Conrad Hotels & Resorts is an international brand of luxury hotels and resorts owned and operated by Hilton Worldwide. Conrad was considered the luxury flagship brand in the Hilton Family of Brands, named after company founder Conrad Hilton, until being supplanted by The Waldorf-Astoria Collection in 2006. As of December 31, 2018, it has 33 locations with 10,625 rooms, including two that are owned or leased with 778 rooms, 29 that are managed with 8,874 rooms, and two that are franchised with 973 rooms.
History
, son of Conrad Hilton, founded Conrad Hotels, taking the name from that of his father. Hilton Hotels was, at the time, a separate company from Hilton International, and could not operate hotels outside the United States under the Hilton name. The newly named chain solved that problem. Hilton International had already started their own chain of Vista Hotels within the United States, as they faced the same prohibition on operating there under the Hilton name. The first Conrad hotel, the Conrad Jupiters Gold Coast in Australia, opened its doors in 1985. When the two Hilton chains were rejoined in 2005, the need for the Vista and Conrad names vanished. Vista was phased out, while the Conrad brand was retained as a luxury wing of Hilton. Numerous hotels have since been opened under that name in the United States.
2017 Conrad Religion Retaliation Case
In 2017, Marie Jean Pierre, a former dishwasher at the Conrad Miami Hotel, sued the Conrad in the U.S. District Court for the Southern District of Florida because the Miami hotel had violated the Civil Rights Act of 1964. The Civil Rights Act of 1964 bans discrimination by employers based on race, color, religion, sex or national origin. Ms. Pierre stated that after working many years at the Conrad Miami Hotel she was fired in March 2016 for alleged misconduct, negligence, and unexcused absences. Because of her religious beliefs, she informed the human resources department that she could not work on Sundays. Ms. Pierre is a member of the Soldiers of Christ Church and stated in an interview, "I love God. No work on Sunday, because Sunday I honor God”. During her ten years with the hotel, the Miami hotel did not accommodate her religious beliefs and forced her to work on Sundays. To make Sunday service, Ms. Pierre would reach out to her coworkers and request to swap shifts. In 2015, her kitchen manager demanded that she come to work on Sundays. However, Ms. Pierre refused to show up to work because of religious reasons and her manager fired her from the hotel. Then in 2019, Ms. Pierre was awarded $21.5 million by a jury because the hotel scheduled her to work on Sundays even though she was not able to work. Ms. Pierre did not receive the full amount because punitive damages cannot exceed $300,000.
Hilton Response to the Coronavirus
The American Hotel & Lodging Association stated, 44% of hotel employees across the country, or up to 4 million people, could lose their jobs, either through layoffs or furloughs due to the novel coronavirus. Hotel workers who have recently been laid off are being affected and are struggling to make ends meet. In response to the COVID-19 crisis, Hilton Worldwide Holdings Inc. partnered with important companies to help workers who have been temporarily suspended from hotels find a short-term job. According to the , some of the companies that are seeking temporary employees during the COVID-19 outbreak are Albertsons, Amazon, CVS, Lidl, Sunrise Senior Living, and Walgreens. Hilton is also helping local and national governments to provide housing for first responders and health care workers across the world. Hilton and American Express have begun making rooms available at no charge to frontline medical staff. These rooms will provide medical professionals a place to sleep, get some rest or self-isolate from their families to protect them. This will be offered to them through the end of May and rooms will be available in almost every Hilton brand. Each hotel offering these services will have “Team Members” who have received training on health and safety measures to protect their health and the guests’ health. Depending on the location, room availability may be limited.
