Hilton Grand Vacations Inc. is a multi-national company that is based in Orlando, Florida, United States. It manages and operates the Hilton Worldwide timeshare and vacation ownership brands under an exclusive licensing agreement with Hilton Worldwide. HGV was formerly a wholly owned subsidiary of Hilton Worldwide until it was spun off into a publicly traded company in 2017. Even though HGV is an independent company post spin-off, Hilton Worldwide still retains full ownership of the Hilton Grand Vacation Club, Hilton Vacation Club, and Hilton Club brands that HGV manages and operates for them. These timeshare brands are all part of Hilton Worldwide's portfolio of 22 hotel and resort brands.[1]
As of December 2023, HGV has over 700,000 club members and over 200 properties. 92 of the properties are under the Hilton Worldwide timeshare brands (Hilton Grand Vacation Club, Hilton Vacation Club, and Hilton Club), and the remaining properties are under HGV's subsidiary brands (Diamond Resorts, Embarc Resorts, and Bluegreen Corporation).[2]
Dealing in timeshares and vacation ownership, Hilton Grand Vacations develops, manages, markets, and operates a system of vacation club ownership resorts under the Hilton Worldwide timeshare brands. HGV also has several subsidiary brands which are not brands which came from their purchase of smaller independent timeshare companies, but HGV plans to rebrand the majority of these resorts to the Hilton timeshare brands. Resort villas are jointly owned by members who have exclusive use of the properties for limited periods of time through a points-based ownership system. Club members can also exchange their points or interval weeks for vacations at affiliated resorts worldwide, and they are eligible to become part of the Hilton Honors program.
History
Hilton Grand Vacations was launched in 1992 as a subsidiary of Hilton Worldwide, this was the first venture into the timeshare and vacation ownership industry by the Hilton brand. In 2017 HGV was spun off from Hilton Worldwide into a separate publicly traded company, allowing for HGV to be able to focus solely on the timeshare and vacation ownership aspect of the Hilton brand.
The purpose of the 2017 spin-off of Hilton Grand Vacations (and Hilton's lodging real estate investment trust now known as Park Hotels & Resorts) from Hilton Worldwide into separate companies was to transform Hilton Worldwide into an asset-light company, making it more efficient for its shareholders due to it having less capital investments. This means that following the spin-offs, Hilton Worldwide now mainly owns the Hilton brands and not the majority of the physical properties properties that bear the Hilton name, meaning that it is not responsible for their operation or real estate costs, thus driving up their profits and shareholder value. For HGV this means that Hilton Worldwide owns and licenses the Hilton timeshare brands to HGV in a very similar fashion to how it licenses its hotel brands to the independent franchisees and companies that own and operate the majority of its hotels. Perhaps the largest benefit of the spin-off is the fact that it allows HGV to focus solely on its particular business sector, thus growing and expanding the Hilton timeshare brands at a faster rate.
On March 10, 2021, Hilton Grand Vacations announced its intention to acquire Diamond Resorts for $1.4 billion.[3][4] The acquisition was completed on August 2, 2021.[5][6]
On November 6, 2023, Hilton Grand Vacations announced its intention to acquire Bluegreen Corporation for $1.5 billion. The acquisition was completed on January 17, 2024.[7]
Agreement with Hilton Worldwide
HGV has an exclusive licensing agreement with Hilton Worldwide which makes them the only company able to operate, manage, market, and develop the Hilton timeshare brands. In exchange for the license to operate the Hilton timeshare brands, as well as the intellectual property associated with them, HGV pays Hilton Worldwide a license fee of 5% of gross revenues quarterly. These gross revenues include vacation ownership sales or re-sales, property operations revenue, transient rental revenue, and all other revenues earned through the Hilton branded properties.
As part of this licensing agreement with Hilton Worldwide, HGV is required to participate in the Hilton Honors loyalty program. This means that all HGV owners can utilize the program to stay at other Hilton branded properties, and it also means that Hilton Honors members can use their points to stay at HGV resorts. In addition, all HGV resorts appear on Hilton's website and are able to be booked at nightly rates through the Hilton site.
HGV is required to follow strict brand standards when it comes to their operation and management of Hilton branded properties. Under the licensing agreement, Hilton Worldwide has the right to enter and inspect any of HGV's Hilton branded properties at any time without notice to ensure compliance with the licensing agreement and brand standards. Additionally, HGV must obtain approval from Hilton Worldwide before they can modify existing properties, or develop and operate any additional properties under the Hilton timeshare brands.
The Hilton Grand Vacation Club consists of the original Hilton Grand Vacations timeshare resorts, these resorts are considered the top-tier properties in the Hilton Grand Vacations portfolio.
The Hilton Vacation Club consists of resorts that were once a part of Diamond Resorts or Bluegreen Corporation but have now been rebranded as Hilton properties.
The Hilton Club consists of destinations that are in urban settings and are located in the downtown areas of popular major cities. These properties are often HGV exclusive sections of existing Hilton branded hotels rather than standalone resorts.
Diamond Resorts is a wholly owned subsidiary of Hilton Grand Vacations. It was once a separate timeshare resort and ownership company until it was purchased by HGV in 2021. The majority of Diamond Resorts properties will be rebranded to Hilton Vacation Club resorts, but some will retain the Diamond Resorts name.
Embarc Resorts is a wholly owned subsidiary of Hilton Grand Vacations. It was once a separate timeshare resort and ownership company until it was purchased by Diamond Resorts in 2015, and when HGV purchased Diamond in 2021 it was added to the list of HGV subsidiaries. Many of the Embarc properties are being rebranded to Hilton Grand Vacation Club resorts, but some may retain the Embarc name.
Bluegreen Vacations is a wholly owned subsidiary of Hilton Grand Vacations. It was once a separate timeshare resort and ownership company until it was purchased by HGV in 2024. The majority of Bluegreen Vacations properties will be rebranded to Hilton Vacation Club resorts, but some will retain the Bluegreen Vacations name.
