Doubletree changed to HGI (Dana Point, CA)
 

Dana Point.
Drove past our Doubletree yesterday.
Now the sign says HGI.

No big deal to me...but curious as to why. Any insight?

Where?

Could be that the property can meet the consistency expectations of HGI (though traditionally HGI hasn't been a conversion brand there are a few) and doesn't want to deal with the full service offering and overhead expected of a DT, not to mention the domestic DT's less than stellar brand reputation the way Hilton has been managing the US portfolio.

[QUOTE=lincolnjkc;37380726]Where?

As stated. Dana Point.

Whoops, I read that three times in the OP and then this reply as "Data Point" before it clicked.

Looking at the property online it doesn't seem to fit the HGI mold (nor does it really scream DoubleTree -- curious why they would rebrand to HGI rather than Curio or Tapestry or ... -- though one other reason is IIRC the franchise fee and royalty on a HGI is a bit lower than DT.

The reflagging and remodeling as a HGI was first reported in the the DT thread for the hotel last year:
https://www.flyertalk.com/forum/hilt...t-us-ca-5.html


At that time it was expected to be completed by July 2025, nice to see it is finally done.

run out of cookie dough?

Is there any property that "screams DoubleTree"?

The more random a hotel is, the more it screams DoubleTree.

Besides...

(Though inserting "not on a good way" after random)

Hotels that look like they've been ridden hard and put away wet just a few too many times (but not so many that they get "that kind of reputation") are prime "screams DoubleTree" -- a certain number of 45 degree angled atriums and/or standing seam metal roofs also help raise the volume on the DoubleTree call.

Yes - if the building looks like it wouldn't be out of place in the background of an episode of Star Trek: The Next Generation - it's probably a Doubletree.

'they've been ridden hard and put away wet just a few too many times'

Amusing...what do you mean?

It's an old saying about mistreating something. Usually referring to horses or more dorkishly steam engines.

This is where the US-vs-rest-of-world DT schism really comes in to play (and most bad apples in the US ruin it for a few good DTs) but in the US DoubleTree properties tend to have a much higher level of visible "stopped giving a damn" than the rest of the HH portfolio -- exteriors that are weathered and may have been last pressure washed let alone painted at some time during my lifetime, but not likely more than once, landscaping maintenance that just barely exceeds what is required to avoid a city code enforcement or brand standards violation. Door hardware (particularly on exit stairwells) that was last sold in 1975, sloppy paint jobs that look like they were done by a drunk maintenance guy who was simultaneously unclogging the toilet, elevators that look like the last time their interior was overhauled was sometime prior to the Nixon administration. Outlets that have been abused by enough travelers that anything you plug in will fall out unless you move a nightstand to keep it jammed in, etc.

HAHAHA