Hilton or the Hilton

[snoopya1984]

Is it acceptable not to use the definitte article before names of hotels?

 

[SoothingDave]

I can't think of an example without any article. But if there is a chain of hotels, you can say something like "I'm staying at a Hilton when I travel to Texas." Once yo are talking about one particular hotel, it is "the Hilton."

 

[TheParser]

***** NOT A TEACHER *****


(1) I agree with SoothingDave: usually you need the definite article.

(a) It would sound mighty strange to say "I stayed at Hilton." That sentence cries out for a "the."

(2) Maybe the only exception is something like "I stayed at Brown's Hotel."

(a) For example, there's a hotel in London where anybody who is anybody always stays (since I am a nobody, I shall never

be seen there!). It called Claridge's. I checked Wikipedia, and I learned that the hotel was started by Mr. and Mrs. Claridge

a long, long time ago. So you might proudly tell your friends: When I went to London for the Olympics, I stayed at Claridge's. (That is

probably short for "Claridge's Hotel.") For example, I read that the company that owns Claridge's also owns The Berkeley and

The Connaught.

 

[Tdol]

Claridge's is an interesting exception- I have never heard it used with the article. And have never stayed there either. ;-)