Conrad Hotels to Grow Brand

Beverly Hills-based Hilton Hotels Corp. and Hilton International on Wednesday announced a joint venture to develop 50 luxury hotels and resorts under the Conrad Hotels name by 2010.

The joint venture is equally owned by Hilton Hotels and Hilton International, a unit of London-based Hilton Group, and is based in Brussels.

The first Conrad hotels built under the new venture are expected to open in Tokyo and Phuket, Thailand, in 2005 and in Las Vegas and Indianapolis in 2006.

“We are optimistic that we can achieve our goal to have 50 Conrad hotels by 2010,” said Stephen Bollenbach, co-chairman and chief executive of Hilton Hotels. A spokesman said construction of the Phuket resort wasn’t affected by the Asian tsunami.

Conrad currently has 17 luxury hotels in Europe, the United States and Asia, with the first Conrad opening in Australia in 1985.

Dieter Huckestein, 61, an executive with 30 years’ experience with both Hilton Hotels and Hilton International, will oversee the expansion effort.

Possible future U.S. locations for Conrad hotels include Los Angeles, San Diego and Washington, D.C., the company said. Current U.S. Conrad locations are in Miami and in a tower of the Waldorf-Astoria in New York.