At last, Hilton Worldwide is expanding. The international chain recently announced a propitious new lifestyle brand called Canopy, aimed at travelers who value design, social common areas, and advanced technology.
Christopher Nassetta, Hilton Worldwide CEO, announced the lifestyle-geared chain to nearly 1,900 owners and developers at Hilton Worldwide’s Global Partnership Conference last week. To date, 11 properties have been announced, located in Miami, San Diego, Nashville, London, Oklahoma City, Indianapolis, Savannah, Ga., Portland, Ore., Ithaca, N.Y., Charlotte and Washington, D.C.
“We saw an opportunity to not only enter the lifestyle space by developing a new brand, but also to redefine this category by creating a more accessible lifestyle brand,” said Nassetta.
In recent years, other major lines of hotels introduced similar products, in hopes of appealing to Millennials who are slowly making up more and more of the market. Just last year, Marriott said it hoped to import the AC Hotels from Europe to appeal to the 20-30 year old demographic.
However, Hilton is not looking to follow brands like Marriott in terms of appealing to a certain demographic. According to Jim Holthouser, Hilton’s executive Vice President of Global Brands, Hilton is focusing on travelers who want to truly experience the neighborhood they’re in, and feel like they’re not staying in a hotel chain even when they are.
“They’re not into cookie-cutter types of lodging products,” Holthouser explained. “They’re the ones who are looking for unique local experiences. You do get a lot of Millennials in that segment. You get a lot of LGBT in that segment.”
As of now, Canopy hotels are expected to include: central-gathering lobbies, indulgent breakfasts that serve smoked salmon, quiche, and fresh breads, evening events with local beer and wine, and complimentary bicycles.
Guests are even allowed to check in to their room on their mobile devices, where upon entry, they’ll be handed with a welcome gift that’s designed to represent the neighborhood that the hotel is in.
“We don’t like to provide forward statements, but we’ll probably have 30 in the next couple years,” Hilton’s Global Head of Luxury & Lifestyle Brands, John Vanderslice, told Condé Nast Traveler. “We just launched it! We’ll probably have a better [estimate] in the first quarter.”
The first of the properties are set to open in 2015.
