- Motto by Hilton is expanding globally with a pipeline of over 20 hotels and plans to triple its footprint, with new openings across the Americas, APAC and EMEA.
- Motto by Hilton is designed as a launchpad to the destination, immersing guests in the heart of each location through locally inspired design, neighborhood-driven food & beverage concepts and social public spaces that connect guests to the community.
- Motto by Hilton’s flexible design approach supports a wide range of travel needs and development types, offering adaptable room layouts, connecting room options and the ability to deliver new builds, conversions and adaptive reuse projects for owners.
Motto by Hilton is building momentum with new openings worldwide as it works to triple its global portfolio with a pipeline of over 20 hotels. Motto is purpose-built for travelers who want to stay in the heart of the action, with social spaces shaped by the neighborhoods around them.
Theodora De Souza, brand leader of Motto by Hilton, shares more about what’s happening with the brand this year and where it’s headed next.
Motto by Hilton has been growing into new markets recently. What’s the latest with the brand right now?
Motto has been entering a lot of new destinations, and the pipeline is very exciting. We introduced Motto to Nashville earlier this year and opened our first hotel in Brazil with Motto Recife right before Carnival. And, next up, we have Guadalajara and Shanghai. We’re on track to triple our global footprint over the next few years.
Beyond that, we’ve got projects moving across three continents in cities like Sydney, Paris, Budapest, Manchester, UK and Indianapolis. It’s been so fun bringing this brand to these exciting destinations around the world, each with its own distinctive feel and experiences. Motto in Nashville may feel very different from one in Shanghai or Paris, but they are all tied together by the common Motto signatures our guests love and expect, including exciting food & beverage that locals love, and guest rooms that are cleverly and intentionally designed.
Can you tell us more about the upcoming openings and what makes them unique?
We have so many exciting projects that I am looking forward to visiting. The range in design and F&B makes each one a special experience. In downtown Guadalajara, Motto will be opening in a reimagined historic building. The design takes cues from the plazas and patios you see throughout the city. As always, our lobby is integrated with our food & beverage offerings, which include a bakery and coffee concept built around Guadalajara’s birote bread tradition. The restaurant, La BienQuerida, is a modern Mexican cantina with shareable dishes and local cocktails. The space has a ton of personality, mixing lucha libre-inspired details with the building’s original Art Deco design. The art programming is a fun nod to the city, and many of these details give the hotel a really local feel, so it's definitely a hangout that can take you from day to night.
Sydney is especially exciting for Motto because it will be our first entry into Australia. It’s another redesign project in the city’s Central Business District. Guests will be right in the middle of the city, close to the Sydney Opera House, Harbor Bridge and the city’s top restaurants. There’s a very cool rooftop bar planned that will be available year-round.
Paris is another adaptive reuse project, bringing Motto to the 19th arrondissement across from Parc de la Villette – one of Paris’ largest parks. It’s a more residential part of the city with a really diverse food, music and arts scene, and the hotel is taking inspiration from that. The restaurant will be a staple in the neighborhood. It’s designed to feel like a retro music studio and will serve specialty coffee, cocktails and shareable dishes.
Motto is built around being a “launchpad to the destination.” What does that actually mean for guests?
Motto is all about immersing our guests to the heart of a destination, giving you a flavor of the location as soon as you arrive. Inside the hotel, Motto’s public spaces reflect the community through nods to local design and locally loved food & beverage. Guests can start their day by grabbing a coffee and working or hanging out in those spaces. At night, you will find our lobby transforms into the perfect spot to pre-game, hang out with friends or grab a drink or a meal before heading out.
Every Motto’s food & beverage offerings are often local staples and hangouts. In Bentonville, we have a sushi restaurant, Junto, that is at the forefront of the city’s evolving food scene. In Cusco, the restaurant combines traditional Inca flavors with more contemporary dishes. In Tulum, it’s all about the rooftop with jungle views and mezcal tastings that reflect the local experience. We want the experience to feel active, social and connected to the destination. So, when guests set foot into the urban or adventure destinations we are part of, they are fueled and ready, and already feel like they are part of it.
How do you make Motto hotels work for different kinds of trips?
Travel isn’t one-size-fits-all, so we talk about flexibility a lot. Some trips are solo or for work, while others are with friends for a weekend away. The hotel needs to work for that and everything in between.
That’s where our “designed to flex” approach comes in. The rooms have so many fun and functional layouts, with really clever design details across our traditional queen bed to bunk beds. Confirmed Connecting Rooms also let our guests link multiple rooms, in some cases up to nine, while still having their own space.
How do you keep each new Motto feeling different while still staying true to the brand?
There are certain things that stay as a consistent thread across every Motto, like the feeling as soon as you enter, that you drop into shared spaces that bring people together, to the flexibility and design around our guest rooms.
From there, each hotel takes on its own personality. In Rotterdam, which used to be a bank, you can still see the original staircases and wood paneling. The design was inspired by Dutch modernist art, with red, yellow and blue accents. In New York City Chelsea, you can feel how the design is connected to the surrounding arts district. There’s a jewel-toned stained-glass backdrop at reception and layered artwork. The 7th and 24th Street intersection is also a recurring theme that inspired a lot of the design you experience in the hotel.
What’s driving interest from owners and developers as the brand expands?
Owners and developers love Motto for its ability to flex into new builds, conversions and adaptive reuse projects. But more importantly, the brand has been a great vehicle for bringing our owners’ aspirations for creating really engaging, distinctive programming and food & beverage experiences with intentional, clever design to life. Of course, we have the best supporting teams with extensive Lifestyle experiences in this journey, so these projects have all been and will continue to be a very fun collaborative process.
Looking ahead, what excites you most about what’s next for Motto?
Seeing the brand come to life across new destinations is very exciting. I am always energized by the collaborative process between our teams and owners for each project, as we translate Motto’s experience across the globe. If I think about what’s next, I will say get ready – our future projects are even more bold, more creative and more immersive than ever.
If Motto were a person, how would you describe its personality?
Motto would probably be the person who always knows where to go in a city: the neighborhood restaurant, the coffee shop hidden behind a retailer, or the dive bar or late-night spot that everyone ends up at the end of the night. They’re also super social and curious, but pretty practical, like being the one to score a reservation at the hard-to-get-into restaurant and making it seem effortless. They are making the most of their trip and thinking about it as if they were a local, and don’t need things to feel overly formal or fussy.
About Motto by Hilton
Motto by Hilton is a lifestyle hotel brand designed to connect guests to the center of it all – the best block, the buzziest spaces, the pulse of the community. Through its incredible locations, flexible guest rooms, distinct food and beverage options and a true sense of place, Motto by Hilton is a launchpad to destinations around the globe. Motto by Hilton delivers a dynamic, innovative hospitality experience through elements like first-of-its-kind connecting guestrooms for up to 9 rooms, social-centric common spaces and offerings designed for guests and locals alike. Check out Motto by Hilton in Washington D.C., Philadelphia, New York City, Hong Kong, Tulum, Rotterdam, Cusco, Recife, Bentonville and Nashville by booking at mottobyhilton.com or through the industry-leading Hilton Honors app. Hilton Honors members who book directly through preferred Hilton channels have access to instant benefits. Learn more about Motto by Hilton and its more than 20 additional properties under development at stories.hilton.com/motto, and follow the brand on Facebook, Instagram and TikTok.