BEVERLY HILLS, Calif. | Hilton Hotels Corporation (Hilton) today announced its intention to relocate its global headquarters from Beverly Hills, CA, to the greater Washington, DC metropolitan area. Locations in Maryland and Virginia are currently being considered. The move will occur during the third quarter of 2009.

The decision to relocate the company’s headquarters is part of Hilton’s ongoing business reorganization and follows a thoughtful and rigorous review of Hilton’s corporate operations and locations. Potential locations were evaluated against multiple criteria including costs, proximity to Hilton’s US and international offices, and talent attraction and retention.

Christopher J. Nassetta, President and Chief Executive Officer, said, “After careful consideration of both the needs of our business and the impact on our organization, we identified the greater Washington, DC metropolitan area as the best market for our business and the right decision for our future. Relocating to the DC area will significantly reduce our operating expenses and will position Hilton in a more central location from which to operate a global business, ease coordination across our organization, and better enable us to execute on strategic opportunities. Our vision for Hilton is to create the world’s leading hotel company, and this is a necessary and important step toward reaching this goal.”

Nassetta added: “We understand this is a major change for our organization, and we will do our best to minimize disruptions to employees and operations. We have a long history in Beverly Hills and appreciate the support we have received from our civic partners and citizens in the community over the years.”

About Hilton | Hilton Hotels Corporation is the leading global hospitality company with more than 3,200 hotels and 545,000 rooms in 77 countries and territories, including 135,000 team members worldwide.

The company owns, manages or franchises a hotel portfolio of some of the best known and highly regarded brands, including Hilton®, Conrad® Hotels & Resorts, Doubletree®, Embassy Suites Hotels®, Hampton Inn®, Hampton Inn & Suites®, Hilton Garden Inn®, Hilton Grand Vacations®, Homewood Suites by Hilton® and The Waldorf=Astoria Collection®.

The Hilton Family of Hotels adheres to founder Conrad Hilton’s philosophy that, “It has been, and continues to be, our responsibility to fill the earth with the light and warmth of hospitality.” The company put a name to its unique brand of service that has made it the best known and most highly regarded hotel company: be hospitable®. The philosophy is shared by all brands in the Hilton Family of Hotels, and is the inspiration for its overarching message of kindness and generosity.

Ellen Gonda
310-205-7676
Hilton