HotelChatter

According to Reuters, the new midprice chain is going to be "hip and humble," and in focus group testing, the vibes "appealed to everybody from millennials to baby boomers." The hotels should be along the lines of ICH's Candlewood and Marriott's TownePlace Suites, though a little bit downscale from Hilton's existing Homewood Suites — room rates for Home2 are going to be around $100.

Construction is expected to begin on the first Home2 property sometime in the next 6 months, kicking off a plan to open 100 by the end of 2012 and another 60-70 in 2013.

One more note: Back in December, we'd heard the very first whispers of Hilton launching a hip boutiquey hotel brand. We found out the upcoming brand was going to be headed up by Ross Klein (formerly of W Hotels) and we'd caught wind of a couple rumors about the new chain — specifically, that there was a bit of scrambling to get the brand finished, plus some speculation about the name (we'd heard "The Quinn"). We haven't heard much about it since, but we're pretty sure it's a project that is entirely different than and separate from Home2. Assuming it's still in development, we'll keep an eye out for news on that brand in the coming months.

[UPDATE: Apparently Home2 Suites already has a website — check it out (with room renderings and all) here]