tl;dr – The other sounds like a soft brand.
Recently, a reader by the name of Christian left a comment on an article I wrote about Hilton’s latest new brand – Undergraduate by Hilton – that read as follows:
“Perhaps I’m the only one, but I find the vast array of brands by the big chains to be annoying and bewildering. I have no interest in learning what small differences exist between one new brand and another, and tend to actually avoid those brands as a result.”
You and me both, Christian.
The hyper-segmentation of hotel brands, particular within more-or-less the same division (luxury, upscale, mid-tier, etc.) has gotten to be a bit much. On the one hand, I applaud chains trying to do what they believe is best to reach their target customers, but on the other hand, some of these efforts feel like peak-marketing-department-busy-work.
So when Hilton CEO Chris Nassetta mentioned “the things that I think are most imminent are another lifestyle brand in between Motto and Canopy,” I couldn’t help but roll an eye.
According to Nassetta, Hilton plans to chase “something in the upper-midscale, lower upper-upscale segment, [where he believes] there’s a huge market for that.”
Hilton currently has Canopy by Hilton, Curio Collection, Motto by Hilton, Tapestry Collection, and Tempo by Hilton. Is there enough of a gap between the offerings at Canopy and Motto to warrant an entirely new brand?
CEO Chris Nassetta indicated that “conversions remain integral to growth,” accounting for nearly 40% of room openings in 2025.
And this checks out – launching new conversion/acquiring soft or conversion brands, those aimed at the mid-tier upscale market, is definitely an industry trend. For example, Hyatt recently launched Unscripted by Hyatt, IHG just dropped the Noted Collection, etc. I imagine competition is fierce as the big chains attempt to woo property owners and operators. I also feel like the buck has to stop somewhere. There are only so many ‘existing properties’ to convert, and it feels like Hilton’s existing conversion/soft-brand lineup would be enough to digest any new target properties.
What seems more interesting is the alleged student-housing concept. Said to be an offshoot of (or possibly a project built on the learnings from) the Graduate Hotels acquisition, I’m curious as to what the business model would be here. Is this a hybrid apartment concept married with an extended stay specifically catered to college students? I’m guessing Hilton has top-tier insurance.
In all seriousness, I do applaud the creativity here, and I look forward to seeing what this concept will look like (if it materializes).
