NEWS
An example of a bedroom at an Apartment Collection by Hilton.
to meet growing guest demand for this dynamic segment of hospitality,” said Chris Nassetta, president and CEO of Hilton.“ With this new brand, we are continuing to pioneer the future of the hospitality industry, giving guests even more ways to choose Hilton for every stay, backed by our service and reliability.”
Added Chris Silcock, president, global brands and commercial services, Hilton:“ We’ ve long seen the opportunity to deliver hospitality-driven apartment stays, offering spacious accommodations, thoughtful amenities, and authentic connections to local neighborhoods.”
Hilton referred to its tie-up with Placemakr as“ initial,” which presupposes that the brand could grow with multifamily developers who may let out a portion of accommodations to Hilton. A press release was short on how the brand would grow and did not specify if Hilton might lease out entire apartment buildings, a move that doesn’ t seem likely given Hilton’ s asset-light and lighter-on-management focuses. What Hilton deems its already 10,000 apartmentstyle units, include accommodations at brands like DoubleTree and Hilton. In 2024, Hilton debuted midscale extendedstay LivSmart Studios by Hilton, which currently has two hotels open in Tennessee and Indiana, with several more planned this year in places like Columbia, S. C., Chesapeake, Va., and Tyler, Texas.
Placemakr partnering with Hilton gives it an instant jolt of credibility and also opens its inventory to the more than 235 million Hilton Honors members. Silcox said it selected Placemakr“ after an extensive search.”
“ Placemakr is proud to bring our deep expertise in the furnished apartment space to this innovative new brand with Hilton,” said Vuong, president of Placemakr.“ We’ re thrilled for Hilton guests and Hilton Honors members to experience what we’ ve built over the past decade.”
“ We’ re also excited for what this means for our real estate partners,” added Fudin, CEO of Placemakr.“ Hilton’ s industryleading commercial engine and scale will help create even more value for our partners while accelerating our mission to maximize the value of real estate through flexibility. This marks a new chapter in flexible real estate.”
Industry watchers will naturally compare this deal with Marriott International’ s ill-fated tie-up with Sonder, which failed in spectacular fashion after Sonder filed for bankruptcy, leaving many travelers twisting in the wind. A key differentiator is that Hilton is building out its own brand, like Apartments by Marriott Bonvoy, giving it more control and flexibility to decide who it partners with in the future.
68 hotelsmag. com Mar / Apr 2026