For Sonesta Simply Suites, can Brand Promotion Fees be used for group sales activities?
Sonesta_Simply_Suites Franchise · 2025 FDDAnswer from 2025 FDD Document
We or our affiliates or other designees may use some or all of your Brand Promotion Fees, in conjunction with other Network Hotels' contributions or promotional fees, to pay for various expenses and programs that, in our view, benefit, in the short-term or the long-term, the Brand Hotels or any or all of the Network Hotels worldwide. These programs and expenditures may include but are not limited to: preparing and producing video, audio, and written materials and digital media; developing, implementing, and maintaining the Franchise System Website and related strategies; administering international, national, regional and multi-regional marketing and advertising programs (which may be based in the U.S. or elsewhere, as we determine in our sole discretion), including purchasing trade journal, direct mail, and other media advertising and using advertising, promotion, and marketing agencies and other advisors to provide assistance; administering online advertising and marketing campaigns (including search engine, social media, email, and display ad campaigns); developing and administering software, apps, and related integrations; implementing and supporting the loyalty program or other marketing programs designed to encourage the patronage of Network Hotels; supporting public relations, market research, and other advertising, promotion, and marketing activities; participating in travel industry trade shows, operating a global sales department, which activities include group sales, business-to-business, transient, leisure and specialty markets; and such other uses as we deem appropriate for the promotion of Network Hotels and further developing the reputation and image of Network Hotels. We and our affiliates have sole discretion to determine how we spend these fees, including sole control over the creative concepts, materials, endorsements, and media used in the programs, the geographic market in which we and they place any media and allocation of advertising.
Source: Item 22 — CONTRACTS (FDD pages 79–80)
What This Means (2025 FDD)
According to Sonesta Simply Suites' 2025 Franchise Disclosure Document, Brand Promotion Fees can be used for group sales activities. Sonesta Simply Suites and its affiliates have established a brand promotion program for all Network Hotels, which includes Brand Hotels.
The Brand Promotion Fees, collected from franchisees, may be used to cover various expenses and programs that benefit the Brand Hotels or any or all of the Network Hotels worldwide. These programs and expenditures can include operating a global sales department, which includes group sales, business-to-business, transient, leisure, and specialty markets.
Sonesta Simply Suites and its affiliates have sole discretion in determining how these fees are spent, including control over creative concepts, materials, endorsements, and media used in the programs, the geographic market in which media is placed, and the allocation of advertising. This means that a portion of the Brand Promotion Fees could be directed towards group sales initiatives as deemed appropriate by Sonesta Simply Suites.
This gives Sonesta Simply Suites flexibility in how they support their franchisees through marketing and sales efforts, but it also means that franchisees do not have direct control over how their Brand Promotion Fees are spent. Sonesta Simply Suites does not need to ensure that brand promotion program expenditures in or affecting any geographic area are proportionate or equivalent to Brand Promotion Fees paid by Network Hotels operating in that geographic area or that any Network Hotel benefits directly or in proportion to its Brand Promotion Fees paid from the development of advertising and marketing materials or the placement of advertising and marketing.