Hampton Hotels, the international brand of nearly 1,900 mid-priced Hampton Inn, Hampton Inn & Suites and Hampton by Hilton hotels, today announced the opening of 18 new properties in the third quarter of 2012. The new openings add 1,740 guest rooms to the brand’s portfolio, bringing Hampton’s total global room count to more than 184,450.

“We are very pleased with the tremendous growth and development of our brand over the course of the third quarter,” said Phil Cordell, global head, focused service and Hampton Hotels, Hilton Worldwide.  “We are also thrilled that our focus on delivering a valuable product to our franchise owners has put us at the top of Entrepreneur magazine’s annual list of top global franchises for the second consecutive year - something that could not have been achieved without the continued trust of our franchise partners who bring Hampton’s unique culture of Hamptonality to locations around the world.”

Two of the newly opened Hampton properties continued the expansion of the brand into international markets.  In August, Hilton Worldwide - in partnership with Hampton - opened its first dual-brand property in the U.K.  This hotel was the 11th property for the Hampton by Hilton brand in the U.K., ahead of the recently opened Hampton by Hilton York in October and an additional 10 properties currently in development in the country.  The 143-room Guadalajara Hampton Inn by Hilton also opened in the third quarter, making the hotel the 15th Hampton property in Mexico and the second in Guadalajara, ahead of nearly 70 additional Hampton properties in the pipeline outside the U.S.

With continued momentum, Hampton expects to open more than 30 additional properties by the end of 2012.