Has Paris Hilton Tarnished the Hilton Hotel Brand?
Travel Blog • Jim Benning • 06.28.07 | 1:07 PM ET
Last weekend I found myself on the poolside lawn of a Hilton hotel in Carlsbad, California, visiting out-of-town friends staying there. We were watching “Happy Feet” under the stars—their young boy was munching all-you-can-eat popcorn, riveted by the talking penguins on the hotel wall—and I was thinking about Paris Hilton. Her imprisonment was winding down, and I wondered whether her transgressions were having any impact on business at Hilton hotels. Did anyone who’d made a reservation associate the hotel chain with the infamous heiress? Were there any empty spots on the lawn that night because some anti-Paris families had opted instead for a Hyatt?
I didn’t know for sure, but I suspected that most people planning their vacations had more immediate concerns—like the cost of their room, their hotel’s location, etc.—to be bothered by any theoretical connection between a particular Hilton property and the then-imprisoned hotel heiress.
That’s just what a couple of hotel and branding experts told the AP.
One hotel industry analyst didn’t think the hotel chain would suffer any long-term damage.
A public relations expert said: “Do I think their beds are going to be lumpy as a result? No. The only real backlash may be some snickering at the hotel’s expense.”
That seems to be the concensus among those commenting at Brandcurve.com, too.
Paris Hilton told Larry King last night that her weeks in jail gave her “a time-out in life.”
Which, I suspect, is all those families staying at the Hilton in Carlsbad wanted.
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Jim Benning is the editor and co-founder of World Hum.
Maggie 07.01.07 | 12:09 PM ET
Its a shame that people that have been gifted the luxury of a family empire, lack the social skills to responsibly handle the gift. This family has no social skill and tend to create there own according to what they believe fits there life style. For Paris to have a television show because she is rich? what is that. Talent? Skill? no we watch her because we are amazed that someone that has so much is so lacking in social skills. From the pictures you see on television or in print I can only assume she doesnt know how to stand up straight she is always poised in her take a look at me stance waying for someone to take a pictures. Has life gotten so bad for all of us, that we need to watch someone make a fool of themselves only because they can?
Reality shows! Im sick of them, on my free time I want to be taken away to a different world where we dont find our pleasure watching someone else show us how rude they can be in their life or how truely empty their thoughts are.
It only goes to show that no amount of money can make a truly happy person…
Bob 10.21.07 | 10:25 PM ET
I’d rather stay at the Hyatt to be perfectly honest. Why would I give my money to someone I don’t like? It’s not as if I *asked* to know her; she’s the one who invaded *my* space.
If you’re going to be associated with a brand, you shouldn’t act like an ass. It’s just bad business.
I’m not on an active boycott of Hilton hotels or anything, but I’d pay about $20 a night more to stay somewhere else of equal quality.
Jayce 06.14.08 | 5:27 AM ET
I think one of the great strategy to make the Hilton hotel so famous is through the sensations of Paris Hilton… lol
Jayce 06.14.08 | 5:29 AM ET
Great experience I think…You are worth to share it with another people in the world..
Masrur 06.14.08 | 5:30 AM ET
I love Paris Hilton…and I really like her sensations