Mexico: Hilton’s Homewood Suites extended-stay brand has launched its new prototype for Latin American hotels and expects to pick up momentum in the region.
The new-build Homewood Suites Silao Airport in the Mexican state of Guanajuato was the first example of the new prototype. It opened in February this year.
Juan Corvinos, Hilton’s VP of development for Latin America and the Caribbean, said: “Before the end of next year, we will have four more Homewood Suites open. It usually has a cycle of two years from launch-of-prototype to the first one started starting to open, but once those hotels open and you can show the physical, completed product, the pipeline accelerates.”
Hilton has more than 65 ongoing conversations in Latin America and the Caribbean for Homewood Suites, Corvinos added. “Last year, we approved 35 hotels. Eight of those were Homewood Suites. Every market has different movements and different segments. The need for Homewood became apparent when the team found that guests were using Hamptons and Garden Inns for extended stays. The programming of those hotels did not play well to those guests. You are now seeing more Hampton by Hilton and Homewood Suites combos because there is a need for different hotels.”
Corvinos said the brand is aiming for between 50 and 100 Homewood Suites operating across Latin America in the next few decades: “That’s how we will measure success, when it is peppered all throughout the continent and there is a critical awareness and customer awareness of what our brand represents in all the countries.”
