Hilton Hotels & Resorts (formerly known as Hilton Hotels) is an international hotel chain which includes many luxury hotels and resorts as well as select service hotels. It was founded by Conrad Hilton and is now owned by Hilton Worldwide. Hilton hotels are either owned by, managed by, or franchised to independent operators by Hilton Worldwide. Hilton Hotels became the first coast-to-coast hotel chain of the United States in 1943. As of 2010^[update], there are now over 530 Hilton branded hotels across the world in 78 countries across six continents.

The Hilton Hotels brand remains one of the company's flagship brands and one of the hotel brands in the world. The company places marketing emphasis on both business travel and leisure travel with locations in major city centers, near airports, convention centers, and a number of vacation resorts and leisure-oriented hotels in popular vacation destinations around the world.

The company's Hilton HHonors guest loyalty program is one of the largest of its kind and has numerous partnerships with airlines and car rental companies. Some Hilton Hotels feature an Executive Level lounge for HHonors Gold and Diamond members and those willing to pay for Executive Rooms. The lounge is normally located on the highest floor of the hotel building. In addition to Hilton Hotels, the Hilton HHonors membership can also be used at all other Hilton Worldwide brands.

The Beverly Hilton is a hotel located on an 8.9-acre (3.6 ha) property at the intersection of Wilshire and Santa Monica Boulevards in Beverly Hills, California, USA. The Beverly Hilton has hosted many awards shows, charity benefits and entertainment and motion picture industry events, and is perhaps best known as the home of the annual Golden Globe Awards.

Conrad Hilton opened the Welton Becket designed Beverly Hilton Hotel as a showpiece in 1953 with 582 rooms.

Since 1961, the hotel's International Ballroom has hosted the Golden Globe Award ceremony, presented annually by the Hollywood Foreign Press Association.

In 1975, 50% of the property was sold to Prudential Insurance Company forming a partnership with the Hilton Hotels Corporation. The partnership sold the hotel to entertainer and businessman Merv Griffin for $100.2 million in December 1987.

The Beverly Hilton had completed a $35 million renovation prior to Mr. Griffin's purchase. The hotel was Mr. Griffin's second choice, as he had expressed an interest in buying the 260-room Beverly Hills Hotel, which had recently sold to the Sultan Hassanal Bolkiah of Brunei for $200 million by a group headed by the Denver oilman Marvin Davis.

Whitney Elizabeth Houston (August 9, 1963 – February 11, 2012) was an American recording artist, actress, producer, and model. In 2009, the Guinness World Records cited her as the most-awarded female act of all-time. Houston was one of the world's best-selling music artists, having sold over 170 million albums, singles and videos worldwide. She released seven studio albums and three movie soundtrack albums, all of which have diamond, multi-platinum, platinum or gold certification. Houston's crossover appeal on the popular music charts, as well as her prominence on MTV, starting with her video for "How Will I Know", influenced several African American female artists to follow in her footsteps.

Houston is the only artist to chart seven consecutive No. 1 Billboard Hot 100 hits. She is the second artist behind Elton John and the only female artist to have two number-one Billboard 200 Album awards (formerly "Top Pop Album") on the Billboard magazine year-end charts. Houston's 1985 debut album Whitney Houston became the best-selling debut album by a female act at the time of its release. The album was named Rolling Stone's best album of 1986, and was ranked at number 254 on Rolling Stone's list of the 500 Greatest Albums of All Time. Her second studio album Whitney (1987) became the first album by a female artist to debut at number one on the Billboard 200 albums chart.