Hilton has just announced their 14th hotel brand, called Tapestry Collection by Hilton. The brand is described as “a gathering of original upscale hotels catering to guests seeking reliability and value in their independent hotel choices.” Interestingly Tapestry Collection is Hilton’s second independent brand — Curio Collection is Hilton’s other independent brand.
Tapestry Collection is supposed to be upscale, but slightly lower end than Curio Collection, which Hilton launched in 2014. It’s similar to how Starwood has Luxury Collection, which is a collection of independent hotels, and then introduced Tribute Portfolio, which is supposed to be slightly lower end.
Per the press release, the first Tapestry Collection property will open in the third quarter of 2017, and seven hotels have signed letters of intent:
Seven hotels have signed letters of intent with the collection in the following cities: Syracuse, N.Y.; Chicago, Ill.; Nashville, Tenn.; Warren, N.J.; Hampton, Va., and two in Indianapolis, Ind. The collection has an additional 35 deals in process, with the first property expected to convert to Tapestry Collection by Q3 2017. Further additions to the collection will be announced in the coming months.
In theory I’m a big fan of independent hotels joining the major global hotel programs. It gives you a unique and local experience while also giving you the things you’ve grown accustomed to with the major global hotel chains, like a lucrative loyalty program.
At the same time, I’m not totally sure I see the need for a second independent hotel chain for Hilton. Personally I’d rather see Hilton add more hotels to their existing Curio Collection than come up with a new brand altogether. For example, I’ve been a bit disappointed by Starwood’s Tribute Portfolio. They have a couple of unique properties, but the others could just as easily fit into one of the existing brands. For example, there’s nothing local-feeling about the Westshore Grand, which is in a converted office building, and is a former InterContinental.
Then again, the reasons the major hotel companies create new brands ultimately isn’t for consumers, but rather for hotel owners. The major global hotel chains only manage a vast majority of their properties, so a hotel owner might be excited about being able to invest in the first hotel of its type in a city, rather than the sixth Hampton Inn, for example. That’s the main reason we’ve seen such a big increase in the number of hotel brands.
Here’s an infographic about the Tapestry Collection:
Bottom line
I’ll certainly be curious to see what hotels Hilton includes in this collection. I’m a big fan of staying at a hotel that feels independent while still having access to a great loyalty program, though it all comes down to execution.
What do you make of Tapestry Collection by Hilton?
My wife and I stayed at the adults only Curio resort in Jamaica and were very disappointed. The food was poor and the service worse though the hard product was very nice.
Stupid
DCS again proves his fundamental misconception of what drives M&A activity...stick to your science.
There is a reason why Hilton is the global chain that has only ~1% of it's properties in the luxury segment.
Stayed at Curio in Madrid and loved it and stayed at Canopy in Reyjavik and loved it more. I will stay at Canopy when ever possible. Canopy nice mix of local culture and hip luxury.
Why on earth do they think they need 14 brands?
High, medium and economy should suffice, and the star system call tell you more.
Mindless...
"Hilton and luxury just don’t seem to play well together…they should stick to low / mid end."
You mean unlike Starwood and luxury that played so well together the company went belly up?
Sounds like Hyatt Centric
If independent hotels sign up to major brands then you lose many of the benefits that only come with status, such as free breakfast and flexibilty with late checkout, that are often free with many independent hotels anyway.... one of many reasons why independent hotels are nearly always better
Hilton and luxury just don't seem to play well together...they should stick to low / mid end
While I agree with the need of an upper-upscale level soft brand, I think the problem is that Curio does not really feel like a luxury-only soft brand.
If the dude in the top right corner of the infographic is typical of the target guests, this brand is absolutely not for me. It's really helpful for them to brand stuff like this - makes it much easier to avoid.
I was staying in some chain hotel last week; it was literally impossible to sit anywhere in the breakfast rooms (note the plural) without tv screens blaring at you. All on different channels. The...
If the dude in the top right corner of the infographic is typical of the target guests, this brand is absolutely not for me. It's really helpful for them to brand stuff like this - makes it much easier to avoid.
I was staying in some chain hotel last week; it was literally impossible to sit anywhere in the breakfast rooms (note the plural) without tv screens blaring at you. All on different channels. The nicest-looking area seemed to have the televisions locked onto channels with infomercials about skin conditions. Over breakfast.
So that's a big shout out to the Marriott chain, who have now permanently lost my business.
*correction : Tapestry is positioned lower than Curio. My bad.
The way i read it is that they want Tapestry to be mostly 5* and keep Curio to be mostly 4* (occasionally lower but probably very rare), the way Luxury Collection is versus Tribute.
Another advantage of indie brands is that it possibly skirts contractual limitations of no duplicate brands in the same X-mile radius, so for a very high traffic area, like NYC Times Square, Hilton can jam in a lot more properties under...
The way i read it is that they want Tapestry to be mostly 5* and keep Curio to be mostly 4* (occasionally lower but probably very rare), the way Luxury Collection is versus Tribute.
Another advantage of indie brands is that it possibly skirts contractual limitations of no duplicate brands in the same X-mile radius, so for a very high traffic area, like NYC Times Square, Hilton can jam in a lot more properties under Tapestry+Curio brands.
But to be honest, "Tapestry" just feels so blah as a name.