Hilton Tops Great Place to Work's New Hotels Ranking

Hilton announced Tuesday that Great Place to Work has named it the No. 1 company on its first-ever Best Workplaces in Hotels & Resorts list. The ranking, released by the workplace research firm, draws on survey responses from Hilton team members across the United States rather than guest reviews or corporate self-reporting.

According to figures Hilton cited from the Great Place to Work survey, 95% of its team members say the company is a great place to work, 97% say they feel welcomed on the job, and 96% report a sense of pride in the company's accomplishments. The McLean, Virginia-based hotel giant, which trades on the NYSE under HLT, framed the result as evidence that staff culture remains central to its business even as automation and other technology reshape both hospitality work and travel itself.

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Internal promotion and training figures behind the ranking

Hilton pointed to its career-development pipeline as a factor in the result. The company said 63% of its recently filled hotel and corporate leadership positions went to internal candidates, and that it has generated more than 3.1 million learning and career-growth opportunities for team members since 2022. Hilton described investments in leadership development, coaching, rotational programs, and education — including language learning — as part of what helps employees build long-term careers rather than short-term jobs.

"As technology continues to reshape how we work and travel, this recognition shows that Hilton's greatest strength remains the people who create the human connections at the heart of hospitality," said Laura Fuentes, Hilton's chief human resources officer and head of Hilton Supply Management. She said the hospitality industry's growth opportunities let people from varied backgrounds build skills and advance into meaningful roles.

Separately, the American Hotel & Lodging Association has said the hotel industry supports more than 200 distinct career pathways, and that three out of four hotel employees move into a management role within five years of starting their first hotel job — a broader industry statistic Hilton cited alongside its own figures to contextualize the ranking.

Great Place to Work frames list as new industry benchmark

Kim Peters, executive vice president of global brand insights and growth at Great Place to Work, said the organization has long highlighted companies that deliver strong experiences for employees "from the frontline to the back office," and described the new hotels-specific list as a chance to apply that lens directly to hospitality. The list marks the first time Great Place to Work has issued a ranking focused specifically on the hotels and resorts sector, rather than folding hospitality employers into broader cross-industry rankings.

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Hilton did not say when Great Place to Work plans to update or expand the ranking, or how many companies were evaluated for the inaugural list. The company said its focus going forward remains on the training and advancement programs it credits for the survey results, including continued investment in coaching and rotational assignments meant to move team members into leadership roles.