UPDATE: Scroll down to the bottom for some updates

Today at the ALIS Conference, Hiltonwas expected to announce something new – it’s been made clear that it wouldn’t have been their new lifestyle boutique brand, but possibly an extended stay brand.

Logo for Home2 Suites by Hilton

Hilton ended up announcing the launch of Home2 Suites by Hilton. An extended stay hotel with primarily one room suites at a price point averaging $100 a night – lower priced than their Homewood Suites brand, with a modern and edgy feel that would attract those born in the millennial generation – those born between 1982 and 2002 – without feeling like a Motel 6 or Studio 6.

They also launched a website at http://www.home2suites.com which shows a lot of renderings of the interior, exterior and also standard floorplans for the prototype. While the exterior of the building is very square – much like most of the newer limited-service hotel design prototypes coming out these days, it does have a bit of an industrial building look – perhaps taking a design hint from the popularity of the lofty industrial look that some condo developments are turning into.

Exterior Rendering of Home2 Suites

Hilton’s name choice of Home2 is also interesting. The 2 portion is meant to construe that the hotel is you’re second home, or home away from home – very smart, but it also plays a bit into technology by connotating version 2 – version 1 being your main home. The fact that the name of the brand is “Home2″ rather than “Home 2″ also demonstrates some 21st century naming. I like that branding, but maybe because I’m so technology oriented – it just reminds me waay to much of technology – “Home” meaning homepage, and the 2 meaning version 2.

The interior of the hotel plays out similar to Starwood’s Element, right down to the “community tables”  and “gathering zones” that are noted on the Home2 website.

The rooms are designed to fit alot in a very little space – unlike Element, there only seems to be two room sizes – the normal size that is reflected in the pictures, and a “Queen Suite” which actually has two rooms – the bedroom and the living room/media area. There is also an ADA Accessible suite which seems to take the same design as the Queen Suite – but it has larger doors and the bathroom is more accessible to those in wheel chairs.

Something that I always liked aboutStarwoods Element (and Aloft) room design is the unconventional placement of furniture and fixtures. Anyone who has seen an aloft room picture knows how the bed is in the center of the room behind a wall which has the sink and bathroom. The Element room has a somewhat similar design, but in some suites it has a wrap-around couch and a partition between the sitting/kitchen areas.

Home2 Suites Room Cross Section

The Home2 design disappoints because from the looks of it, you walk into the room, on one entire wall is a table which has the kitchen counter, workspace and space for the tv. Below the counter are drawers clothes, dishes, etc. On the other wall is the bathroom, bed and couch. It’s really a very traditional hotel room design which at this point is a little boring. On the other hand, the design they used for some aspects – a headboard/night table piece that extends from the left and right of the bed, making it feel a little more luxurious, and fixtures that you’d expect to find in a W rather than a Hilton hotel.

Overall its a great concept, especially in the current economy when Extended Stay hotels are experiencing higher occupancy than standard hotels. The fact that the Home2 concept is centered around a cost effective design also plays well with developers who are not looking to drop 30 million on a hotel. Hilton has suggested that the rooms would cost 70-75k a key, which is very very inexpensive – especially for an extended stay room which has more build out due to the kitchen that’s included in every room.

Hilton is looking to build the first 100 hotels by 2012, with the first one to begin construction within 6 to 12 months and probably opening toward the end of 2010. 10 hotels are currently in the pipeline, but there is no word as to where the first locations will be yet.

Hilton was starting to worry me for awhile, but after this announcement, and the lifestyle brand announcement coming in March, it looks like Hilton is finally on a turnaround.

UPDATE

1. The initial locations in the pipeline are located in New York City, N.Y., Baltimore/White Marsh, Md., Charlotte, N.C., Jacksonville, N.C., Gadsden, Ala., Alabaster, Ala., Elko, Nev., and three hotels in San Antonio, Texas.

2. The hotel room types are split between 80% studios and 20% 1 bedrooms

andrew@alconic-inc.com

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