Franchise | |
Industry | Hospitality |
Founded | 1984 | (as Hampton Inn)
Founder | Promus Hotel Corporation |
Headquarters | Memphis, Tennessee, U.S. |
Number of locations
|
2,000+ hotels |
Area served
|
United States, Canada, Turkey, United Kingdom and Latin America |
Parent | Hilton Worldwide |
Website | www.hampton.com |
Hampton by Hilton, formerly known as Hampton Inn, is a brand of hotels trademarked by Hilton Worldwide. The Hampton hotel brand is a chain of moderately priced, midscale hotels with limited food and beverage facilities. Most Hampton hotels are independently owned and operated by franchisees, though a few are owned and/or managed by Hilton Worldwide. Hampton by Hilton is one of the largest hotel franchises in the U.S.. The Hampton franchise includes more than 2,000 hotels throughout the U.S. and 16 other countries.
Originally, the hotel chain was founded in 1984 as Hampton Inn, a budget hotel by the Holiday Corporation. The first hotel was a two-story, exterior-entrance building with 128 guest rooms located in Memphis, Tennessee. In late 1989, after some financial difficulties, Holiday Corporation prepared to sell its hallmark Holiday Inn hotels and started the holding company Promus Hotel Corporation, which included Hampton Inn, Embassy Suites, and Homewood Suites. With this change, Promus re-invested in the Hampton Inn brand and began its change from a budget hotel to a middle-market hotel to compete with their freshly sold former brand. The hotel chain was the first of the mid-price hotels to offer free continental breakfast and the first to introduce the "100 percent satisfaction guarantee." By 1990, the Hampton Inn chain included over 220 properties with more than 27,000 rooms. Hampton Inn and Suites was introduced in 1995, which featured two-room suite style hotel rooms complete with living room and kitchen areas.
In 1999, the Promus Hotel Corporation was bought by Hilton Worldwide for $3.7 billion. In 2004, as part of the $100 million "Make it Hampton" initiative, Hampton began upgrading its hotels including the production of an alarm clock which featured an easy-to-set alarm and an mp3 player hook-up. Other changes made during the upgrade were the switch to white bedding, adding hot food items to continental breakfast options and free high-speed internet to rooms. In 2012, under the "Perfect Mix" initiative, the company completed upgrades to the lobbies of its hotels adding more social space. Hampton continued to renovate its spaces with a campaign introduced in 2013, directed towards younger clientele that included in-room mini-fridges, new bedside tables with power access, updated bathrooms, and updated hotel exteriors. Hampton by Hilton has been ranked in the top 5 in Entrepreneur's Franchise 500 from 2010-2015.