Hilton Hotels & Resorts (formerly known as Hilton Hotels) is a global brand of full-service hotels and resorts and the flagship brand of Hilton Worldwide.
The original company was founded by Conrad Hilton. As of the first quarter in 2016, there were more than 570 Hilton Hotels & Resorts properties in 84 countries and territories across six continents. Properties are either owned by, managed by, or franchised to independent operators by Hilton Worldwide.
Hilton Hotels & Resorts is Hilton Worldwide's flagship brand and one of the largest hotel brands in the world. The brand is targeted at both business and leisure travelers with locations in major city centers, near airports, convention centers, and popular vacation destinations around the world.
Hilton Hotels & Resorts participates in Hilton HHonors, Hilton Worldwide’s guest loyalty program. Members who book directly through Hilton-owned channels receive exclusive discounts and amenities such as free Wi-Fi, digital check-in, keyless entry, and the ability to select the room they'd like using the Hilton HHonors app.
In the 2010s, the company upgraded the energy efficiency in many of their UK branches, installing green controls for doors, windows, and heating to ensure intelligent usage of energy depending upon whether rooms are let or vacant.
Founded in 1919 by Conrad Hilton. Hilton bought his first property, the Mobley Hotel, in 1919 in Cisco, Texas.
The first hotel to bear the Hilton name was the Dallas Hilton, a high-rise that opened in Dallas, Texas in 1925.
In 1954, at the Caribe Hilton Hotel's Beachcomber Bar in San Juan, Puerto Rico, Ramon "Monchito" Marrero reportedly created the Piña Colada.
The Conrad Hilton Hotel in Chicago figured prominently in the 1968 Democratic Convention riots that occurred across the street in Grant Park. The hotel's doors were locked for the first time in its history. The hotel still suffered minor damage as a result of the violence outside as a couple of the street level windows gave way under the weight of dozens of protesters on the street being pushed up against the windows during the ensuing police riot.
John Lennon and Yoko Ono held their first Bed-In for Peace between March 25 and March 31, 1969 at the Amsterdam Hilton in Room 902. This room became a popular tourist destination.
In 1989, Hilton established the Hilton Honors program, a seal of approval for hotels of the highest quality with a series of benefits for participants. Controversially, only Hilton hotels were ever awarded Honors, and further, basically all Hiltons were so honored, even the worst ones, leading to claims of bias.
In 2009, the company relocated its global headquarters from Beverly Hills, California to McLean, Virginia.
With construction on the Beirut Hilton finished, the hotel was scheduled to open on April 14, 1975, but the Lebanese Civil War erupted exactly one day before the April 13 Grand Opening date. The hotel never opened and was severely damaged during the war. The building was demolished in the late 1990s. However, a different hotel was established later under the name of "Hilton Beirut Grand Habtoor" in the nearby eastern suburb. Later on, the Hilton Chain bought the Metropolitan hotel directly facing the Grand Habtoor and renamed it "Hilton Metropolitan".
On February 13, 1978, the Sydney Hilton Hotel was the site of one of the few terrorist incidents on Australian soil, when a bomb blast killed three people (two council workers and a policeman).
The Hilton Nicosia in Nicosia, Cyprus, was the scene of the assassination of Youssef Sebai, an Egyptian newspaper editor and friend of Egyptian President Anwar El Sadat, on February 19, 1978. The assassination and the hijacking of a Cyprus Airways DC-8 at Larnaca Airport led to the Egyptian raid on Larnaca International Airport by Egyptian forces. The intervention by the Egyptians led to the deterioration of relations between Cyprus and Egypt.
In 2009 Hilton opened Canada's tallest hotel at 58 stories in Niagara Falls, Ontario.
In late 2010, Hilton Worldwide announced a name change of the Hilton Hotels brand to Hilton Hotels & Resorts along with a new logo design as part of a rebranding effort for the flagship brand.
In March 2013, Hilton announced that it would be entering Burma for the first time with the construction of a 300-room hotel in Yangon.
In 2015, approximately 20 Hilton Hotels & Resorts properties were inducted into the Historic Hotels of America organization. Among these hotels were Hilton Fort Worth, which hosted John F. Kennedy's final speech, and Hilton Hawaiian Village Waikiki Beach Resort, the setting of the film Blue Hawaii.
In early 2016, launched Tru by Hilton, the new brand is set to fill a void in the midscale category in the U.S. and Canada
