Business description of Hilton-Worldwide-Holdings-Inc

PART I

Forward -Looking Statements

This Annual Report on Form 10-K contains forward-looking statements within the meaning of Section 27A of the Securities Act of 1933, as amended (the "Securities Act") and Section 21E of the Securities Exchange Act of 1934, as amended (the "Exchange Act"). These statements include, but are not limited to, statements related to our expectations regarding the performance of our business, our financial results, our liquidity and capital resources and other non-historical statements. In some cases, you can identify these forward-looking statements by the use of words such as "outlook," "believes," "expects," "potential," "continues," "may," "will," "should," "could," "seeks," "approximately," "projects," "predicts," "intends," "plans," "estimates," "anticipates" or the negative version of these words or other comparable words. Such forward-looking statements are subject to various risks and uncertainties, including, among others, risks inherent to the hospitality industry, macroeconomic factors beyond our control, competition for hotel guests, management and franchise agreements and timeshare sales, risks related to doing business with third-party hotel owners, our significant investments in owned and leased real estate, performance of our information technology systems, growth of reservation channels outside of our system, risks of doing business outside of the United States and our indebtedness. Accordingly, there are or will be important factors that could cause actual outcomes or results to differ materially from those indicated in these statements. We believe these factors include but are not limited to those described under "Part I—Item 1A. Risk Factors." These factors should not be construed as exhaustive and should be read in conjunction with the other cautionary statements that are included in this Annual Report on Form 10-K. We undertake no obligation to publicly update or review any forward-looking statement, whether as a result of new information, future developments or otherwise, except as required by law.

Terms Used in this Annual Report on Form 10-K

Except where the context requires otherwise, references in this Annual Report on Form 10-K to "Hilton," "Hilton Worldwide," "the Company," "we," "us" and "our" refer to Hilton Worldwide Holdings Inc., together with its consolidated subsidiaries. Except where the context requires otherwise, references to our "properties," "hotels" and "rooms" refer to the hotels, resorts and timeshare properties managed, franchised, owned or leased by us. Of these hotels, resorts and rooms, a portion are directly owned or leased by us or joint ventures in which we have an interest and the remaining hotels, resorts and rooms are owned by our third-party owners.

Investment funds associated with or designated by The Blackstone Group L.P. and their affiliates, our current majority owners, are referred to herein as "Blackstone" or "our Sponsor."

Reference to "ADR" or "Average Daily Rate" means hotel room revenue divided by total number of room nights sold in a given period and "RevPAR" or "Revenue per Available Room" represents hotel room revenue divided by room nights available to guests for a given period.

Reference to "Adjusted EBITDA" means earnings before interest expense, taxes and depreciation and amortization or "EBITDA," further adjusted to exclude certain items. Refer to "Part II—Item 7. Management's Discussion and Analysis of Financial Condition and Results of Operations—Key Business and Financial Metrics Used by Management" for further discussion of these financial metrics.

Item 1. Business

Overview

Hilton Worldwide is one of the largest and fastest growing hospitality companies in the world, with 4,322 hotels, resorts and timeshare properties comprising 715,062 rooms in 94 countries and territories as of December 31, 2014. In the nearly 100 years since our founding, we have defined the hospitality industry and established a portfolio of 12 world-class brands. Our flagship full-service Hilton Hotels & Resorts brand is the most recognized hotel brand in the world. Our premier brand portfolio also includes our luxury and lifestyle hotel brands, Waldorf Astoria Hotels & Resorts, Conrad Hotels & Resorts and Canopy by Hilton, our full-service hotel brands, Curio - A Collection by Hilton, DoubleTree by Hilton and Embassy Suites Hotels, our focused-service hotel brands, Hilton Garden Inn, Hampton Hotels, Homewood Suites by Hilton and Home2 Suites by Hilton and our timeshare brand, Hilton Grand Vacations. More than 157,000 employees proudly serve in our managed, owned, leased and timeshare properties and corporate offices around the world, and we have approximately 44 million members in our award-winning customer loyalty program, Hilton HHonors.

