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The Sky Pavilion at the Hilton BNA Nashville Airport Terminal , which had its grand opening in April . |
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best-producing brands in the market ), Home2 Suites , an upper-midscale extended-stay brand , Tru by Hilton , a midscale new-build option and the newly launched Spark .
It ’ s also added another brand to its quiver . In January , Hilton gave a formal name to a lower-midscale , extended-stay brand it had been incubating , LivSmart Studios by Hilton . Longer-stay hotels and brands became the darlings of the hotel industry in the wake of the pandemic , a trend that is not losing steam , especially in the stalwart work-from-anywhere methodology . Though Nassetta suggested that travel and work patterns are getting back to pre-pandemic ways , the way people live , work and travel has likely forever changed . “ We ’ re
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in a new normal . We were doing a lot of remote well before the pandemic . Now there ’ ll be a larger percentage ,” he said , which has affected Hilton ’ s approach to brands and products .
Of LivSmart , Nassetta said : “ We didn ’ t do it because of the remote work thing , but there is certainly accelerating demand for that type of product . LivSmart is definitely addressing a more mobile workforce and people working remote and having more mobility means that they need what we do more than ever .”
These trends are even impacting how hotel companies cater to their own workforce . Hilton is based in the Washington , D . C ., suburb of McLean , Va ., where it occupies what on the outside looks
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like a normal office building . Hilton ’ s lease was coming up post-pandemic and changes were to be made , partly because of workforce trends . Chiefly , Hilton reduced about a third of its overall square footage , while updating the space “ to make it more fun ,” Nassetta said . “ Every CEO I talk to is doing the same thing .”
A more mobile workforce is a net positive for the hotel industry , Nassetta , and most others , contend . “ It means more leisure , more weekend , more ’ bleisure ’ business and more core business travel , because more people are moving around and they used to just go to the home office ,” he said . “ It ’ s very good for business and , product wise , extended stay is directly tied into it .”
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M & A V . PARTNERSHIP One of the other major trends settling into the hotel industry is lodging companies growing via a mix of traditional M & A and what can now be referred to as en-vogue partnerships . Hilton is into both . Beginning in February , and in rapid succession , it announced four new deals . A partnership with Small Luxury Hotels of the World , which allows Hilton Honors members the ability to book , accrue points and burn points at the some 560 SLH hotels worldwide ( if the hotels elect to participate ); the same month , Hilton collaborated with AutoCamp to offer enhanced outdoor lodging experiences , like use of Airstreams , cabins and luxury tents ; more traditional M & A |
36 hotelsmag . com July / August 2024 |