Born in the early 20th century into a Norwegian émigré family, American Konrad Hilton became a man of the era in the development of hotel technology and the hotel business in general.
He grew up in the family of a small businessman, and received a good upbringing and education. Konrad dreamed of banking business and even took the first steps by creating a small regional bank, but due to the small number of clients, Hilton was forced to close the business, then he will once again try to return to the banking business, going through failures, until he comes to buy his first hotel, Hotel Mobbly.
It will go through the ups, the creation of the first a chain of 10 hotels and the fall - ruin during the Great Depression. And again he will regain control over his hotels, creating the world's leading hotel company. So what made this possible?
Concentration on the guest - the first thing Konrad did when he bought the first hotel, he established personal communication with his guests, asking them about their needs and desires, he determined which of the guests' wishes could bring profit and be especially valuable to the guests.
Konrad applied his know-how on the walls of the foyer, he placed display cases with related products, this helped to bring the hotel out of the crisis and significantly increase profitability. Later, it even became a separate line of business, so the Hilton Country Store chain was created.
Attention to detail - of course, Konrad was not the first to come up with compliments to his guests, but he definitely became the best at it. Everyone knows the case when, after buying Waldorf-Astoria, he attracted President Hoover only by serving his favorite mints to the room, making him his regular guest. By the way, the idea of round-the-clock service was implemented in this hotel.
In an effort to stand out - he has become the most active promoter of hotel star ratings, so much so that in many sources he is indicated as the author of this system.
Conrad Hilton was the first to introduce such things as an in-room TV and minibar. He pioneered a line of products and services for women in the hotel. It was in his establishments that Pina Colada and Margarita cocktails appeared.
