Hilton Honors has today unveiled the details of its newest hotel brand, Spark by Hilton.
Continue reading: Spark By Hilton: New “Premium Economy” Hotel Brand With Bagels
Share your questions, experiences, and thoughts below.
Looks very cheap. At least Moxy has some personality.
Hopefully the prices will be as cheap as the renderings.
Same as Hampton Inns in Europe and Turkey, I am wondering if they will be rebranded to Spark in the future?
It's painful to see breakfast being re-defined as a stale bagel 🙁 I guess the next step is to "improve" elite breakfast vouchers taking them from $10 to $1, as that will be enough to cover for "breakfast" at their properties.
Completely agree new brands are just to market to hotel investors. Last week I was chatting with the GM of a new Hyatt Place and is it also an executive at the local hotel management company. His frustration is none of the major brands come out with unique brands for their market. In their case, they wish they love a brand of basically mini full-service properties for small cities. Think Hyatt Centric but new built-in <100,000 popluation "flyover" cities with <120 rooms. No brands fit their market so they are stuck with opening high-end HPs.
Yikes these look….not great…
Ignoring the poor major renovation/interior design decisions, they even seemingly screwed up their one major “innovation”. That bagel bar/juice/coffee area is a joke and looks like any other current economy hotel does. If that’s going to be their pitch for this brand being unique, at least spice up that area a bit! Using the same dated OJ pitchers and coffee towers doesn’t sell me on this concept being any different at all, let alone more “premium”
After seeing this, I guess this makes Hampton and Garden Inn look nice? Where is this supposed to fit within the Hilton portfolio of brands? At the bottom? To be fair though, a new lower-end hotel can sadly sometimes be nicer than even say a dated DoubleTree.
Oh yay, yet another 'new' hotel brand thats already covered by at least two existing ones.
Look on the positive side tho, that bagel and coffee are more than youd be able to get with your 'daily credit' at other US hiltons! Clearly going for that Ibis budget market.
This seems right in line with 2023 Hilton. Their competition is IHG, not Marriott/Hyatt, and this concept is a competitor to AVID. There's nothing wrong with this concept, and it might actually send some Choice/IHG people to Hilton properties. I'd say it's a good move, but also indicative of why I, and many others, choose not to stay with Hilton anymore.
Would you not agree that perhaps these renderings look cheap to you because you are more accustomed to hotels which would cost about 20x what these would be expected to cost?
While I do not do a huge amount of travel to the US these days, I spent some time there in 2022, and compared to some Sheratons and Marriotts and Fairfield Inns and SpringHill Suites that I stayed in, I would say that these rooms look like a massive improvement.
When you prefer hotel rooms that are 100 USD or less per night, a modern room like this is surely satisfactory.
But yes, once are accustomed to 2000 USD per night types of places, it is hardly a surprise that this does not meet your standards...
I guess Blackstone can now fold Motel 6 into the hilton brand - renderings look a lot like those for new hotels on Motel 6 site
Why are the cheaper hotels like the Hamptons etc called "limited service" when they offer free breakfast, free parking, gym, pool, coffee in room or in lobby, often free airport shuttles etc. While the so-called "full service" hotels barely have any expected services included for free (unless you have status)
Are you confusing "hotel age" with "brand"?
I find that in the mid/low range, the age of the hotel/renovation is a huge determinant in what I perceive as "good".
By that standard, I'd expect idealized renderings of a new hotel to look better than most hotels in the same price range.
You're confused as to what "limited service" means.
Limited service hotel = no full service restaurant.
It can mean the lack of other services too, like conference rooms, etc, but not necessarily.
If they really have 100 deals already then clearly they are on to something. If that is an exaggeration then clearly they are not
A lot of commenters clearly don’t stay in budget hotels. This isn’t a substitute for a Hilton, it’s an alternative to Days Inn or “Quality.” Days has no consistency, most are awful, and the only brand-required breakfast is a packaged muffin and coffee. So yes, if they actually can make this work it is an excellent idea, especially if it helps them hold on to the original Hampton Inns as they age out of the system.
Do the proposed drawings look exciting? No. But if it was a well positioned hotel at the right price, I would absolutely stay at one of these.
Sometimes I love staying at a Waldorf, Park Hyatt, Andaz, etc. But there are a lot of times I just need a functional, clean room. A recently built or renovated limited service hotel is likely going to be better bet than a Hilton or Doubletree that is past its prime IMO. If all of these have to be brought up to the brand standard, at least for the next 5 years or so, they could be a good option. They seem to be competing with Hilton's Hampton brand, which I find to be too inconsistent to use.
I find the bagel thing a weird thing to emphasize, but I am ok with it. I love the big buffets at luxury properties (especially abroad). But with breakfasts at Hampton/Hyatt Place/Residence Inn, etc, or even a domestic Marriott/Hyatt Regency/Hilton, usually I just eat it because its there and included, not because I actually like it. If its just a stale bagel, I am more likely to skip it to eat something local or healthier.
how is this different from Tru by Hilton??? Tru has pancakes and Spark has bagels?
