2024, too, after an extremely complex renovation spanning several years. After that, a Waldorf Astoria will open in London – being built in Admiralty Arch, a landmark building adjacent to Buckingham Palace that was originally used by the British navy. In total, 15 new Waldorf Astorias and Conrads are in the works, all set to open by 2026.
The company’s efforts to further upgrade these brands are already helping Hilton’s bottom line. In its Aug. 7 earnings call, it said revenue per available room rose 7.5 percent in the second quarter compared with the same period last year for the Waldorf Astoria brand and 8.7 percent for the Conrad brand. Meanwhile, brands such as Hampton by Hilton, which focuses more on an upper-middle-range market, rose 1.8 percent.
Hilton’s moves in Greece
At the same time, touristic Greece, which is changing and attracting more and more “heavy wallets”, could not be absent from Hilton’s wider planning.
Hilton has many brands in the Greek market. In particular, it has a presence with the Curio brand and with seven other hotels in Crete, Rhodes, Santorini and Corinth. Also within the Curio Collection, the historic “Pendelikon” will operate from 2025, while in 2024 the Hampton by Hilton Piraeus Mikrolimano, in the port of Piraeus, will open.
Mykonos is the new stop for Hilton’s Curio brand on the island, with the new five-star hotel Semeli Coast Mykonos Resort. The new member of the “CurioCollection by Hilton” brand, which opened its doors this year, belongs to the Iraklis Zisimopoulos family, of the Semeli Group, which also owns two other hotel units (Hotel Semeli in the city of Mykonos and Mykonos View) which it manages at the same time. while DHR Services provides the commercial support of the hotel before and after the opening.
The hotel also has a restaurant with local products directly from local producers as well as a fully equipped spa.
The former Hilton turned Conrad
The crown of Hilton’s presence in our country will be from the third quarter of 2025, its units in the new destination of Athens at THE ILISIAN of TEMES, in the former Hilton of Athens. There, the new luxury hotel Conrad will be built, which will have 280 rooms and suites and the 50 luxury residences which will operate under Hilton’s Conrad Residences and Waldorf Astoria Residences brands.
Imperial Flair Chania Old Town is scheduled to open in 2026, which will be the newest addition to the Curio Collection by Hilton, following an agreement between the international chain and Tsiledakis SA, owner of the Chania hotel.
…and the new five-star resort in Crete
The new 5-star resort in Crete will have a capacity of 85 rooms, all with a private pool, while providing its guests with direct access to the beach. With the Tsiledakis family, Hilton also has a partnership in the Chania Flair Boutique Hotel, Tapestry Collection by Hilton.
Hilton’s Tapestry brand appeared for the first time in Chania, but will soon expand further. Finally, it has a presence with the Small Luxury Hotels (SLH Hotels) network, which in our country includes 24 hotels.
Source: ot.gr
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