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Hilton Hotels & Resorts facts for kids

Kids Encyclopedia Facts
Hilton Hotels & Resorts
Subsidiary
Industry Hospitality
Founded May 31, 1919; 106 years ago (1919-05-31) (as Hilton Hotels)
Founder Conrad Nicholson Hilton
Headquarters
McLean, Virginia
,
U.S.
Number of locations
 584 hotels (December 31, 2019)
Area served
 Worldwide
Key people
 Brian Roger Belanger, CPO
Parent Hilton Worldwide

Hilton Hotels & Resorts is a famous worldwide hotel brand. It's the main brand of a big American company called Hilton Worldwide.

A man named Conrad Hilton started the company. By late 2019, Hilton Hotels & Resorts had 584 hotels. These hotels were in 94 countries and territories across six continents. Many people like working for Hilton. In 2020, Fortune magazine said Hilton Hotels & Resorts was the number one company to work for. This was based on what their employees said.

Discovering Hilton Hotels

Conrad Hilton started the Hilton hotel chain in 1919. He bought his first hotel, the Mobley Hotel, in Cisco, Texas. The first hotel to actually be called "Hilton" was the Dallas Hilton. In 2010, the brand changed its name to Hilton Hotels & Resorts. They also got a new logo.

Today, Hilton Hotels & Resorts is one of the biggest hotel brands in the world. It's for both people traveling for business and those on vacation. You can find Hilton hotels in big cities, near airports, at convention centers, and in popular vacation spots.

Hilton Hotels & Resorts has a special program for its guests called Hilton Honors. It started in 1989. Members who book their rooms directly with Hilton get special deals. They also get cool things like free Wi-Fi and digital check-in. They can even use a mobile app to pick their exact room!

Many Hilton Hotels & Resorts properties are very old and important. In 2015, about 20 of them joined the Historic Hotels of America group. For example, the Hilton Fort Worth is where John F. Kennedy gave his last speech. The Hilton Hawaiian Village Waikiki Beach Resort was even in the movie Blue Hawaii.

Famous Hilton Hotels Around the World

Hilton has many well-known hotels. Here are some of them:

Here are some other notable Hilton hotels:

