Word: hiltonization
(lookup in dictionary)
(lookup stats)
Dates: during 1960-1969
Sort By: most recent first
(reverse)
While he was rushing about adding links to his U.S. chain, Hilton's unfailing courtesy launched him almost by accident into the international hotel business. When Puerto Rico decided in 1947 that it needed a first-class hotel to help lure U.S. businessmen to set up shop there, Teodoro Moscoso, chief of the Puerto Rico Development Corp. (and now the director of the Alliance for Progress), fired off letters to leading U.S. hotelmen inviting them to come down. Only Hilton answered promptly, with a warm, friendly letter that began by greeting the Spanish-speaking Moscoso as "Mi estimado amigo...
...Hilton's own board of directors, composed mostly of Midwestern and Western businessmen, were appalled at the thought of moving out of the U.S. But they decided to let him have some hotels abroad as playthings; they voted him a paltry $500,000 and set up the international division as a separate subsidiary so that its failure (which they expected) would not pull down the whole company. Working with profits from the Caribe, Hilton in the next ten years built eight more international hotels from Mexico City to Berlin. Meanwhile, in the U.S., Hilton added the ten Statler Hotels...
Princely Aloofness. Even at his age, Hilton is very much in command of his empire and often seems to have more energy than his younger colleagues. He regularly scans reports from each hotel and reads complaints that guests send in. If he sees something amiss, a hotel manager somewhere will get a quick telephone call from Hilton. Recently Hilton launched a big drive to make Hilton employees more courteous to guests, had behind-the-scenes spots in Hilton hotels plastered with posters that asked: "Have you smiled today? It's bound to give you a lift...
...keeping with his restless nature, Hilton is particularly fond of making flying visits to his chain or searching out new hotel sites. He scrambled like a mountain goat over Rome's Monte Mario to pick out just the right spot for the Cavalieri Hilton, declared with the spirit of a Medici commissioning a palace that he wanted it to be "a balcony of flowers overlooking Rome." Whenever Hilton appears at one of his hotels, the staff jumps to give him royal treatment-and sometimes stumbles. His bathtub at the New York Hilton was cracked, and at the Waldorf recently...
...presides over board meetings with a princely aloofness. "I, Conrad Hilton, can do anything I want to do," he declares with the assurance of a man who owns or controls 30% of the company's stock and a clear majority of its esprit. Actually, Hilton has had to wear down objections from his board to some of the biggest steps the company has taken, including the purchase of the Waldorf and the takeover of the Statlers. Hilton listens to the board's advice and usually gives in gracefully to strong opposition to his schemes. But when he thinks...