Vilnius’ name is becoming more and more popular around the world, and international brands that have successfully established themselves here are also contributing significantly to Lithuania’s promotion. One of them is the Hilton Garden Inn Vilnius City Centre hotel, which this year was voted the best hotel of this brand in the entire EMEA (Europe, Middle East and Africa) region.
The highest award, the Connie Award, has arrived in Vilnius for the first time. Named after the founder of the Hilton chain, Conrad Hilton, the award is considered the most important award a hotel in the chain can receive. This year, it was presented for the first time to the Hilton Garden Inn Vilnius City Centre, located on Gedimino Avenue in the capital.
The manager of this hotel, Tadas Ēvaltas, says that the honorable title is awarded based on several annual performance indicators: “The hotel’s qualitative indicators are assessed – the overall satisfaction index of hotel guest reviews on the internal platform “SALT” and the indicators of the secret quality audit. The result is calculated according to a special formula and thus the best hotel of the year is selected. We are pleased that the prestigious trophy has come to Vilnius for the first time, and we have surpassed just over 120 hotels throughout the EMEA region.
For the second year in a row, this hotel has also won in another category in the EMEA region – “Brighter Together.” A Brighthearted Award was given to this Vilnius hotel for its overall guest service, hospitality, problem-solving methods and cleanliness in the rooms.
According to T. Ēvaltas, CEO of Hilton Garden Inn Vilnius City Centre, the hotel, which opened its doors to guests almost four years ago, was forced to close after just six months due to the pandemic. Like many other businesses, this place was plagued by uncertainty – it was difficult to predict how the hotel would succeed in establishing itself.
“We have adapted to the changed situation, which is constantly changing. We could only make predictions for the near term, but we are already treating 2022 as a time of recovery. Since February of last year, hotel occupancy has been increasing, so when assessing employment and revenue indicators, last year truly surpassed all hotel forecasts. Profitability was not pleasing only because there was an additional line of expenses: the energy crisis, inflation,” shares T.Ėvaltas. “Be that as it may, this year will be a record year for the entire hotel market in Vilnius. March of this year was record-breaking, May was also excellent, and several major international events are also expected. One of them is the NATO summit in Vilnius, so a number of business hotels in the capital will be filled with members of delegations for this event.”
T.Evaltas adds that due to the geopolitical situation in the region, tourist groups hardly travel to Vilnius, but he is pleased that there is something replacing them – a lot of business clients, diplomatic guests, entertainment business groups are coming, the city hosts many international events, and we are celebrating the 700th anniversary of the capital.
The Hilton Garden Inn hotel in the Live Square complex is owned by the Lithuanian real estate development company Eika, which has invested EUR 49 million in the project. The hotel is managed by the independent international operator Apex Alliance Hotel Management.