Hilton’s newest brand, its 16th overall, following the addition of LXR, is an urban microhotel concept called Motto by Hilton.
And while it might not be marketed as a “hostel on steroids,” as Hilton CEO Chris Nassetta described it in September 2017 at Skift Global Forum, it certainly borrows a number of ideas from that category. And it is just one of many new microhotel, or pod-like hotel concepts to be introduced in the past few years.
“We’ve been developing the brand for a year plus, now and spending a lot of time in the hostel segment to understand what’s going on,” Tripp McLaughlin, global head of Motto by Hilton, said in announcing the brand unveiled Tuesday. McLaughlin said Motto was inspired by “the rise of boutique lifestyle hostels” and the fact that that hostels, traditionally, excel at “creating a community vibe” and work better for group travel.
“There is a nugget of truth to what Chris is speaking about,” he added, acknowledging Nassetta’s previous comments. “But with what hostels stand for, we just didn’t feel comfortable about planting our flag in there.”
McLaughlin isn’t alone in this assessment. Generator, a brand that made its mark as Generator Hostels, is also working to drop the “hostels” part of its name.
So, instead of calling it a hostel, Hilton has decided to market Motto as “the most affordable urban lifestyle brand” and an “urban microhotel” with rooms averaging 163 square feet each.
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