WASHINGTON — Hotel chains have been rolling out new brands in recent years aimed at younger and budget-conscious travelers, with small rooms, no closets and comfy pants-friendly lobbies, but Hilton is pivoting in the opposite direction with its newest brand, Signia.
Signia also makes McLean, Virginia-based Hilton, one of the largest employers in the Washington region and the second-largest hotel chain behind Bethesda, Maryland-based Marriott International, heavy on brands.
Signia is Hilton’s 17th flag, joining a portfolio that includes Waldorf Astoria, Canopy, Curio, DoubleTree and Embassy Suites.
Marriott now has more than two dozen hotel brands under its management after its acquisition of Starwood Hotels & Resorts.
Hilton’s Signia hotels will be meetings- and events-focused hotels for what it calls professionals and sophisticated business travelers.
Each Signia, as they open, will have at least 500 rooms and 75 square feet per room of meetings and event space. That’s at least 38,000 square feet of meetings and events space per property.
Per Hilton’s announcement, Signia Hilton properties will include modern architecture, manicured landscaping, destination bars, signature restaurants, spas and fitness classes and, most importantly for the demographic, meetings and events spaces that will include ballrooms and technologies for said work and collaboration events.
No Signia hotels in the D.C. area are listed among the first that will open. Those will include Orlando, Atlanta and Indianapolis.
Hilton has been growing rapidly, with more than 5,600 hotels in 113 countries.
Hilton’s newest Washington hotel, the Hilton Washington D.C. National Mall, opens at L’Enfant Plaza in April, a reboot of the former 15-story L’Enfant Plaza Hotel.
