Hilton Worldwide on Monday launched a new brand called Curio,
which will be a collection of upper-tier independent hotels. Five U.S. hotels already
have agreed to join the collection during the next few years.
Like Marriott International's Autograph Collection and Choice
Hotels International's Ascend Collection, Hilton's Curio will be a "soft
brand" of hotels that "can retain their unique identity but also
deliver the many benefits of our system, including our Hilton HHonors guest
loyalty program," according to a statement from Hilton president and CEO
Christopher Nassetta. Its first property, the SLS Las Vegas, will open by this
coming Labor Day weekend, according to Hilton. The hotel and casino is on the
site of the former Sahara Hotel & Resort, which during the past three years
has undergone $415 million in renovations.
Hilton also plans to add later this year the Sam Houston
Hotel in downtown Houston to the collection. Next year, it is slated to add
Hotel Alex Johnson—a property in downtown Rapid City, S.D., that also will
undergo a multi-million-dollar renovation—and the Franklin Hotel in Chapel
Hill, N.C. Hilton also has an agreement signed with an as-yet-unnamed new-build
hotel in downtown Portland, Ore., scheduled to be completed in 2016.
Speaking on Monday at the New York University International
Hospitality Industry Investment Conference, Blackstone global head of real
estate Jonathan Gray—who also serves as Hilton's board chairman—said the
lodging industry in the coming years likely will see more "soft brand"
models emerge.
"The customer is wanting a more individualized
experience but knowing there's a certain consistency in the distribution and
technology, and the merger of that is some of these brands," Gray said. "There
will be more boutique introductions that, on the face to the customer, look
independent, but the backdrop is powered by one of these larger distribution
systems."
Curio is the 11th brand in Hilton's portfolio. Nassetta last
month said Hilton intends to increase that to an even dozen later this year
with an upper-tier "lifestyle brand."