It looks.... bad. Obviously cheap furniture, drab, corporate-stylized colors, the same, sad coffee urns and machine-made, pre-fabbed bagels. Honestly, might be good for a highway rest stop for the night or a cheap airport hotel... and that's it.
They *think* they're on to something, likely based on a good bit of corporate research and iffy decisions. Time will tell if this actually pans out; there are plenty of examples of hotel brands rising and quickly falling.
I have had conversation with an Hilton corporate insider and he said they really do have many-many deals in work. Over the years Hilton has basically let go the revenue it could have generated from keeping the ageing Hamptons in the system. Spark will offer that choice to stay within Hilton system for ageing properties as well as pick up some properties in the segment from Choice hotels, Wyndham, BW etc.
Sounds like Sleep Inn or LaQuinta moving to the Hilton portfolio in essence.
I wish we could get a true affordable and safe economy hotel chain in the US! I think of some of the very nice Premier Inns I’ve stayed at in the UK and gotten rooms for their £29 entry saver rate. Similarly had various Accor properties across Europe for less than €60 a night.
In the US you’ll almost never find a safe and clean hotel for below $100 a night with some rare exceptions off peak in flyover states.
Just to pile on here, this looks decidedly shitty, for lack of a better word. The Hampton Inn I used to semi-regularly stay in seems much nicer than the renderings here. And I'm probably too picky when it comes to bagels, but I would be shocked if these aren't incredibly disappointing.
Surprised everyone's favorite commenter hasn't shown up yet to tell us why we're all wrong.
It seems similar to the Tru Hilton. The only different would be the breakfast. Tru serves pancakes, fruit, bagels and toast, juice, coffee and tea.
The open wardrobe next to the window is in a terrible spot. It's depressing that it's right in your line of sight when you enter the room. It's far away from the bathroom/mirror. It's also kind of gross to have to roll suitcases on the carpet around the bed.
This will most likely be a conversion brand, with limited new builds. And in lots of locations that people just need a place for the night, small towns, and close to an interstate. Converting existing Choice hotels, Country Inn, Best Westerns etc. This gives the owner access to major brand recognition, marketing, central reservations, HH etc. There is definitely a place in the market for these hotels. They're not meant to be anything special, or look special. Just a clean hotel for one maybe 2 nights.
Good place to sleep while traveling. Definitely not a destination.
Grab bars in the shower would be helpful for a tired or elderly traveler.
I still prefer Home2 Suites. Expansive rooms, full kitchens, and just enough color to be fun but not overdone. And all at a reasonable price.
This will end up being a Doubletree for existing Hampton's and HGI's when it's time to downgrade them.
Of the post-2010 brand intros from Hilton, it's this, Tru, and Home2 (and maybe Motto) at the low end and Tapestry, Curio, Canopy, Signia, and LXR at the higher end (with LXR accelerating).
I'd daresay that's a more premium tilt in terms of new brands than Marriott or Hyatt (to be fair, largely because Hilton was way behind Marriott and Hyatt at the higher end a dozen years ago).
Honestly, I don't see anything new - just rehashed over and over again. I agree with you having a bagel bar is not particularly appealing - especially in markets who may not even know what a bagel is.
They should have done away with bath tubs and gone with showers.
Other than that, an OK property for business travel or those who aren’t looking for fluff.
Lower priced brands typically start out very nice. The cost difference is the savings in ongoing maintenance. It's the worn towels, frayed linens, bald carpets and scuffs and scratches that remain unfixed that differentiate between a higher level brand and the lower priced ones. We have all seen it and have read reviews about how a hotel was so nice when we first stayed there but it's showing us age.
So a Hilton version of Comfort Inn? I note there was no mention of a gym. It also implied the front desk will not be staffed 24/7.
As a publicly traded company, it would be illegal for them to say they have 100 and not to have 100.
Marriott’s Delta and IHG’s Holiday Inn fit that description. Holiday Inn has gotten better in the last 10 years after a bad stretch in the 1990s and 2000s due to all the old 1960s, 1970s and 1980s properties with exterior room entrances , holidomes, etc. IHG, to their credit, kicked out a tremendous number of Holiday Inn properties. More than Marriott and before that Starwood did with Sheraton. The problem is at the end of the day a good Holiday Inn is still a Holiday Inn. What business traveler wants to take a client to the bar or restaurant at a Holiday Inn — even in Flyover small-town USA?
Even the photo looks like an old Hampton Inn that's repainted. I guess that's a logical strategy--allows Hamptons who can't keep up with the brand standards to stay in the Hilton family. I just don't like the Wyndham-is feel of integrating economy brands into the portfolio.
An uninspiring shelf stable breakfast bar, boring featureless lobby, hideously faux modern room with no comfortable place to relax except for the bed and a sterile looking bathroom with no discernible features. Just was guests want.
Whoever wrote these ads must have just graduated with a marketing degree. They should be reassigned to the mailroom where they can do no harm.
Wow, exactly what we needed! A new, vaguely indistinguishable hotel brand from a major chain!
