Conrad Hilton

In 1925, Conrad Hilton married Mary Adelaide Barron. The couple had three children; Conrad Nicholson Hilton Jr., William Barron Hilton, and Eric Michael Hilton. Later in 1934, when trouble broke out between the couple, he granted her a divorce going against his will and teachings of the Roman Catholic Church.

In 1942, Hilton married Hungarian actress ZsaZsa Gabor in a civil ceremony. The marriage was a disaster from the beginning and ended in a divorce in 1946. They had one daughter Constance Francesca Hilton.

In 1976, Hilton married Mary Frances Kelly. This marriage happened in a church. Their union lasted until his death in 1979.

Conrad Nicholson Hilton was born on December 25, 1887 in San Antonio, New Mexico. His father, Augustus Halvorsen Hilton, was an immigrant from Norway while his mother, Mary Genevieve (née Laufersweiler) was an American citizen of German descent. The couple had eight children, out of which Conrad was born second.

When he turned 21, he joined his father’s general store on profit sharing basis but soon was frustrated by the lack of freedom. Therefore, he began to look for some other career opportunity and joined politics.

When the state of New Mexico was created in 1912, he was elected to its Legislature Assembly on the Republican ticket. He served the assembly for two terms but the governmental red tape as well as underhand deals soon frustrated him.

After expiry of his terms Conrad returned to San Antonio and raised enough money to start a bank. When in 1917, the United States of America joined the First World War, Conrad sold off his bank to join the war.

For two years Conrad served in the Quartermaster Corps in France and on being discharged in 1919, he went back to San Antonio. His father had died by that time and he had to take charge of his father's businesses, which was not really doing well.

In 1919, Conrad Hilton set out for Wichita, where he tried to buy a bank and backed out when the seller raised the price at the last moment. Instead, he bought ‘Mobley Hotel’ in Cisco, Texas. It had 40 rooms and in spite of that he had to build additional rooms to cope with the demand.

From the beginning he believed in two principles. The first was ‘digging for gold’, which meant prudent use of space. For example, he noticed that the guests preferred to dine out and the hotel made very little money on food. Therefore, he converted the restaurant into additional guest rooms, which were in short supply.

His second principle was ‘esprit de corps’. It involved motivating the staff to provide excellent service and this he did by giving them credit when the guests were pleased with their stay at the hotel.

Moreover, he opened small shop windows in the lobby, which kept a variety of items such as newspapers, magazines, razors, toothbrushes, toothpastes etc. They not only earned additional revenue, but also helped to attract more guests. Very soon, ‘Hotel Mobley’ turned out to be a huge success.

Within one year, Hilton recouped the money he had invested in it. Subsequently, he bought the ‘Melba Hotel’ in Fort Worth and the ‘Waldorf’ in Dallas. Both these hotels were in bad condition, but after renovation they looked so magnificent that he began to call them ‘dowagers’.

The first major hotel that Conrad Hilton built was ‘Dallas Hilton’. For the site, he chose the highest point in downtown Dallas. The building consisted of 14 storeys and the hotel offered all kinds of services. Built at a cost of$1,360,000, the hotel was officially opened on August 6, 1925.

Among the other major hotels later acquired by Hilton were the Mayflower Hotel in Washington DC, the Palmer House in Chicago, and the Plaza Hotel and Waldorf-Astoria in New York City.

He is also known for his book, ‘Be My Guest’. Published in 1957, the book is still considered a sort of Bible to all hoteliers.