Skift Take
Hilton Worldwide's room-selection initiative is vindication for fading startup Room77, which sought to get hotels to adapt the feature, but met resistance. Guests will want additional room intelligence, including images, ratings and amenity information.
In a first for the hospitality industry at scale, Hilton Worldwide said it plans to introduce the capability for Hilton HHonors members to be able to select their specific rooms after booking a reservation, starting a day before their stay.
The rollout is slated to happen on desktop and mobile for Hilton Worldwide's Waldorf Astoria, Conrad Hotels, Hilton Hotels, Hilton Garden Inn, Homewood Suites, and Home2 Suites by the end of the summer, and DoubleTree and Embassy Suites in the U.S. would join in the Fall.
The feature wouldn't be limited to scattered properties here and there, but would reach 650,000 rooms at more than 4,000 properties at Hilton Worldwide brands globally by the end of 2014.
The only brand excluded in the immediate plans would be Hampton, with its more than 2,000 generally smaller properties.
"Everyone will be forced to play this way eventually," says Jim Holthouser, executive vice president of global brands for Hilton Worldwide, referring to competitors regarding room selecti
