Amaris Hospitality rebrands three hotels to Hilton

Amaris Hospitality has completed an agreement with Hilton Worldwide, which will see it invest £30 million (US $45mn)  in rebranding three hotels from its portfolio of 89 hotels to Hilton Worldwide brands.

Under the agreement, the landmark Carlton Hotel, Edinburgh, will become Hilton Edinburgh Carlton, The Glasgow City Hotel, Glasgow, DoubleTree by Hilton Glasgow Central, while the Jurys Inn Custom House hotel in Dublin will rebrand to Hilton Garden Inn Dublin Custom House.

As owner of the three hotels, Amaris Hospitality will operate the hotels under a franchise agreement.

The US $45mn (£30 million) investment in the rebranding and transformation of the hotels forms part of a wider £100 million (US $150.28mn) capital investment programme the group is currently undertaking as it pursues a strategy to leverage the size and scale of the Amaris Hospitality portfolio of hotel assets to accelerate its growth and development.

Last month, Amaris Hospitality announced its intention to rebrand another 19 hotels to Jurys Inn (eight hotels) and Mercure (11 hotels).

John Brennan, CEO of Amaris Hospitality, said: “This initiative will see three of our landmark hotels leverage their prime city centre locations, a significant investment programme and Hilton’s upscale brands to further optimise future revenues and deliver exceptional service to our guests.”

“The quality of our leadership team and the employees within these hotels, working in conjunction with our new partners in Hilton Worldwide, will ensure a smooth and seamless transition for our guests and we hope to complete the transformation of these properties by Q3 2016.”

Patrick Fitzgibbon, senior vice president, development, Europe & Africa, Hilton Worldwide said: “The ongoing success of our three existing hotels with Amaris Hospitality, added to this new agreement, reflects the incredible impact of converting under our brands.

"As guests’ travel habits become ever more sophisticated, the need to compete globally is driving more and more owners to affiliate with our internationally recognised brand portfolio, enhancing their visibility in front of an audience of nearly 42 million annual visitors[1] to the UK & Ireland.”

The agreement with Hilton Worldwide will bring the number of Hilton branded hotels in the Amaris Hospitality portfolio to six as the group already owns and operates DoubleTree by Hilton hotels in London Chelsea and Islington and a Hilton Garden Inn at Heathrow Airport.