Hilton Hotels Corporation operates one of the world’s largest chains of hotels, headquarted in Beverly Hills, California. It was founded by Conrad Hilton in Cisco, Texas. With aspirations for guest service Hilton has become a leader in the hospitality industry setting new benchmarks with hotels and technology. Hilton Hotels grew to become the world’s first coast-to-coast hotel chain placing great emphasis on the business travel.
The original company, formed in 1919, sold the rights to the Hilton brand name outside of North America to a British company in 1964, which renamed itself Hilton Group.
As a result, there are two separate, fully independent companies operating hotels under the Hilton name. Those Hiltons outside the US were, until recently, known as Hilton International hotels. In addition, for many years hotels run by the Hilton Group in the US were called Vista Hotels, while hotels operated by the American arm of Hilton outside the US were named Conrad Hotels. The Vista chain has been phased out, while Conrad is now restyled as the luxury brand of Hilton and operates hotels within the US, as well as abroad. To minimize consumer confusion, the American and British Hilton companies have had a joint marketing agreement under which they share the same logos and promote each other’s brands. These Hilton hotels are based in Australia, Canada and Europe.
