John Greenleaf
Doubletree Hotels is a brand that's been around for more than 40 years and part of the Hilton Worldwide family for more than a decade. In recent years, it rapidly expanded its presence outside of the United States while investing in improvements for its current portfolio, according to vice president of brand marketing John Greenleaf. In the past five years, Doubletree has spent about $3 billion improving such items as in-room technology, bedding and bathroom amenities, he said. Meanwhile, Hilton's sales team has become more aggressive in asking corporate buyers to consider adding Doubletree properties to their preferred hotel programs. Excerpts from Greenleaf's interview with Management.travel's Michael B. Baker follow.
How does Doubletree fit into Hilton's corporate sales strategy?
We have a sales director who travels the world almost nonstop. She calls on all of our global sales team across Hilton Worldwide to make sure they understand what the brand stands for, how it's different from Hilton Hotels and where we're opening new hotels so they can present us as a very attractive option to their customers, be they for a group, association or corporate transient. As a result, we're seeing increases in business from those markets. We offer a different product. Even when we're in the same market [as a Hilton property], we're not as focused on group, because typically our hotels are a little bit smaller, so the groups we can accommodate are smaller. They're not conventions of 1,000 people like you could handle at the Hilton here [in New York City] on Sixth Avenue. We have hotels in some markets where Hilton doesn't.
What's your growth plan?
In 2008, we had no international properties. At the end of this year, we'll be in 22 countries. This year we'll add about 50 hotels, 35 of which will be outside the United States. The growth we're experiencing is all over the world. It [includes] some showcase properties that are new builds in Asia, with some showcase properties that are high-profile conversions in other markets. We've long been a brand that's been accommodating of conversions. The requirements we have in place can give us a variety of architectural styles and hotel products with standards that are very high before we convert them.
What new markets does that include?
Just this year we've opened a hotel in Jordan, one in the United Arab Emirates, a hotel in Panama and our first hotel in Mexico. We have two hotels in Tanzania that we've opened, and hotels in Indonesia and Malaysia--all new markets for us this year. We're trying to pick where there's a business travel need. Often in these markets, given that not all of them are gateway cities like New York, our hotel is the premier property in the market. Our growth has been moving apace, and we have nearly 70 approved deals in the development pipeline. When you compare that with other brands out there, our pace is pretty remarkable.
Are you also removing properties from your portfolio?
The only one of late is a hotel on the beach in South Beach, Miami, which left the system, but nothing widespread. Over the last 10 years there have been about 70 hotels that left the system, but that was by design. Those were hotels that did not measure up to the standard Doubletree wanted to deliver for our guests. It's a slow process to get underperforming hotels out or to take owners who are unwilling to invest in their property and have those hotels exit the system. That transition is complete.
Are you still developing Doubletree Club hotels as well?
There are a handful of hotels that are Doubletree Club, and there are a few hotels that are suites hotels. Some of those came about as the result of some of the brands that have combined over the years to create the Doubletree by Hilton brand. Our hotel in Times Square, for example, is a suites product. Those are the exceptions rather than the rules, and we're not adding anything we would term or call either Suites or Club. That's not a focus of the hotels we're either building or converting. The article originally was published in Business Travel News.