Senior Reporter
elizabeth.gonzales@guardian.co.tt
Hilton has signalled that it wants to continue its 64-year presence at the State-owned Hilton Trinidad and Conference Centre, even as its lease remains on course to terminate on September 18 if a long-term agreement with Government is not reached.
In a direct response to Guardian Media, a Trinidad Hilton spokesperson through Hilton’s Caribbean and Latin America communications team said: “Since 1962, Hilton Trinidad & Conference Centre has been a proud member of the community, serving as a home to generations of team members and guests. In an effort to continue that legacy, Hilton remains actively engaged in discussions with the property’s ownership in hopes of securing a long-term solution for the hotel. However, should no agreement be reached, the hotel’s lease is expected to terminate on September 18, 2026.”
The response follows comments from Land and Legal Affairs Minister Saddam Hosein, whose ministry has responsibility for State-owned eTecK, that negotiations are at an advanced stage.
“I think those negotiations are very advanced,” Hosein told Guardian Media last week. “Very soon we will be making certain announcements on the way forward.”
Hosein also said there had been a lot of strong negotiations on both ends – Hilton and eTecK. He said legal issues surrounding the workers form part of the talks.
Public records show efforts to secure a long-term Hilton arrangement date back to at least 2023, when the original lease expired.
An eTecK procurement schedule for 2023/2024 listed legal services for the “Negotiation of the Hilton Trinidad and Conference Centre Long Term Arrangement”. The consultancy was expected to run from November 2023 to February 2024.
A later eTecK procurement schedule for 2025/2026 referred to what it called the “new Hilton HMA”. Under a planned Hotel Assets Training exercise, eTecK said the training was intended to “better manage the new Hilton HMA”. It was scheduled for March 2026. The schedule does not state whether the training took place or whether a new agreement was signed.
Road to September 18
Government documents also show public spending was tied to keeping the Hilton brand at the property.
The 2026 Public Sector Investment Programme said the hotel would continue to undergo significant renovation “in order to maintain the Hilton brand.”
The programme recorded delays in procurement and said $3.6 million had been disbursed for landslip restoration, roof repairs, structural repairs and civil works.
The 2026 Draft Estimates show the Hilton Property Improvement Plan recorded $47.11 million in actual expenditure in 2024.
The 2025 estimate was $163.6 million, while the revised 2025 estimate was $3.6 million.
Hosein has said one of the biggest challenges facing the property is the need for major maintenance and refurbishment.
Referring to the former government’s announced $400 million improvement programme, he said: “When I went in there I saw no details of that, how they’re going to fund it and so on.”
The Auditor General also recorded that a lease agreement between eTecK and Hilton International “was not produced for audit examination,” while examining $47.11 million in payments under the Hilton Property Improvement Plan for 2024.
Udecott’s latest 2025/2026 procurement schedule lists a seven-month “Hilton—Demolition and Base Building Works” package.
45-day countdown
Hilton’s August 4 letter to Communication Workers’ Union (CWU) secretary general Joanne Ogeer came exactly 45 days before the September 18 lease expiry.
The letter said, “Without a replacement agreement, Hilton will not continue to operate the Hotel beyond that date.”
It also said Hilton would be unable to continue employing hotel personnel after September 18 if no final agreement is reached.
Under the Retrenchment and Severance Benefits Act, an employer proposing to retrench five or more workers must give 45 days’ notice to the affected workers, the recognised majority union and the Minister of Labour.
Hilton’s letter does not state that the workers have been retrenched. It says that, if severance benefits become due as a result of the hotel’s closure, workers will be paid in accordance with the law and/or the collective agreement. The company also provided estimated severance amounts for employees in that event.
The CWU has disputed whether the August 4 correspondence satisfies the requirements of a retrenchment notice.
Hilton’s letter states that, under the lease, eTecK is required on expiry to take over employment obligations relating to hotel workers.
Hilton also said it could not say with certainty what eTecK would do if no replacement agreement is reached.
ETecK said all workers at the hotel are employees of Hilton International Trinidad Ltd and not eTecK, and that Hilton remains responsible for its current employment obligations.
It also said negotiations remain active and constructive and that no decision has been taken by eTecK or Government to permanently discontinue operation of the hotel.
Hilton, meanwhile, says it remains actively engaged with the property’s ownership in hopes of securing a long-term solution before September 18.