We operate our business through three segments: (1) management and franchise; (2) ownership; and (3) timeshare. These complementary business segments enable us to capitalize on our strong brands, global market presence and significant

operational scale. Through our management and franchise segment, which consists of 4,134 hotels with 649,314 rooms as of December 31, 2014, we manage hotels, resorts and timeshare properties owned by third parties and we license our brands to franchisees. Our ownership segment consists of 144 hotels with 58,954 rooms as of December 31, 2014 in which we have an ownership interest or lease. Through our timeshare segment, which consists of 44 properties comprising 6,794 units as of December 31, 2014, we market and sell timeshare intervals, operate timeshare resorts and a timeshare membership club and provide consumer financing.

In addition to our current hotel portfolio, we are focused on the growth of our business through expanding our share of the global lodging industry through our development pipeline, which includes approximately 230,000 rooms scheduled to be opened in the future, all in our management and franchise segment. As of December 31, 2014, approximately 121,000 rooms, representing over half of our development pipeline, were under construction. The expansion of our business is supported by strong lodging industry fundamentals in the current economic environment and long-term growth prospects based on increasing global travel and tourism.

Overall, we believe that our experience in the hotel industry and strong brands and commercial service offerings will continue to drive customer loyalty, including participation in our Hilton HHonors loyalty program. Satisfied customers will continue to provide strong overall hotel performance for our hotel owners and us, and encourage further development of additional hotels under our brands and existing and new hotel owners, which further supports our growth and future financial performance. We believe that our existing portfolio and development pipeline, which will require minimal initial capital investment, put us in a strong position to further improve our business.

Our Brand Portfolio

The goal of each of our brands is to deliver exceptional customer experiences and superior operating performance.

December 31, 2014

Brand⁽¹⁾

Segment

Countries/ Territories

Hotels

Rooms

Percentage of Total Rooms

Selected Competitors⁽²⁾

Luxury

10,653

1.5%

Ritz Carlton, Four Seasons, Peninsula, St. Regis, Mandarin Oriental

8,091

1.1%

Park Hyatt, Sofitel, Intercontinental, JW Marriott, Fairmont

Upper Upscale

560

201,047

28.1%

Marriott, Sheraton, Hyatt, Radisson Blu, Renaissance, Westin, Sofitel, Swissotel, Mövenpick

3,170

0.4%

Autograph Collection, Luxury Collection, Ascend Collection

Upscale

410

100,879

14.1%

Sheraton, Marriott, Crowne Plaza, Wyndham, Radisson, Moevenpick, Hotel Nikko, Holiday Inn, Renaissance

219

52,140

7.3%

Renaissance, Sheraton, Hyatt, Residence Inn by Marriott

618

86,095

12.0%

Courtyard by Marriott, Holiday Inn, Hyatt Place, Novotel, Aloft, Four Points by Sheraton

Upper Midscale

2,005

198,914

27.8%

Fairfield Inn by Marriott, Holiday Inn Express, Comfort Inn, Quality Inn, La Quinta Inns, Wyngate by Wyndham

359

40,056

5.6%

Residence Inn by Marriott, Hyatt House, Staybridge Suites, Candlewood Suites

4,726

0.7%

Candlewood Suites, AmericInn, Towne Place Suites

Timeshare

6,794

1.0%

Marriott Vacation Club, Starwood Vacation Ownership, Hyatt Residence, Wyndham Vacations Resorts

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Waldorf Astoria Hotels & Resorts: What began as an iconic hotel in New York City is today a portfolio of 26 luxury hotels and resorts. In landmark destinations around the world, Waldorf Astoria Hotels & Resorts reflect their locations, each providing the inspirational environments and personalized attention that are the source of unforgettable moments. Properties typically include elegant spa and wellness facilities, high-end restaurants, golf courses (at resort properties), 24-hour room service, fitness and business centers, meeting, wedding and banquet facilities and special event and concierge services.

Business description of Hilton-Worldwide-Holdings-Inc from last 10-k form