The Hilton Group will be signing a number of firsts in the third quarter of this year, with the arrival this summer of its first hotels in Nepal, Laos and East Timor. From July, business travellers to Kathmandu will find a Hilton hotel designed for corporate meetings with its 173 rooms and 750 m² event space comprising six meeting rooms, topped off by a rooftop bar with views of the Himalayas.
Still in Asia, the American group will also be making its debut in July in the Laotian capital Vientiane with its upmarket DoubleTree brand, as well as in Timor in August with the Hilton Dili Palm Springs. This 150-room hotel will be the first international hotel in East Timor and is aimed primarily at diplomats and business travellers. Located in the embassy and business district of the capital Dili, the hotel will have four restaurants, eight meeting and event rooms, including a rooftop area, and an executive lounge.
While Dili is not a niche business destination, the Hilton brand will also be offering a new establishment in a city more popular with business travellers, Shanghai. With the Hilton Shanghai City Centre, located close to People's Square and comprising 382 rooms and over 1,000 m² of MICE space. At the end of the summer, the group will also complete its offer in Japan with a Hilton hotel in Kyoto expected in September, a few weeks after the opening of the DoubleTree by Hilton Kyoto Station. Located in Sanjo-Kawaramachi, close to the business district, this new 313-room establishment will have four dining outlets, including a rooftop bar in fine weather, an executive lounge and numerous banqueting and meeting rooms. As for Osaka, the country's second-largest city will have the privilege of discovering the Canopy by Hilton lifestyle brand in Japan, with a contemporary, upmarket 308-room hotel.
All these openings are part of the group's growth in Asia-Pacific, where new projects have recently been signed by the American group. While the 1,000 hotels in the region is expected next year, Hilton is announcing a pipeline of equivalent size, with almost 900 establishments in its pipeline. The Tapestry Collection brand, for example, will make its Southeast Asian debut in Vietnam in 2026, in Hoi An. Following its recent move into Ho Chi Minh City with the opening of Hilton Saigon, the American hotel chain's flagship brand will be opening a new hotel in Hai Phong in 2026, followed by Hanoi in 2027, in the new central business district to the west of the capital.
Further into the heart of Hanoi, a luxurious Waldorf Astoria Hanoi, with 187 rooms and event facilities to match the brand's prestige, is due to open in 2027 near Lake Hoan Kiem. The luxury brand is also preparing its tour of Asian capitals In addition to Hanoi, the brand is expected to open its doors next year in Kuala Lumpur, in the heart of the Bukit Bintang district, with a 279-suite hotel including vast meeting spaces, and then in Jakarta in 2027. These two key cities in South-East Asia will also be home to one of the Group's luxury brands, Conrad, due to open in Kuala Lumpur in 2026 and, further ahead, in Jakarta in 2029.
Other developments include Hilton's expansion into Bandung, Indonesia, and Manadi in the Philippines, both economic and cultural centres. emerging MICE destinationIn Bangkok, the brand will be joining forces with mid-range chain Hilton Garden Inn to offer a 400-room complex with a convention centre. Hilton Garden Inn also has two openings planned in Bangkok, the Hilton Garden Inn Bangkok Riverside this year and the Hilton Garden Inn Bangkok Ram Intra in 2026.
