Hilton Worldwide has announced honors for its top annual development awards in the Americas. Awards are presented in five categories across the company’s portfolio of hotels, including: Developer of the Year, Best Conversion, Deal of the Year, Outstanding Achievement and Lifetime Achievement. Recipients are awarded based on criteria ranging from total number and quality of hotels developed to impact on community and fastest construction time.
“These valuable partners represent the very best of Hilton Worldwide and we are proud to celebrate their accomplishments,” said Ian Carter, president, global development, Hilton Worldwide. “With more than 80 percent of our company’s hotels franchised, the strong relationships we have forged over the years with our owner partners allow us to continue to provide superior service and innovative products to our guests, while also expanding our footprint not only in the Americas, but globally.”
Each full service and focused service brand within the Hilton Worldwide portfolio of ten market leading brands honors a Developer of the Year. The awards for 2013 include:
Developer of the Year
- Hilton Hotels & Resorts: J.G.J. Proyectistas – Hilton Lima Mira?ores
- DoubleTree by Hilton: AWH Partners, LLC – Waterstone Resort & Marina Boca Raton – a DoubleTree by HiltonHotel (property pictured above)
- Embassy Suites Hotels: Kana Hotel Group – Embassy Suites Knoxville West
- Hilton Garden Inn: JL Woode, Ltd. – Hilton Garden Inn Key West
- Hampton Hotels: Al Patel – Baywood Hotels
- Hampton Inn & Suites Buffalo Airport
- Hampton Inn Haverhill
- Hampton Inn Dunkirk
- Hampton Inn Ithaca
- Homewood Suites by Hilton: Darko Vranich – Vrancor Group
- Homewood Suites by Hilton Hamilton, ON
- Homewood Suites by Hilton Timmins, ON
- Homewood Suites by Hilton North Bay, ON
- Home2 Suites by Hilton: Jake Wurzak, Wurzak Hotel Group – Home2 Suites by Hilton Philadelphia Center City, PA
- Multi-brand: Steve Giblin – SilverBirch Hotels & Resorts
- DoubleTree by Hilton Hotel West Edmonton
- DoubleTree by Hilton Hotel & Conference Centre Regina
- Hampton Inn & Suites by Hilton Halifax-Dartmouth
- Homewood Suites by Hilton Halifax-Downtown
- Dual-brand: Stonebridge Companies – Hampton Inn & Suites and Homewood Suites by Hilton Denver Downtown Convention Center, CO
The Lifetime Achievement Award was given to Jeff Raymond, president and chief executive officer of Raymond Management, and the Raymond Management Group in Madison, Wis. Founded in 1978, Raymond Management develops and manages hotels throughout the U.S.
“We are delighted to honor Jeff and the entire team at Raymond Management with the Lifetime Achievement Award,” said Carter. “Jeff has a long-standing relationship with Hilton Worldwide, and his hotels consistently perform in the top echelon of each of their respective brands. His dedication to developing our brands has not gone unnoticed, and we wish to congratulate him on this achievement.”
Franchisees honored in additional categories include:
Best Conversion
- DoubleTree by Hilton: Atlantic Newport Hospitality, LLC – DoubleTree by Hilton Hotel Atlantic Beach Oceanfront
- Hilton Garden Inn: Matthew Marquis, President, Pacifica Hotels & Invest West Financial – Hilton Garden Inn Marina Del Ray
- Hampton Hotels: Driftwood Hospitality Management & Silverpeak Real Estate Partners – Hampton Inn & Suites Magnificent Mile
- Homewood Suites by Hilton: Driftwood Hospitality Management & Silverpeak Real Estate Partners – Homewood Suites by Hilton Chicago Downtown
Deal of the Year
- Conrad: Grupo Megaterra Inversion y Construccion – Conrad Cartagena
- DoubleTree by Hilton: Dave Parmley and Broadway Lodging LLC – The Broadway Columbia – a DoubleTree by Hilton Hotel
- Hilton Garden Inn: Erik J. Hoekstra, Redstone – Hilton Garden Inn – Burlington
- Hampton Hotels: Atma Hotel Group – Hampton Inn & Suites Chapel Hill-Carrboro/Downtown
- Homewood Suites by Hilton: Robert M. Rogers, Michael V. Harrell – Homewood Suites Nashville Vanderbilt, TN
- Home2 Suites by Hilton: H. Mark Daley, III, The Generation Companies, LLC – Home2 Suites by Hilton Augusta
- Dual brand: Widewaters Hotels – Hilton Garden Inn & Homewood Suites by Hilton Calgary Downtown
Outstanding Achievement
- DoubleTree by Hilton: Grupo Carmell Inmobiliaria – DoubleTree by Hilton Santiago Vitacura
- Embassy Suites Hotels: John Thackeray and Kevin Garn – Embassy Suites Portland -Hillsboro
- Hilton Garden Inn: John DelMonte, DelMonte Hotel Group – Hilton Garden Inn Rochester
- Hampton: Vision Hospitality Group, Inc. – Hampton Inn Chattanooga
- Homewood Suites by Hilton: Richard Parks, White / Peterman Properties, Inc – Homewood Suites by Hilton Springfield, VA
- Home2 Suites by Hilton: Lou Erck of Erck Hotels Corporation – Home2 Suites by Hilton Bellingham, WA and Home2 Suites by Hilton Great Falls, MT
- Dual build: Apple REIT Ten and LBA Hospitality – Hampton Inn & Suites and Home2 Suites by Hilton Huntsville
- Multi-brand: Metro Hotels, Colombia – Hampton by Hilton Cartagena, Hampton by Hilton Barranquilla, and Hampton by Hilton – Cali