  • Addis Ababa, Ethiopia: The Hilton Addis looks like the rock churches of Lalibela. Hilton agreed to manage it for 50 years.
  • Albuquerque, United States: The Hilton Hotel in Albuquerque opened in 1939. It was the first Hilton hotel outside Texas. It's now part of the Curio Collection.
  • Amsterdam, Netherlands: John Lennon and Yoko Ono held their first "Bed-In for Peace" at the Hilton Amsterdam in 1969. Their room, 702, is now a popular spot for tourists.
  • Anaheim, United States: The Hilton Anaheim is next to the Anaheim Convention Center. It opened for the 1984 Summer Olympics. It's the biggest hotel in Orange County.
  • Athens, Greece: The Hilton Athens opened in 1963. It was the city's first international hotel. The International Olympic Committee used it during the 2004 Summer Olympics.
  • Beverly Hills, United States: The Beverly Hilton is famous for hosting the annual Golden Globe Awards.
  • Boston, United States: The Hilton Boston Park Plaza was once a Statler Hotel. It was the first hotel in the world to have a radio in every room.
  • Budapest, Hungary: The Hilton Budapest includes parts of an old 13th-century monastery. It's near the Fisherman's Bastion and Matthias Church.
  • Chicago, United States:
    • The Palmer House Hilton is a historic hotel. It was the first in Chicago to have elevators and electric lights. It's one of the oldest hotels in North America.
    • The Hilton Chicago was a key location during the 1968 Democratic Convention protests.
  • Cincinnati, United States: The Hilton Cincinnati Netherland Plaza was once the tallest building in Cincinnati. It's a member of Historic Hotels of America.
  • Cleveland, United States: The Hilton Cleveland Downtown Hotel opened in 2016. It's the largest hotel in Cleveland with 600 rooms.
  • Colombo, Sri Lanka: The Hilton Colombo is next to the World Trade Center Colombo.
  • Dallas, United States: The Dallas Hilton was the first hotel to use the Hilton name in 1925.
  • Fort Worth, United States: The Hilton Fort Worth is famous. On November 22, 1963, John F. Kennedy gave his last speech there. This was just hours before his assassination.
  • Havana, Cuba: The Habana Hilton was the biggest hotel in Latin America when it opened in 1958. After the Cuban Revolution, Fidel Castro lived there.
  • Hong Kong, China: The Hong Kong Hilton opened in 1963. It was the first hotel in the world to have a minibar in every room.
  • Honolulu, United States: The Hilton Hawaiian Village has 3,386 rooms. It's the second-largest Hilton property in the world.
  • Istanbul, Turkey: The Hilton Istanbul Bosphorus opened in 1955. It's the longest-running Hilton hotel outside the United States.
  • Kansas City, United States: Hilton has managed the historic Hotel President since 2005.
  • Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia: The Hilton Kuala Lumpur opened in 2004.
  • Las Vegas, United States:
    • The Las Vegas Hilton was once the largest hotel in the world.
    • The Las Vegas Hilton at Resorts World is part of the Resorts World Las Vegas complex. With 3,506 rooms, it's the largest Hilton property in the world.
  • London, United Kingdom:
    • The London Hilton on Park Lane was London's first skyscraper hotel. The Beatles met Maharishi Mahesh Yogi there.
    • The Hilton London Paddington is a historic hotel. It has been open since 1854.
    • The Waldorf Hilton was built in 1908 by William Waldorf Astor.
  • Louisville, United States: The Seelbach Hilton Louisville inspired a hotel in F. Scott Fitzgerald's famous book The Great Gatsby.
  • Manchester, United Kingdom: The Hilton Manchester Deansgate is inside the Beetham Tower. This tower was once the tallest building in Manchester.
  • Mexico City, Mexico: The Hilton Mexico City Reforma was the first tall building built after the 1985 Mexico City earthquake.
  • Milwaukee, United States: The Hilton Milwaukee City Center opened in 1928. It's built in the Art Deco style.
  • Minneapolis, United States: The Hilton Minneapolis is the largest hotel in the state of Minnesota.
  • New York City, United States:
    • The New York Hilton Midtown opened in 1963. It's the largest hotel in New York City. Martin Cooper made the world's first handheld cellphone call in front of it in 1973.
    • The Millennium Downtown New York Hotel was a Hilton hotel. It was damaged during the September 11 attacks but was rebuilt.
  • Niagara Falls, Canada: The Hilton Niagara Falls/Fallsview Hotel and Suites is the tallest hotel in Canada.
  • Oklahoma City, United States: The Skirvin Hilton Hotel is the oldest hotel in Oklahoma City.
  • Paris, France: The Hilton Paris Opéra is a historic hotel. It was built for the 1889 World's Fair.
  • Portland, United States: The Hilton Portland Downtown and the Duniway Hotel are the largest hotels in Portland.
  • San Juan, Puerto Rico: The Caribe Hilton Hotel's Beachcomber Bar is where the Piña Colada drink was reportedly created in 1954.
  • San Francisco, United States: The Hilton San Francisco Union Square is the largest hotel on the West Coast of the United States. It has 1,921 rooms.
  • Singapore: The Hilton Singapore Orchard was once a Mandarin Oriental hotel. It has the famous Chatterbox restaurant, known for its Hainanese chicken rice.
  • Sydney, Australia: The Sydney Hilton Hotel was the site of a bomb blast in 1978.
  • Tel Aviv, Israel: The Hilton Tel Aviv was the largest and most modern hotel in Israel when it opened in 1962.
  • Venice, Italy: The Hilton Molino Stucky was once a flour mill. Hilton turned it into a hotel in 2007.
  • Washington, D.C., United States:
    • The Capital Hilton was one of the first hotels to accept a Black guest in 1947.
    • The Washington Hilton hosts big events like the National Prayer Breakfast. The attempted assassination of Ronald Reagan happened outside this hotel in 1981.

Future Hilton Projects

Hilton has some exciting plans for the future:

  • In 1999, Hilton International suggested a "Space Islands" project. This would be a commercial space station made from old Space Shuttle fuel tanks. They even thought about a "Lunar Hilton", a 5000-room hotel on the Moon. These ideas are more symbolic for now.
  • Hilton announced a new hotel in Dhaka, Bangladesh, in 2012. It's called the Hilton Dhaka and is planned to open in 2025.
  • In 2013, Hilton planned to open hotels in Myanmar. They opened some in Mandalay and Naypyidaw.
  • In 2018, Hilton announced two new hotels in Kampala, Uganda. They are still being developed.

Other Hilton Activities

Hilton also gets involved in other areas:

  • Hilton was a sponsor for the McLaren racing team in F1 until 2021. They had sponsored McLaren since 2005.
  • In 2017, Hilton promised $50 million to help grow its hotels in Sub-Saharan Africa. This is part of their Hilton Africa Growth Initiative.

See also

  • Hyatt
  • Sheraton Hotels and Resorts
  • Marriott International