Is the Surestay Hotel By Best Western manual considered confidential?
Surestay_Hotel_By_Best_Western Franchise · 2025 FDDAnswer from 2025 FDD Document
Issue to you or make available a copy of our Manual.
The Manual is confidential (Franchise Agreement, Sections 4.6 and 5.1.15).
References to the Manual include the Standards, which include all standards, specifications, requirements, criteria, and policies that have been and are in the future developed and compiled by us in our sole business judgment for use by you in connection with the design, construction, renovation, refurbishment, appearance, equipping, furnishing, supplying, opening, operating, maintaining, marketing, services, service levels, quality, and quality assurance of System Hotels, including the Hotel, and for Hotel advertising and accounting, whether in the Manual or in the Franchise Agreement or other written communication (Franchise Agreement, Sections 1.0 and 4.6).
The current table of contents of the Manual is attached as Exhibit F.
Source: Item 11 — FRANCHISOR'S ASSISTANCE, ADVERTISING, COMPUTER SYSTEMS, AND TRAINING (FDD pages 53–60)
What This Means (2025 FDD)
According to Surestay Hotel By Best Western's 2025 Franchise Disclosure Document, the manual provided to franchisees is considered confidential. Specifically, Item 11 states that Surestay Hotel By Best Western will issue or make available a copy of their manual to the franchisee. The FDD explicitly states that the manual is confidential, referencing Sections 4.6 and 5.1.15 of the Franchise Agreement.
This confidentiality extends to the 'Standards' which encompass all the specifications, requirements, criteria, and policies developed by Surestay Hotel By Best Western for the operation, marketing, and quality assurance of System Hotels. These standards are included in the manual, the Franchise Agreement, and other written communications. The table of contents for the manual is available as Exhibit F.
For a prospective franchisee, this means that the contents of the Surestay Hotel By Best Western manual cannot be shared with anyone outside of their organization. This is a fairly standard practice in franchising, as the operations manual contains proprietary information that is essential to maintaining brand consistency and protecting the franchisor's competitive advantage. Franchisees should carefully review Sections 4.6 and 5.1.15 of the Franchise Agreement to fully understand the scope of the confidentiality obligations.