Hilton Launches Upper-Upscale Meetings-Focused Brand

Hilton has launched a premium, meetings and events-focused brand with technology-enabled rooms and flexible meeting spaces. The company expects the first Signia Hilton to open in Orlando next year. Via conversations with hotel owners, developers and customers, Hilton identified a need for meetings hotels on the upper end of the upper-upscale tier.

Each hotel will have a minimum of 500 "larger than average" sleeping rooms with smart technology, according to Hilton. Each property also will feature a least 75 square feet of meetings space per sleeping room. Dividing walls and varied, movable furniture from lounge chairs to counter-height tables and stools will make the meeting spaces flexible for different numbers of attendees. Most spaces will serve small groups—10 to 30 people—though larger spaces will be available.

A video promoting the brand launch showed a meetings campus within the hotel that resembled a modern open office with a devoted entrance; small, collaborative workspaces; small glass-walled conference rooms; and a theater-type setting. "One of the key words is going to be flexibility," said president of the Americas and EVP Danny Hughes. The rooms also will go high tech with wireless charging stations—also available in public spaces—along with Samsung Flip digital whiteboards and the Ava 500 mobile telepresence robot to facilitate participation with remote attendees.

Hilton also hopes Signia's upper-upscale classification will attract transient corporate business travelers, as well as leisure travelers. "All the things that make it great for the meeting planner, even if you don't need meetings space—your bedroom and the public areas of this hotel—are going to be very attractive to business travelers, as well," Hughes told BTN. "It does fill that gap between a great full-service hotel and the luxury hotel, where it is a lot more expensive to stay." The properties will feature and Hilton's Digital Key, which allows guests to skip the check-in desk and access their rooms using their smartphones, as well as chef-driven restaurants, localized bars and wellness features like infinity pools, spas, and fitness classes.

Hilton will concentrate Signia locations in top urban and resort locations around the world but will emphasize quality over quantity, according to executives. The company expects a conversion of the Hilton Orlando Bonnet Creek to open in 2020 with 1,009 rooms and 132,000 square feet of meeting space. The redesign process also could add a ballroom and additional meeting space. Most Signias, though, will be new construction, and Hilton has deals for a new build in Atlanta with 75,000 square feet of meeting space, followed by a new build in Indianapolis with more than 80,000 square feet of meeting space. "For the meetings market, these are places that really look exciting," Hughes said. "These are the hot spots right now." Construction will take 26 to 30 months after each groundbreaking.