Hilton properties in Korea celebrate brand's centennial
By Kang Seung-woo
The Hilton brand, having first opened its doors to the public in 1919, is celebrating its 100th year of operation, and five Hilton properties in Korea are hosting a range of events, campaigns and community activities to join the centennial celebration and express appreciation to customers over the past 100 years.
They are the Millennium Seoul Hilton, the Grand Hilton, the Conrad Seoul, the Hilton Gyeongju and the Hilton Busan. The Millennium Seoul Hilton, located on Mount Nam, first opened in 1983, followed by the Gyeongju Hilton in 1991, the Grand Hilton Seoul in 2002, the Conrad Seoul in 2012 and the Hilton Busan in 2017. Plus, Korea will see the opening of Doubletree by Hilton, a business hotel brand in 2021.
To mark the centennial, they jointly held an Instagram event, in which guests with the most memorable experience at a Hilton hotel in Korea will win the “Hilton Korea Journey” ― vouchers for a tour of all of Hilton's domestic hotels, with gifts prepared from each one. The winners will be announced on Friday.
On the occasion of the anniversary, all the Hilton-affiliated hotels are bringing back classic food and drinks that helped put Hilton on the map. Items such as the Waldorf Salad, brownies, Eggs Benedict, Pina Coladas, Thousand Island dressing, red velvet cake and martinis were all either invented or made famous on Hilton properties, and will be on the menu at every Hilton location worldwide.
On Friday, all the employees of the Millennium Seoul Hilton will have a cake-cutting ceremony and a commemorative photo to celebrate Hilton's centennial anniversary and launch the worldwide menu. The cake will be red velvet, which became a famous dessert at New York's Waldorf Astoria, which is a Hilton property. These special items will be available at Millennium Seoul Hilton's various restaurants, and the bar and deli until June 30.
The Grand Hilton Seoul restaurants also allow customers to enjoy the Hilton signature menus such as Waldorf salad and eggs benedict that have been loved for centuries until June 30.
The Hilton Gyeongju offers a birthday gift event.
For guests whose birthday is between May 27 and 31, a glass of wine will be offered as a gift when visiting its Lakeside Cafe. When dining at Silkroad, they will be provided a free dessert fruit set. At the modern western restaurant, Da Vinci, a special dessert, chocolate mousse in the shape of Silla era's astronomical observatory “Cheomseongdae,” is presented to the birthday guests.
The Conrad Seoul will host the “100-hour Morning Coffee” event today. Customers can get a cup of coffee for just 1,000 won ($0.84) for 100 hours. This is an independent event by Conrad Seoul as a gesture of gratitude to all those celebrating the 100th anniversary of Hilton Group. All the proceeds will be donated to a local childcare center.
“With one of the industry's fastest-growing pipelines across 17 distinctive brands, Hilton is doubling down to expand to more than 20 additional countries by 2020,” Hilton CEO Chris Nassetta said in a statement.