Hilton Hotels & Resorts

Hilton Hotels & Resorts (formerly known as Hilton Hotels) is an international chain of full service hotels and resorts and the flagship brand of Hilton Worldwide.

The original company was founded by Conrad Hilton. As of 2010, there were over 530 Hilton branded hotels across the world in 78 countries across six continents. Hilton hotels are either owned by, managed by, or franchised to independent operators by Hilton Worldwide.

Overview

The Hilton Hotels brand remains one of the company's flagship brands and one of the largest 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

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. 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 and the Daytime Emmy Awards.

History

Conrad Hilton opened the Beverly Hilton in 1953. Architect Welton Becket designed the hotel as a showpiece 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 Griffin's purchase. The hotel was Griffin's second choice, as he had expressed an interest in buying the 260-room Beverly Hills Hotel, which had recently been sold to Sultan Hassanal Bolkiah of Brunei for $200 million by a group headed by Denver oilman Marvin Davis.

Whitney Houston

Whitney Elizabeth Houston (August 9, 1963 – February 11, 2012) was an American singer, actress, producer, and model. In 2009, Guinness World Records cited her as the most awarded female act of all time. Houston is one of pop music's best-selling music artists of all-time, with an estimated 170–200 million records sold 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 women artists who 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 woman to have two number-one Billboard 200 Album awards (formerly "Top Pop Albums") on the Billboard magazine year-end charts. Houston's 1985 debut album Whitney Houston became the best-selling debut album by a woman in history.Rolling Stone named it the best album of 1986, and ranked it at number 254 on the magazine's list of the 500 Greatest Albums of All Time. Her second studio album Whitney (1987) became the first album by a woman to debut at number one on the Billboard 200 albums chart.