Hilton Hotels & Resorts (formerly known as Hilton Hotels) is a global brand of full-service hotels and resorts and the flagship brand of American multinational hospitality company Hilton. The original company was founded by Conrad Hilton. As of December 30, 2019, 584 Hilton Hotels & Resorts properties with 216,379 rooms in 94 countries and territories are located across six continents. This includes 61 properties that are owned or leased with 219,264 rooms, 272 that are managed with 119,612 rooms, and 251 that are franchised with 77,451 rooms. In 2020, Fortune magazine ranked Hilton Hotels & Resorts at number one on their Fortune List of the Top 100 Companies to Work For in 2020 based on an employee survey of satisfaction.

Overview

Conrad Hilton founded the Hilton hotel chain in 1919, when he bought his first property, the Mobley Hotel, in Cisco, Texas. The first hotel to feature the Hilton brand was the Dallas Hilton. In late 2010, Hilton announced a name change of the Hilton Hotels brand to Hilton Hotels & Resorts along with a new logo design, as part of a rebranding effort for the flagship brand. Today, Hilton Hotels & Resorts is Hilton's flagship brand and one of the largest hotel brands in the world. The brand is targeted at both business and leisure travelers with locations in major city centers, near airports, convention centers, and popular vacation destinations around the world. Hilton Hotels & Resorts participates in Hilton Honors, Hilton's guest-loyalty program established in 1989. Members who book directly through Hilton-owned channels receive exclusive discounts and amenities such as free Wi-Fi, digital check-in, keyless entry, and the ability to use a mobile app to choose specific rooms. In 2015, approximately 20 Hilton Hotels & Resorts properties were inducted into the Historic Hotels of America organization. Among these hotels were Hilton Fort Worth, which hosted John F. Kennedy's final speech, and Hilton Hawaiian Village Waikiki Beach Resort, the setting of the film Blue Hawaii.

Accommodation

Notable properties

Planned projects

A commercial space station project known as Space Islands was proposed by Hilton International in 1999 to be constructed from used Space Shuttle fuel tanks. When completed, it was to be called the Hilton Orbital Hotel. The tanks were to be connected together to form a ring, resulting in a space station similar to that pictured in the film 2001: A Space Odyssey. Plans were also drawn up for the Lunar Hilton, a 5000-room hotel on the Moon, though Steve Hilton noted in 2009 that both these plans were more symbolic than practical at this stage. In October 2012, Hilton announced a property in the Bangladeshi capital of Dhaka, the Hilton Dhaka, designed by Mustapha Khalid Palash. As of 2023, the hotel has yet to open, though Hilton currently has a targeted 2025 opening date. In March 2013, Hilton announced that it would be entering Myanmar for the first time with the construction of a 300-room hotel in Yangon. While the Yangon hotel has yet to materialize, Hilton did manage to open properties in Mandalay and Naypyidaw in the north of the country (although the Mandalay Hilton has since closed). In 2018, Hilton announced two hotel projects in Kampala, Uganda: the Kampala Hilton Hotel and the Hilton Garden Inn Kampala. Both projects are still in development. A previous Hilton project in Kampala and announced in 2006 was repurposed into The Pearl of Africa Hotel Kampala, after Hilton exited the venture.

Other ventures

In 2017, Hilton announced that it would remain the sponsor for McLaren until 2021. Hilton was one of the oldest sponsors of F1 series and sponsored McLaren since 2005. In October 2017, Hilton announced it had committed a total of $50m (£37.8m) over five years to its Hilton Africa Growth Initiative to support the continued expansion of its Sub-Saharan African portfolio.