1) No Hilton brands are truly “bottom rung” - Days Inn, Econologe, etc would be considered well below Hampton Inn in terms of branding (not saying Spark will be equivalent to those particular brands)

2) As explained before, Tru is for new construction. This brand appears targeted to hotel owners that own economy unbranded or other brand properties that want to convert their properties and get into the Hilton system

3) Hilton’s strategy is really focused on growing total hotels - they apparently see a much bigger opportunity in the US in this market than doing something like a boutique/lifestyle brand (W, Edition, where they are missing)

I do wonder though how this ties into the loyalty program. Will the average Spark customer really stay enough and earn enough points to redeem at a beachside Hilton Garden Inn or something down the road? Maybe, but I dunno