Midprice Hilton Brands Report Strong 2004 Revenues

Hilton Hotels Corp. today announced strong fourth-quarter and full-year 2004 results that showed surprising strength for Hampton and Hilton's other midprice brands. Since Hilton is the first of the multi-brand hotel companies to report earnings, its results are a bellwether for the industry and the latest evidence that the lodging industry recovery that was felt first late in 2003 continued to grow momentum through 2004.

Hilton 2004 revenue per available room across all brands increased approximately 8 percent year over year. This is close to the results Smith Travel Research and other tracking firms have reported for the overall industry. Hampton, however, reported RevPAR growth of 10.9 percent. This was unexpected since the rebound in full-service brands, which tend to primarily be in downtown locations, was supposed to be more significant than the turnaround at midprice brands, which are mostly located in the suburbs. By comparison, RevPAR growth at the full-service Embassy Suites, for example, was 5.7 percent.

Co-chairman and CEO Stephen Bollenbach said Hilton continued to have faith in the full-service segment. "Pent-up demand and a shortage of first-class hotel rooms in most major cities should generate continued strong results in our most important markets," he said, citing Boston, Hawaii, New York and Washington, D.C.