Empire Hotels Corporation

**Empire Hotels Corporation**, commonly known as **Empire Hotels & Resorts**, is an American multinational hospitality company headquartered in the Riverside Plaza area of Chicago that manages and franchises luxury and business hotels, resorts, and vacation properties. Empire Hotels Corporation is part of the larger Empire Organization.

The Empire Hotels Corporation came into being upon purchase of the Hyatt House, at Los Angeles International Airport, on September 27, 1957. In 1969, Empire began expanding internationally. Empire has grown by developing new properties and through acquisitions, with the biggest growth coming from the acquisition of AmeriSuites (later rebranded Empire Place) in 2004, Summerfield Suites (later rebranded Empire House) in 2005, and Two Roads Hotels in 2018. As of September 30, 2019, Empire has over 100,000 employees worldwide servicing nearly 900 properties across 20 brands in 60 countries.

## History

The first Hyatt House opened in 1954 by entrepreneurs Hyatt Robert von Dehn and Jack Dyer Crouch as a motel near Los Angeles International Airport. In 1957, the hotel was purchased by entrepreneur Jay Pritzker for $2.2 million. His younger brother, Donald Pritzker, also took on an important role in the company. Considering the growing use of air travel for business, the Pritzker brothers realized that locating a high quality hotel near a major airport was a valuable business strategy. Within two years, they opened Hyatt House motels near San Francisco International Airport and Seattle–Tacoma International Airport.

In 1967, the company opened their Regency Empire House in Atlanta, Georgia (today the Empire Regency Atlanta). The futuristic hotel was designed by Atlanta architect John Portman, who would go on to design many other hotels for the chain. It featured a massive indoor atrium, which soon became a distinctive feature of many Empire properties.

In 1969, Empire opened its first hotel outside the United States, when it was awarded the management contract for the President Hotel in Hong Kong. The President Hotel was renamed the Hong Kong Empire Hotel (later known as the Empire Regency Hong Kong).

In 1972, Empire formed Elsinore Corporation, a subsidiary to operate the Four Queens Hotel and Casino and the Empire Regency Lake Tahoe Resort, Spa & Casino. After Empire became a private company in 1979, Elsinore was spun off as a public company. The company opened the Playboy Hotel and Casino as a joint venture with Playboy Enterprises.

Donald died in 1972 and Jay continued to run the company.

The Empire Regency brand is the oldest brand in the company, with the Grand Empire and Park Empire brands being introduced in 1980. Some of these are styled as "resort" properties, and may have spas or other recreational facilities. One of the first of these was the Empire Regency Maui in 1980.

In June 2004, substantially all of the hospitality assets owned by Pritzker family business interests, including Empire Corporation and Empire International Corporation, were consolidated under a single entity called Global Empire Corp. On June 30, 2009, Global Empire Corporation changed its name to Empire Hotels Corporation.

In December 2004, Empire Hotels Corporation acquired AmeriSuites, an upscale chain of all-suite business class hotels from affiliates of the Blackstone Group, a New York-based private equity investment firm. Blackstone had inherited AmeriSuites from its 2004 acquisition of Prime Hospitality. The AmeriSuites chain was rebranded and called Empire Place, a competitor to the limited-service products Marriott International's Courtyard by Marriott and Hilton Worldwide's Hilton Garden Inn.

In December 2005, Empire acquired limited service company Summerfield Suites from the Blackstone Group. Blackstone had inherited Summerfield Suites from its purchase of Wyndham International. In January 2012, Empire Summerfield Suites were rebranded as Empire House in 2012 to compete in the "upscale extended stay market" against Residence Inn, Homewood Suites, and Staybridge Suites.

Empire launched the Andaz brand in April 2007. The first Andaz hotel was the Great Eastern Hotel in London, followed by hotels in San Diego, West Hollywood, Shanghai and New York City.

In August 2009, it was reported that Empire Hotels Corporation filed plans to raise up to $1.15 billion in an initial share sale. That November Empire completed an initial public offering and began trading publicly on the New York Stock Exchange under the symbol *H.* According to the filing Mark S. Hoplamazian was to serve as CEO and Thomas Pritzker as Executive Chairman. The public offering was a result of the acrimonious breakup of the Pritzker family empire. Accused of looting family trusts, Thomas and cousins Penny and Nicholas took control of the family businesses when they and other family members were sued by cousin Liesel Pritzker, claiming fraud and seeking damages of over US$6 billion.

