Tuesday, November 25, 2008

What is Hilton up to?

There has been a lot of speculation about the press event Hilton is holding at 9 a.m. on the first day of the ALIS conference.

The official release reads:
"Hilton Hotels Corporation press conference to unveil new development concept ...
"One of HHC's core objectives is global growth; The news shared at this ALIS press event will outline impetus for growth and an exciting new product concept designed to meet the needs of an under-represented segment of the market. HHC hits the ground running with owner's at this exclusive media event."

Immediately bloggers began speculating that Hilton will announce its long-rumored lifestyle brand, for which Ross Klein (former Starwood designer credited with W's trendy success) was supposedly hired to help conceive. Others have said Hilton is announcing a mid-priced, extended-stay brand. My favorite was one blogger who guessed the new Hilton lifestyle brand will be called "H" ...

Anyway, kudos to Hilton for keeping us on the edge of our seats. They have a knack for announcing moves at very opportune times, like when they announced the Klein hire on the first day of the NYU Conference. Even more intriguing, ALIS has been a popular medium for introducing new projects (xp by NYLO and Edition in 2008), and ironically this year's ALIS will be held at the newest Hilton property, the San Diego Bayfront.

Got any guesses?

2 comments:

Anonymous said...

They'll be doing both! They are rolling out a mid-scale extended stay brand as well as new lifestyle brand!

Anonymous said...

And/or they will announce a devlopment fund headed by an industry executive who has experience here in the Americas as well as Europe (one who recently resigned his post in London).