Is the Springhill Suites By Marriott Marketing Fund required to be audited?

According to the 2025 Springhill Suites By Marriott Franchise Disclosure Document, the Marketing Fund is not required to be audited. However, Springhill Suites By Marriott will provide an accounting of the Marketing Fund's revenues and expenditures for any fiscal year if a franchisee requests it between 90 and 180 days after the fiscal year's end. This accounting provides franchisees with some transparency into how the fund is being managed, even though a formal audit is not mandated.

Springhill Suites By Marriott franchisees contribute 2.5% of their gross room sales to the Marketing Fund, which is used for advertising, sales and marketing, promotional programs, and research for both franchised and managed hotels in the United States and Canada. The franchisor has the right to change the allocation and amount of the Marketing Fund contribution, including increasing it up to 3.5% of gross room sales. All franchisees contribute to the Marketing Fund, but the contribution amounts and rates may vary, and hotels operated by Springhill Suites By Marriott and its affiliates may not be required to contribute on the same basis as franchisees.

Springhill Suites By Marriott has broad discretion over the Marketing Fund, including the right to merge or operate separate funds for the U.S. and Canada, combine the fund with marketing funds in other regions, add or remove Company Brands, discontinue the fund, or establish other funding methods. The franchisor can also pool monies from various Company Brand marketing funds for global, multi-brand marketing activities, and participating Company Brand Hotels may not benefit on a pro-rata basis from such activities. This wide latitude in managing the fund underscores the importance of franchisees actively requesting and reviewing the annual accounting to understand how their contributions are being used.