NEW YORK CITY— With 110 properties already up and running and perhaps as many as another 50 in the design and/or construction phase, Homewood Suites by Hilton is apparently merely whetting its appetite as it continues to look to “eat its competitors’ lunch” in the upscale extended-stay arena. According to Jim Holthouser, Homewood’s svp/brand management: “It looks like 2002 will go into the books as a record development year for Homewood Suites by Hilton. However, even that heady outlook is not enough to prevent the brand from mapping out further inroads into the extended-stay marketplace. The brand has a new incentive package entitled The Developer’s Edge, aimed at new, as well as existing hotel developers. As Holthouser told HOTEL BUSINESS® during the kick-off of the 24th Annual NYU International Hospitality Industry Investment Conference here, The Developer’s Edge package specifically features: reduced royalty fees; marketing and advertising/public relations support; and semi-qualified sales leads for approved franchisees. Additionally, Holthouser pointed out application fees are similarly reduced for multiple-hotel developers, and a new developer receives 500,000 Hilton HHonors points, to be used at the developer’s own discretion.—Michael Billig
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