khabah

Hilton just announced its 19th brand: Spark by Hilton.

Spark is a new brand that will play in the premium economy space, which means it will play against Marriott's recently-acquired CityExpress, Ibis by Accor, and Days Inn and Howard Johnson by Wyndham. Far from aspirational, but if they nail the consistency, I think it could be a convenient addition for a large chunk of travelers that plow the highways and aren't necessarily going after the Conrads and Waldorf Astorias of the world.

khabah

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wizla

Oh that’s handy, I was only thought to myself the other day “ what Hilton need to do is have some more brands under their umbrella “.
Jeez……. Nuts ain’t it.

LostInAmerica

But apparently it is all about the name. The drawings look a lot like a Hampton but with brighter colors.

Michael19887

I just saw an article on this and thought it was an early April fools joke. Another brand on the lower end? Isn’t this the exact same thing as Tru?

Beckles

Yeah, the rendering sure looks like a typical Hampton Inn building with a new brand on it. I think this is maybe an option to keep Hamtpons in the Hilton fold that don't want to meet whatever the current or upcoming brand standards are for Hampton. The breakfast looks more simple than the current Hampton offerings, no hot offering and no waffle maker.

bse118

"Spark by Hilton: Where Hamptons Go To Die"

more4less

Completely agree and actually the new HI’s, at least in Europe, have very much these bright colours.

MS02113

As I understand it, Tru has a prescriptive format intended for new builds while Spark is for conversions. Tru also seems to include a few more amenities (e.g., hot breakfast, lobby activities, etc.), leaving Spark at the bottom of the brand ladder.

The release describes breakfast offering as a "bagel bar," which sounds pretty meager.

christianj

+1...or where HI owners go when they want to spend less on their properties reno than HI standards require.

Tim Fountain

I really don't get the branding going on here. Hilton already has a bunch of bottom-rung hotel brands. Why on earth do they need one more? Someone at Hilton needs to be fired. Let's get consistent brand standards that are actually enforced and then we can talk about segmenting to such an extreme level. I can see a day when the only difference between one Hilton brand and the next is the thread count on the linen .

Eujeanie

Ugh, who wants to stay at a HoJo's wannabe - flashbacks of awful childhood trips.

BearX220

This is getting to be like a Monty Python satire of hotel brand strategy.

Why would I book Spark instead of HI / HGI?

bse118

My guess is that a lot of these properties are going to be highway roadside locations where the choice is Spark or nothing (as far as Hilton goes).

Adelphos

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

hugolover

Hilton only care about franchising. Managing is officially over. Managed hotels have some of the lowest brand standards. This is just more proof of this.