Blackstone to expand Waldorf, Conrad hotels

The Blackstone Group is quadrupling its portfolio of hotels under the Waldorf-Astoria brand over the next several years and doubling the number of hotels under the Conrad brand, according to the New York Post. The expansion of the Conrad, which was named after Hilton Hotels founder Conrad Hilton and currently has 14 locations, will include Goldman Sachs’ former Embassy Suites in Battery Park City this year (Blackstone also owns Hilton Hotels). The Waldorf currently has 23 locations, in addition to the flagship on Park Avenue, but that number is expected to grow to 80, with construction already in progress on locations in Jerusalem, Panama City and London. Blackstone’s deals mostly involve licensing out the brand to international developers, and collecting management fees through Hilton, so the risk is minimal for the company. [Post]