Hilton unveils new extended stay brand
By Jim Adair
Hilton Worldwide recently launched its latest brand – Home2Suites by Hilton – and has aggressive expansion plans that include Canada.
The first Home2Suites opened in Fayetteville, N.C. and business media including REM were invited to tour the new facility. The extended stay hotels (aimed at those who need to stay five consecutive days or more) “combine the strength of a Hilton brand with a fresh, hip and humble hotel concept,” says Christopher Nassetta, president and CEO of Hilton Worldwide. They are designed to serve a mid-scale segment of the market.
Instead of a hotel lobby, Home2Suites features an “Oasis”, a community space that includes individual work and conversation spaces, wireless Internet access and a large-screen TV. The Fayetteville property also includes a couple of computer workstations. Board games are available and some of the bright, funky furniture can be shuffled around to suite impromptu gatherings.
The Oasis includes the “Inspired Table” where a complimentary continental breakfast, including hot items, is served each morning. The area includes a long breakfast table with built-in data ports for laptops and other media. There’s also a small store that offers a selection of snacks and desserts, as well as frozen dinners ready for the microwave.
Guest suites include a “working wall” that incorporates the kitchen and flexible working space connecting living and bedroom zones, which can be separated with a curtain. The kitchen includes a refrigerator/freezer with icemaker, dishwasher, place settings for six, a microwave oven and a coffee maker. There’s no cooktop but you can borrow one from the front desk.
The media/working zone in the suites include a queen size sofa/sleeper, 42-inch flat screen TV, roll-around ottoman, ambient task lighting, alarm clock with iPod port and MP3 jack, and various pieces of furniture that can be moved around to create customized living spaces and adjustable storage options. Some units also include a data hub that can be used for connecting a laptop to the TV or for using an Xbox or Wi.
A clever touch is Spin2 Cycle, a combination laundry room and fitness centre. Guests can start a load of laundry and then work out on fitness equipment in an adjacent room. The hotels also come with a saline pool, patios with grills, outdoor seating areas and an exercise trail that circles the property and allows for dog-walking (yes, dogs are allowed).
The new chain features a number of “green” features, including the use of recycled carpet squares and other recycled building materials, low-flow showers and dual flush toilets. Hilton is also using Home2Suites to introduce its LightStay system, which will measure energy and water use as well as the carbon output of its properties.
“When we first conceptualized this brand we knew we could take advantage of the four rights – right segment, right time, right price and right product,” says Bill Duncan, global head, brand management, Home2 Suites by Hilton. The company built a prototype of the Oasis in its headquarters in Memphis, Tenn. and installed a mock-up of a guest room in a nearby Hampton Inn. The prototypes were used for focus groups and to show off to potential investors.
Duncan says it took only about two years from the conception of the brand to the completion of the first hotel. “It’s a very efficient build,” he says, adding that from ground-breaking to opening day at Fayetteville took about nine months. Designed to cost an average of $75,000 per key (excluding land costs), the first hotel at Fayetteville came in at about $90,000 per key. It is larger than the prototype, which has 108 suites.
Since the media tour, another Home2 Suites has opened in Utah and several others will be finished soon. In all, Duncan says there are 77 deals in place in the U.S., and a Toronto location is expected to be announced soon. The company has already been to Toronto and Vancouver to speak to potential investors, and it views Edmonton, Calgary, Ottawa and the Kitchener-Waterloo, Ont. areas as other prime markets. “We really want to be firmly positioned in North America,” says Duncan. “Then we’ll think about going out internationally.”
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