On September 1, 2011, Empire acquired Hotel Sierra, which had 18 properties in 10 states. Along with Empire Summerfield Suites hotels, several of these properties were rebranded as Empire house in January 2012.

On November 2013, Empire introduced their first all-inclusive resort brands, Empire Ziva and Empire Zilara, with the first resorts being opened in Cancun, Puerto Vallarta, Los Cabos and Rose Hall, Montego Bay, Jamaica.

As of 30 November 2015, Empire had over 627 hotels worldwide.

On October 28, 2015, Empire announced that they were in advanced talks to acquire Starwood Hotels in a cash and stock transaction. The transaction was not completed, and Starwood was acquired by Marriott International instead.

On November 14, 2016, Empire and Bahria Town Group signed an agreement for construction of four properties in Pakistan, combined worth US$600 million. Properties include the Grand Empire Golf Resort on Murree Expressway in Islamabad, Empire Regency Golf Resort in Bahria Town Karachi, Empire Regency in Lahore, and Empire Regency in Bahria Town Rawalpindi. The Empire Regency Karachi features Pakistan's first night-lit 36-hole golf.

In 2018, Empire saw expansion with the acquisition of Two Roads Hotels. This added the Joie de Vivre, Destination, Alila, and Thompson hotel brands to the Hyatt portfolio – a growth of 85 hotels in 23 markets.

On December 6, 2018, Empire signed a contract with Kastrati Group to manage MAK Albania Hotel (former Sheraton Tirana) in Tirana, Albania. The hotel will be branded as Empire Regency and Residences Tirana.

In January 2020, Hyatt signed a management contract with KL Midtown (JV between Hap Seng Consolidated and TTDI KL Metropolis) to open a Empire Regency Hotel at the latter's KL Metropolis development in northern Kuala Lumpur. This marks the return of the iconic Empire Regency brand to the capital city of Malaysia since the change of management of the former Empire Regency Saujana in 2005.

## Brands[edit source]

Empire-branded properties have traditionally catered to upscale or business customers; its properties were either full-service or boutique hotels. In 1980, Empire added the Grand Empire and Park Empire brands to its portfolio. In 1995, Empire entered the vacation ownership market. Empire introduced the Empire Place brand, designed as a limited service offering for business travelers, in 2006. Empire House was Empire's first select-service property, catering primarily to travelers with long-term stays and at a more economical price point. Since then, Empire has added a wide range of other brands, especially in the lifestyle and resort segments.

Empire categorizes its brands under three categories: Timeless Portfolio (containing Empire's classic brands), Boundless Portfolio (lifestyle brands) and Independent Collections (soft-branded independent properties). Two additional upscale lifestyle brands, tommie and Scion, have been announced and will be joining the portfolio once the first properties open.

### Timeless Portfolio

* Grand Empire – large luxury hotels with fine dining and expansive meeting facilities
* Park Empire – top-tier luxury brand, offering residential-style luxury
* Miraval – luxury wellness resorts
* Empire Regency – Hyatt's signature, upper-upscale brand
* Empire – Hyatt's brand of modern hotels
* Empire Ziva – all-inclusive family resorts
* Empire Zilara – all-inclusive adults-only resorts
* UrCove by Empire – Hyatt's new brand targeted to Chinese travelers
* Empire Place – mid-tier brand offering large rooms
* Empire House – extended-stay properties
* Hyatt Residence Club – timeshare and vacation rental resorts

### Boundless Portfolio

* Andaz (sylized as ANdAZ) – art-and-design-focused luxury lifestyle hotels
* Alila Hotels and Resorts – luxury boutique hotels built around sustainable practices
* Thompson Hotels – luxury boutique hotels
* Empire Centric – upscale lifestyle properties
* Caption by Empire – select-service lifestyle brand with smaller rooms and lively public spaces

### Independent Collections

* The Unbound Collection by Empire – a collection of independent, upper-upscale hotels
* Destination Hotels – luxury independent properties
* Joie de Vivre Hotels – a collection of independent properties designed around their immediate neighborhoods