It looks just like Tru...and personally I feel like affordable hotel stays are what Best Western and Choice hotels are for and when I want a little more, Hilton, Sheraton, and Marriott hotels are where I'll go! But I recently stayed at a Hilton hotel and was utterly grossed out by the state of the rooms cleanliness and smells in the halls, and actually wrote to Hilton, accompanied with pictures that would shock most Motel 6 guests,etc alone Hilton!!!
This isn’t 1973 anymore. McDonalds has had bagel sandwiches for what now, 30 years? Where are these places again?
And fwiw, there’s no nEw yOrK BaGeL that can hold a candle to a Montreal style bagel. But you probably don’t know that because anything from New York has to be the best, right?
That was my thought as well. I’ve stayed at several Tru by Hilton and I honestly don’t think they were that bad. Furniture all looked like IKEA stuff, with lots of bright colors, but they were newer and clean, and the price was right for a one or two night stay. Not sure how they would differentiate between Tru and this.
sighs give me both or neither. It's really annoying having a mini-fridge but being "forced" to have to go to the lobby to reheat/heat anything. --_--
Really? A mini fridge without a microwave in the room?
can you/we request one in our rooms. I feel maybe irrationally annoyed but give me both or neither. I don't want to be "forced" to have to run to the lobby anytime I wanted to heat/reheat anything and then it looks like it's just ONE that the ENTIRE hotel has to share?! o__O
Have you stayed at a Red Roof Inn or Super 8 lately? For budget travelers a safe, clean hotel that offers a little bit of breakfast sounds like an appealing option. I stay exclusively at Hilton brands and I have heard horror stories about other hotels. Once I was checking in at one and a couple came in frantic because while checking in at a nearby Clarion a guest walked up to the front desk with two crack pipes in her hand. I don't know about you, but I would take a bagel over a crack pipe any day.
I will always consider staying at any Hilton property showing a nightly rate for two of under $100.per night. Where the hotel is located is only a secondary consideration! Therefore, I welcome Spark as being perfect for our budget. And, for Hilton to receive a substantial increase in the number of nights that we spend in their hotel's each year.
My wife and I have stayed at a Best Western Plus in S. Florida on numerous occasions over the past 3 years, consisting of 3-4 nights approximately every 6 - 8 weeks apart. This BW provided a full breakfast daily to include bagels, had great staff and even a very nice bar by the pool. After months of "we’re being acquired by Hilton” statements and numerous projected grand opening dates it finally happened. We actually watched the demolition and reconstruction occur over several visits and stayed in one of the new rooms before the official opening. Sorry, but we were extremely disappointed. As anyone can see with their promotional photos, there are absolutely no drawers to store folded clothes, others on hangers must go in an open closet, tables next to beds are nothing but an inverted “U” again without shelves. In short all “furniture” looks like it was built by students in an 8th grade shop class. Small safes that were provided by BW to store valuables are nonexistent at Spark. Then comes the price. During what the locals call the “busy” season, prices exceeded $400/night. Checking out well-apportioned condos might provide a surprise. Hint…..they are cheaper. When it was a Best Western, we never paid over $165 at any stay regardless of the time of year. Hated to see the previous owners sell, but it is what it is………a Best Western with a new coat of paint, very cheap, thin carpet on the floors, without drawers or safes in any room and only bagels for breakfast.
Tried a Spark last night. Skimped on essentials. No cup or water glass for tooth brushing (I shadow to steal cup from their coffee area); no microwave (an essential for highway travelers); no ice bucket to cool drinks; fridge and A/C turned off when you get to room even on sweltering days. Breakfast cheaper and skimpier than budget brands like Travelodge. Property, previously a Best Western, run down with zero security. And pricing is no bargain. A disgrace to the Hilton brand, IMHO. They should drop the concept or create a REAL, practical, traveler’s hotel.
[Typo fixed] Tried a Spark last night. Skimped on essentials. No cup or water glass for tooth brushing (I had to steal cup from their coffee area); no microwave (an essential for highway travelers); no ice bucket to cool drinks; fridge and A/C turned off when you get to room even on sweltering days. Breakfast cheaper and skimpier than budget brands like Travelodge. Property, previously a Best Western, run down with zero security. And pricing is no bargain. A disgrace to the Hilton brand, IMHO. They should drop the concept or create a REAL, practical, traveler’s hotel.
I won't stay because of the bagel breakfast. I have spent hours this afternoon looking for anything in the Hilton brand (prefer Hampton Inn) that has a pool that is not sold out for our destination because I did not book early enough for a conference I'm attending, but my daughter and I both have a problem that makes it difficult to chew hard things, and we can't eat bagels which are too hard to chew, plus we want a yogurt or an egg, some protein in the morning. No way will I pay $169 a night for a skimpy breakfast that we can't eat. Plus from what I am reading, there is nothing abut this that makes it better than any Budget hotel - seems more budget than many of the true budget brands. Not for me. I looked carefully at multiple Spark Hotels, and other Hiltons, and I can't find anything I can use for this trip even though I am Hilton Honors and in the past, I have always stayed at Hiltons. The Hampton Inns are much higher than before since Spark has aparently taken over that lower pricepoint, except that Hamptons never used to be as high priced as what I am seeing for Spark, and Hampton Inn always had a good breakfast.