Homewood Suites by Hilton, the national brand of upscale, all-suite, residential-style hotels, continues to deliver the brand’s core initiatives for 2007:

- The new Suite Selection online reservation tool allows event attendees to navigate through a real time demonstration;
- Mobile Learning: Homewood Suites will now be training employees through specially designed programs on video iPods in every property.
- Updates to the food and beverage phase of the Distinctly Homewood brand enhancement program; and
- Milestone openings in Mexico and the 200th Homewood Suites by Hilton;

Demonstrating the innovation and evolution of the brand, Homewood Suites prepares to launch the hotel industry’s first interactive room selection tool by the end of March, Suite Selection, which will put HHonors guests in the drivers seat when creating their travel plans. Suite Selection will feature floor plans, photographs and descriptions of every room throughout the entire Homewood Suites catalogue. Guests who are considering booking a stay at any Homewood Suites will be able to make an informed room selection decision prior to check-in by viewing the layouts and actual photos of every room in the property.

Homewood Suites is preparing to deploy more than 600 video iPods as part of its innovative approach to the training of its team members. The extended stay brand will launch Mobile Training with video iPods in every Homewood Suites by April 2007 in an effort to improve performance and development in areas such as training, sales communications and brand messaging.

Rebecca Wyatt, senior vice president of brand management, was especially ecstatic to make this announcement. She noted that, “This method of training will allow for continuous, easily adapted and spontaneous training at a comparatively low cost. The video iPods will communicate and reinforce key messages and skills, as well as provide hotel managers the ability to implement continuous coaching in a non-invasive manner. The video iPod’s portability and user-friendly technology helps us provide ongoing updates that can be downloaded readily by our hotels.”

In another enhancement that continues to solidify the innovation and evolution of the brand: enhancements to F&B offerings are underway. In 2004, Homewood Suites began a five-year brand enhancement program called Distinctly Homewood, addressing three areas to ensure the brand remained the leader in the extended stay industry: Relevance, Consistency, and Distinctiveness. In addition to a new bedding program, upgraded baths, updated kitchens, expanded fitness facilities and updated amenities, Distinctly Homewood also features three FF&E phases created to give developers additional design flexibility. The program will now focus on a complete overhaul of the brand’s food and beverage offerings.

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