Hilton wants to put the “garden” into Hilton Garden Inn. That’s one of the goals of a brand-wide initiative to refresh the public spaces throughout the brand’s 500-plus properties. Project Grow, as the initiative is dubbed, also aims to create a lobby space that encourages socialization among guests and boost property food and beverage revenues.

“We probably haven’t emphasized the garden name enough in the past,” says Kurt Smith, vice president of product quality and innovation for Hilton’s focused-service brand. “The garden is a universal concept that signals a welcoming place, a place to relax and a place in which to feel at home. It’s also an image that we can use with the brand globally.”

The transition from the current Hilton Garden Inn lobby look to the new design is striking, which can be seen at the project’s beta site property in Twinsburg, OH. While the architecture of the pavilion area (as the brand calls its all-encompassing public space) hasn’t changed significantly, the design has been freshened, brightened and made more contemporary, inviting and garden-like. Yet, the new design is full of drama.

As Smith explains, the design team wanted to create an unforgettable first impression. Part of it is slight of hand: the vestibule leading into the hotel was darkened a little so guests come in from the outside, go through a small dark area and emerge into a lobby that pops with color and flair. One signature of HGI properties is massive columns that serve to break up the lobby space into more manageable areas. In the new look, the columns are swathed with massive semi-sheer colorful drapes that still separate the spaces, but provide lots of visual interest. The garden theme is further emphasized through the use of the Hilton Garden Inn floret logo on everything from artwork to upholstery.

Taking its cue from other hotel chains and retail businesses (Starbucks is the model), the new design promotes the lobby as a social hub for guests, inviting them to relax, mingle and linger. Examples include a long communal table guests can use at breakfast or for small impromptu business meetings. The lobby has several nooks with seating arrangements for small social or business gatherings.

“One of the constants in the hotel industry is the changing needs and expectations of our guests,” says Smith. “In the past, people would check into a focused-service hotel, go straight to their rooms and spend the evening there. Now, many of them say they want to get out of their rooms and to a place where people are around and there is activity, whether or not they decide to engage in the conversation.”

There are seven different generations of the Hilton Garden Inn product so the lobby revitalization will differ slightly by generation. The Twinsburg property, for example, was part of a version that didn’t include a dedicated bar. Since one of the project goals is to increase bar revenues, Smith’s team devised a unique solution that seems to encourage bar sales while promoting socialization.

“We looked at adding a more traditional bar but that would have cut into the breakfast serving area and created other issues of flow and configuration,” he says. “Our solution [a large communal table] serves as double duty, a breakfast serving area in the morning and a spot to have a cocktail in the evening. The effect is as though you’re in someone’s kitchen, sitting around the table having a drink.”

The server, often someone from the property’s sales department, sets up the liquor and wine bottles on a credenza topping refrigerated units for beer, mix and soda. He or she serves cocktails to guests at the table and throughout the lobby area. It also gives the sales rep an opportunity to engage with guests in a different way.

The results of the exercise have been promising at the Twinsburg beta site. Guest loyalty scores have risen nearly 10 points, while f&b revenues have soared almost 400% since the new design was installed.

Alan Roberts, vice president of brand performance and sales support, says the new look should help the chain straddle the line between its traditional customer base and the emerging market of younger travelers. “Our core guest group is the 35- to 50-year-old traveler, but we also must be aware of the needs of those travelers in a younger demographic,” he says. “And even the expectations of our core guests continue to change. This revitalization addresses both the present and the future for the brand.”

The level of renovation, and the cost, will vary depending on the age of the property, says Roberts, with project costs ranging from about $75,000 for a newer hotel to as much as $275,000 for properties in older generations. A systemwide rollout of the initiative will begin early next year with most hotels slated for implementation by the end of 2013. Roberts says more than half the system will receive the lobby makeover by the end of next year, which will enable the chain to begin marketing the new look to consumers.

Much of the chain’s growth emphasis in the next few years will be overseas. The brand expects to open 50 new international properties by the end of 2013. Much of the focus will be on China and Turkey, where 14 hotels are open or will open in the next year or so.

The first Hilton Garden Inn in South America opened recently at the Santiago, Chile airport. Other international growth targets range from Russia and Poland to India and Saudi Arabia.