Embassy Suites is transforming with new designs, beach resorts and sleek city hotels

19.07.2024 - 18:24 / thepointsguy.com

Something good is cooking up at Embassy Suites — and we're talking about more than just the fresh, made-to-order omelets included in the nightly rate.

Forty years after the first Embassy Suites opened in Overland Park, Kansas, the brand is charting a new course — one that's bringing the full-service chain, popular with both business and leisure travelers, into modern times. With a fresh design aesthetic and new properties in major cities, alongside full-on beach resorts, Embassy Suites is, dare I say, becoming cool. (As in, Embassy Suites might just have the best rooftop pool in one of the country's major "it" cities: Nashville.)

But how has this once-sleepy brand reinvited itself? By adapting and marrying its tried-and-true brand pillars with forward-thinking innovations, the timeless hotel brand is as current as ever.

Related: Hilton's CEO on new brands, legacy and the booming business of Hilton Honors loyalty

"What hasn't changed are the things that people came to know and love about Embassy Suites," Bonnie Campagnuolo, brand leader of Embassy Suites by Hilton, told TPG. Those tried-and-true perks include a free hot breakfast, two free drinks during the hotel's daily evening reception and an all-suite experience that affords guests the chance to spread out. "You're not hoping for an upgrade. You know, you're going to have a spacious room."

In terms of what has changed: "What is changing and has changed," said Campagnuolo, "is the design of the buildings."

Historically, many Embassy Suites have been designed around a center atrium, which, says Campagnuolo, is "not the most efficient to build in today's world."

For the last 10 years, the brand has been constructing new-build Embassy Suites with a fresh design, alongside renovating most of the properties in the collection to add even bigger rooms, more modern decor, more counter space, updated tech, fresh in-room amenities and more local touches.

Of the new-build properties, none stands out quite like the downtown Nashville location.

Located in a 30-story high-rise near the convention center, this massive Embassy Suites offers a staggering 506 all-suite accommodations (including options with balconies), each designed in a subtle country motif (think: walls that look like they're covered in reclaimed barn wood and moody photography depicting musicians on stage, a nod to the city's musical roots and massive entertainment industry.)

But what's most interesting is how the hotel found a way to cater extensively to both business travelers and leisure travelers, two groups that Campagnuolo says find Embassy Suites attractive.

In Nashville, business folks are just across the street from the Music City Center and its neverending list of conferences and