Hilton to Build ‘All-Suites’ Hotels in Suburban Areas

Hilton Hotels said Tuesday that it plans to build 10 “all-suites” hotels, the fastest-growing segment of the lodging industry, at a cost of at least $97.5 million in the next 18 to 30 months.

Construction will begin on the first six Hilton Suites hotels by the end of the year, with the initial focus on Southern California, New England and Chicago, a company spokesman said.

Hilton is the latest major player attracted to the idea of all-suites hotels, which offer suites of rooms that usually consist of a bedroom, bathroom, sitting room and some sort of kitchen facilities.

“By trading public space and restaurants for a luxurious guest room and parlor, we can provide a suite for less than the cost of a first-class hotel room,” the Los Angeles company said in a statement. Hilton’s suites are expected to be priced at $65 to $85 a night.

While the all-suites hotels will not have restaurants, they will feature stores that sell items suitable for use in the rooms’ microwave ovens. The hotels also will provide videocassette recorders in each room, complimentary breakfasts and cocktail hours. Service centers for business people in each hotel will provide personal computers, secretarial services and copying machines.

Hilton, known for its downtown hotels, will build its all-suites hotels in suburban areas to take advantage of lower land prices, the company spokesman said.

The hotels, which will range between 150 and 250 rooms, will cost between $65,000 and $85,000 per suite to build, compared to $100,000 to $200,000 per room for a first-class downtown hotel, the spokesman said. At those prices, the 10 hotels represent an investment of between $97.5 million and $212.5 million.

Hilton is not worried that the suburban location of the hotels will discourage business travelers, one of the company’s prime targets, the spokesman said.

“The locations will be carefully selected,” he said. “There is a lot of confidence in this concept of the suburban location.”