Hilton’s Chief Brand Officer just told us about the chain’s newest one

Within a large hotel chain like Hyatt  (H) – Get Free Report or Hilton  (HLT) – Get Free Report, there are also a number of different brands meant to target different customers. Hyatt has resort brands such as Ziva and Zilara and Grand Hyatt for the corporate and leisure travelers while Hilton also has everything from the timelessly luxurious Waldorf Astoria name to mid-range brands such as Hilton Garden Inn and Hampton by Hilton.

Tempo by Hilton is the latest brand to launch under the wider hotel chain — Hilton’s Chief Brand Officer Matthew Schuyler explained it as the intersection of the “personal and professional” at a time when many travelers are looking to bridge their business and leisure travel. 

Related: You’ll Be Surprised Where the Most Expensive Hotel in the US Is

The first Tempo hotel opened in a 46‑story building in New York’s Times Square at the start of August and aims to make its 661 rooms a stylish resting place in one of the busiest intersections in the world. 

Schuyler talked to TheStreet about both the new chain and what travelers want in a hotel. While the lines between business and leisure travel are getting increasingly blurred, many accommodation choices are also increasingly driven by the rising cost of travel.

This interview has been edited for length and clarity.

TheStreet: How does this hotel and Hilton’s wider strategy fit into the rise of “bleisure” (a portmanteau of ‘business’ and ‘leisure’?)

Matthew Schuyler: Post-pandemic, people are bringing their work with them. The workweek has changed and people are able to do more work outside the office. The physicality is only requiring many to be in the office maybe a few days a week. As a result, leisure travel is beginning earlier in the week than it used to and the weekend is dedicated to bringing some work with you but experiencing a different area. People can now flex their workweek to accommodate their travel instead of the other way around.

‘Many hotels are now being designed with work in mind,’ Hilton exec says

TheStreet: How does that fit into hotel architecture and design choices that need to both fit into current trends and be forward-thinking enough to not become obsolete later?

Many hotels are now being designed with work in mind. At the Times Square Tempo location, you can get some work done in the room or in the lounge and as soon as you’re done, out you go and you’re steps away from the incredible experience. That’s part of the lifestyle brands we’re building. Many of our passengers are transient and just want to see New York while others are doing that leisure extension.

After observing what happened during the pandemic, we also knew that wellness and mindfulness were going to be important. We knew that healthy eating and the sleep experience were going to be important. We’ve engineered the space to have a zone where you can power down and then power off, to have the tools to conduct the work that you need to but to also power down and enjoy yourself when you’re ready.

This plays out in everything from how you bring in your bag and what you do with your gear once you’re here. An example you’ll see is the conscious closet concept. That’s conscious engineering. 

Device storage, open-face closets and other things business hotel guests want

We know that business travelers like to arrive on the scene and have their things out to be visually seen so that they can stage their week. Nightstands need to have room for their iPhone, their iPad, their watch. The mirrors in the rooms have Bluetooth technology so that you can play music or a podcast while you’re getting ready. This was a big desire expressed by our customers that we engineered with travel in mind.

Hotel prices in NYC have really spiked amid the crackdown on Airbnb  (ABNB) – Get Free Report and other short-term rental platforms. This has been a boon for hotels but how are you keeping affordability in mind?

[Short-term rental sites] were not really on our mind when we developed this product. Demand may or may not be a by-product relative to what’s happening with Airbnb but we really saw Times Square as an opportunity to introduce some new brands and think of it as customer acquisition. It’s one of the famous crossroads in the world and the hotel cannot be separated from that desirability. This was our opportunity to attract some new customers in the heart of New York City.

We think of this as an accessible lifestyle brand where we’ll cater to a number of demographics including a younger demographic but we also hope to attract business travelers and leisure travelers. Really, all demographics in this regard.

What other markets are you testing?

This brand, Tempo, will grow really fast. This is our first one but we have dozens in the pipeline. Primary, secondary and tertiary city markets and airport locations around the world. This will be the lifestyle branch of our extended stay brand. The next one to open will be Nashville. That’s a really fast-growing area of the country but we also have Raleigh and Louisville coming up. Accessibility is key and experience is in the heart of that.

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