The traditional hotel company is dead, long live the traditional hotel company.
Not long ago, lodging companies were known for one thing: providing hotel stays. They still do, but now offer so much more, from cruises to apartment living, which is to say, this is now today’s traditional hotel company.
Hotel companies have moved away from owning hotels and managing them in favor of an unwedded approach that focuses on generating fees through franchising and brand development. In doing so, they look less like their origination and more like feature-rich, consumer-goods corporations—think Procter & Gamble, which offers everything from household and personal-care products and is known for iconic brands, such as Pampers, Tide, Gillette and Head & Shoulders.
P&G started as a soap company.
Coloring Outside the Lines
Hilton started as a hotel company. It still is, but it’s much more now, and its newest brand is evidence. On Thursday, Hilton launched Apartment Collection by Hilton, its foray into the furnished apartment space, a move that embeds it into the short-term apartment space with the likes of peer Marriott International or Airbnb. It’s not going at it totally alone, launching initially in partnership with Placemakr, a specialist in flexible, short-term and extended-stay accommodations in both urban and suburban markets.
The new category of stay opens up differentiated inventory to Hilton Honors members, allowing travelers to earn and burn reward points beyond traditional hotels. It’s not something new: Last month, Hilton launched a collaboration with cruise line Explora Journeys that will allow Hilton Honors members the ability to accrue and use points toward ocean-travel experiences and other adventure-driven pursuits starting in summer 2026.
Apartment Collection by Hilton will be available for booking through Hilton channels in the first half of 2026, the company said, with initial properties in the U.S. Hilton said Apartment Collection builds on its existing global inventory of approximately 10,000 apartment-style units and adds as many as 3,000 new units through its partnership with Placemakr.
Apartment Collection is a bet by Hilton that travelers enjoy apartment-style stays, but are looking for something more standardized than the sometimes disjointed experience at other STR providers. Hilton signaled this idea through a brand campaign that tacitly posited how some STR providers offered horror shows, rather than comfortable, serene stays.
Here to Stay
In Apartment Collection, Hilton is betting that blended travel is not a fad, as a press statement offered: “From a family getaway or friends’ reunion to an extended work trip where business travelers need comfort and consistency.”
Accommodations, Hilton said, will feature amenities like chef-ready kitchens, separate living areas and on-site laundry. Guests will be “thoughtfully hosted,” with dedicated team members available on-site 24/7 to provide support and ensure guests feel cared for.
Launching Apartment Collection puts it more in line with its biggest competitor, Marriott International, which moved into apartment-style accommodations in 2022 with the launch of Apartments by Marriott Bonvoy. The brand offers developers the flexibility to build new properties or convert existing properties, with a design approach similar to Marriott’s Autograph Collection and Tribute Portfolio brands. Hilton’s growth path in the space will likely follow a similar trajectory.
Hilton’s partner, Placemakr, a mainstay in the furnished and unfurnished apartment sectors, was founded in 2017 as WhyHotel by Jason Fudin and Bao Vuong.
In launching Apartment Collection, Hilton moves back to its original MO of launching brands itself rather than acquiring ones, like its recent acquisitions of Graduate Hotels and NoMad. “[It] represents the next chapter in Hilton’s growth story and the ways we are evolving to meet growing guest demand for this dynamic segment of hospitality,” said Chris Nassetta, president and CEO of Hilton. “With this new brand, we are continuing to pioneer the future of the hospitality industry, giving guests even more ways to choose Hilton for every stay, backed by our service and reliability.”
Added Chris Silcock, president, global brands and commercial services, Hilton: “We’ve long seen the opportunity to deliver hospitality-driven apartment stays, offering spacious accommodations, thoughtful amenities, and authentic connections to local neighborhoods.
Hilton referred to its tie-up with Placemakr as “initial,” which presupposes that the brand could grow with multifamily developers who may let out a portion of accommodations to Hilton. A press release was short on how the brand would grow and did not specify if Hilton might lease out entire apartment buildings, a move that doesn’t seem likely given Hilton’s asset-light and lighter-on-management focuses. What Hilton deems its already 10,000 apartment-style units, include accommodations at brands like DoubleTree and Hilton. In 2024, Hilton debuted midscale extended-stay LivSmart Studios by Hilton, which currently has two hotels open in Tennessee and Indiana, with several more planned this year in places like Columbia, S.C., Chesapeake, Va., and Tyler, Texas.
Placemakr partnering with Hilton gives it an instant jolt of credibility and also opens its inventory to the more than 235 million Hilton Honors members. Silcox said it selected Placemakr “after an extensive search.”
“Placemakr is proud to bring our deep expertise in the furnished apartment space to this innovative new brand with Hilton,” said Vuong, president of Placemakr. “We’re thrilled for Hilton guests and Hilton Honors members to experience what we’ve built over the past decade.
“We’re also excited for what this means for our real estate partners,” added Fudin, CEO of Placemakr. “Hilton’s industry-leading commercial engine and scale will help create even more value for our partners while accelerating our mission to maximize the value of real estate through flexibility. This marks a new chapter in flexible real estate.”
Industry watchers will naturally compare this deal with Marriott International’s ill-fated tie-up with Sonder, which failed in spectacular fashion after Sonder filed for bankruptcy, leaving many travelers twisting in the wind. A key differentiator is that Hilton is building out its own brand, like Apartments by Marriott Bonvoy, giving it more control and flexibility to decide who it partners with in the future.
