Hilton Garden Inn has signed its first hotel agreement to debut the mid-priced brand in the Russian city of Perm through a franchise agreement with Hotels of Ural Ltd.The agreement will involve the conversion of the existing Plaza Olympia hotel to the Hilton Garden Inn Perm which is scheduled to open late 2008.

Welcoming the announcement, Wolfgang M. Neumann, President of Hilton Hotels - Europe, said: “Russia is one of our key strategic development markets and there exists a huge potential for hotel growth in key cities across the country. In Perm there are no internationally branded hotels and just 600 available rooms, so it is clear to us that quality accommodation is in short supply. We believe that the ever-popular Hilton Garden Inn brand is the perfect fit to meet demand in this market.”

 

Over the next ten years, Hilton anticipates it will open more than 70 Hilton Family hotels across Russia, not only focussing on Moscow and St. Petersburg, but also actively looking at opportunities in key regional cities.

 

Today’s announcement also reflects the expansion of the innovative Hilton Garden Inn brand across Europe, with three properties currently located in Stuttgart, Rome Airport and Florence as well as plans to open new hotels Rzeszow, Bari, Matera, Frankfurt and Lecce over the next 24 months.

 

“Bringing the Hilton Garden Inn brand to Russia is very exciting because it shows that hotel guests are looking for a new kind of lodging option whether travelling for business or leisure,” said Adrian Kurre, senior vice president’ brand management, Hilton Garden Inn. “We look forward to introducing our Hilton Garden Inn core brand attributes like complimentary WiFi, workout facility and 24-hour business centre as well as full service restaurant and 24-hour Pavilion Pantry offering a variety of food and beverage offerings’ to global travellers to help keep them productive and energized when staying at our hotels.”

 

Located in the Ural region, over 1,000 km from the Russian capital, Perm has a population of over one million people and is considered to be an important industrial centre.  The 104-room Hilton Garden Inn Perm will be centrally situated just a short drive from the airport and city centre. In addition, the hotel will offer leisure and business travellers a bar and restaurant as well as 250 square metres (2,690 square feet) of conference and meeting facilities, business centre and complimentary parking.
——-