Hilton Pegs Mexico For Long-Term Hotel Development
<B> Hilton Pegs Mexico For Long-Term Hotel Development</B>
By Frank Rosci
As part of an intensely focused international expansion program, Hilton Hotels Corp. has announced a strategic alliance with Grupo Chartwell de Mexico to open 20 Hilton Garden Inn hotels in 15 key Mexican business cities within five years. Hilton also will open four full-service hotels in Mexico during the same time frame.
Under a franchise agreement with Hilton, Grupo Chartwell--a leading hotel company--will build hotels in Chihuahua, Cd. Juarez, Guanajuato, Hermosillo, Mexicali, Puebla, Queretaro, Tijuana, Toluca, Torreon, Veracruz and Yucatan, as well as four Garden Inn and full-service hotels in Mexico City and a combination of three hotels in Monterrey. Chartwell also will develop and acquire full service, Hilton-branded hotels in Cancun and Los Cabos, said Jim Abrahamson, senior vice president of franchising for Hilton.
"Grupo Chartwell de Mexico brings years of experience in hotel development and operations, and Hilton is known worldwide for quality accommodations and service, so this partnership leverages the strengths of each company," Abrahamson said. "Our goal is to add 100 franchised Garden Inn properties in Canada, Mexico and the United States by the year 2000."
The first property to open in Mexico was the 129-room Mexico City Airport Hilton in February. The full service franchise hotel located inside the international terminal of the city's Benito Juarez Airport features all the amenities of a five-star hotel, including concierge services, fine dining, 24-hour food service, a fully equipped health club and a business center with 24-hour faxing and photocopy services.
In June, the new Guadalajara Hilton opened as the second full-service hotel in Mexico. A deluxe 422-room hotel located in the Guadalajara World Trade Center, the hotel is 20 minutes from the airport, and provides direct access to the city's convention center and Expo Guadalajara. The hotel also is just five minutes from Plaza del Sol, the city's largest and most traditional shopping plaza. "With the opening of this property, we are well on schedule to meet the projected goals of our expansion plan," Abrahamson said.
Room rates range from $130 to $170 per night. Business travelers will find a business center with eight meeting rooms, three private offices, trilingual secretarial services, and complete audio, computer and video equipment. Convention facilities include a main ballroom that can be divided into five soundproof rooms and can accommodate up to 1,500. A fully equipped auditorium houses special events and video projections for up to 300 people, and several meeting rooms are available for groups of 20 to 120.
In all the hotels, guests will find spacious rooms that feature two telephones with two lines and data ports; refrigerator and microwave oven; sitting area with easy chair and ottoman; and in-room cable TV and movies. Hotel services and amenities include an indoor or outdoor swimming pool, a whirlpool spa, exercise room and self-service guest laundry.
Most of the other Hilton Garden Inn properties in Mexico are located in secondary cities, where operating a full-service hotel is not as feasible and not as needed, Abrahamson said. Rates at the hotels, designed to meet the needs of business travelers and weekend vacationers, are between $75 and $95 per night. "It's four-star lodging at a three-star price," he said.
"Our entry into Mexico's midpriced hotel segment is perfectly timed," said Francisco Zinser Cieslik, CEO of Grupo Chartwell. "Since the majority of hotel rooms in Mexico are in resort locations, business travelers have few options for accommodations, especially in smaller cities."
Meanwhile, Abrahamson noted, "consumer demand in the mid-priced segment of the market is growing faster than any other segment in the lodging industry.