HOSPITALITY

Sonesta, the 8

largest hotel company in the

U.S., has its foundation in the integration of

Sonesta International Hotels Corporation

and Red Lion Hotels Corporation. These two

entities trace back to 1937, and today, over

85 years later, are united with 17 brands,

1,200+ hotels, throughout 8 countries.

A TALE OF TWO COASTS

In 1937, real estate mogul, A.M. “Sonny” Sonnabend and other

investors purchased the Preston Beach Hotel in Massachusetts.

His hospitality success with Sonnabend Operated Hotels had an

emphasis on service (a long-standing Sonesta standard) and

became the basis of one of the rst US-based international

hotel chains.

On the opposite coast, in Spokane, Washington, Washington

Trust Bank formed a property management company under the

leadership of Frank Goodale, who hired Louis Barberi and, under

their joint direction, formed G&B - the company that would

eventually become the Red Lion Hotels Corporation.

While Goodale purchased the property management business

(1944), Sonnabend purchased Florida Properties such as the Palm

Beach Biltmore, The Palm Beach Country Club, and Cleveland

properties such as the Terminal Tower, and Hotel Cleveland. and

further west, Chicago’s Edgewater Beach Hotel.

INTRODUCING THE HOTEL CORPORATION OF AMERICA

Merging with Childs Restaurant Company, the newly named

Hotel Corporation of American bought the Mayower Hotel

in Washington, D.C. and opened the rst Charterhouse Hotel

in Bangor, Maine (1957). The select service brand continued to

prosper for 25 years.

WHAT’S IN A NAME?

Sonesta is the blending of Sonnabend’s nickname,

“Sonny”, and his wife’s name, “Esther”.

The name was used rst to describe a potato made with sour

cream from the Sonesta Dairy Farm in Massachusetts, “Potato

Sonesta”. In 1970, it became the new name for HCA, now “Sonesta

International Hotels Corporation”. (Ironically, Red Lion also has

a dairy connection – from 1991-1997 they owned the Broadview

Dairy in Spokane.) “International” came to include management

of hotels in Egypt, cruise ships on the Nile, new hotels in South

America and the Caribbean, and Sonesta Posadas del Inca.

A HOSPITALITY SUPER-LEGEND: NY’S PLAZA HOTEL

Perhaps the most famous Sonnabend acquisition was Manhattan’s

legendary Plaza Hotel from Conrad Hilton. Sonnabend’s complete

renovation of the Plaza included opening the legendary Oak

Room. During the 18 years that Sonnabend ran the Plaza, he

added more function space for special events and created the food

and beverage innovations, such as the Palm Court and the Oyster

Bar that have become hospitality history.

Red Lion similarly had a commitment to quality food product –

going so far as to create a centralized distribution point to make

the perfect French bread with steam ovens to crisp the crust.

These loaves were distributed and became an iconic part of a

Red Lion guest stay.

To this day, Food and Beverage has

remained paramount to Sonesta.

GROWTH IN THE U.S. AND BEYOND

In the U.S., the rst Royal Sonesta was unveiled in New Orleans.

More innovations were forthcoming in the form of “Just Us Kids”

and the rst ever meeting planner and travel agent advisory boards.

On the West Coast, Goodale’s new hospitality division opened

its rst hotel near Riverfront Park in Spokane. Also, on the West

Coast, the Thunderbird Motor Inn, Portland, OR was purchased by

Tod McClaskey and Ed Pietz, who used the Thunderbird name for

their motels and the Red Lion name for their full-service hotels.

THE SYNERGY CREATED WITH RED LION

Red Lion was sold to a private equity rm in 1985 with 50

properties in 8 states and 11,000 employees.

It was the largest chain west of the Mississippi.

In 1995 Red Lion went public and in 1996 was acquired by

Doubletree. In 2001, G&B (using the name Cavanaughs and then

WestCoast Hospitality) grew again, acquiring Red Lion Hotels

brand and properties from Hilton (who had recently acquired

Doubletree). The $51M acquisition expanded the footprint to

include every western state but New Mexico and created a

portfolio of 90 hotels and 15,000 rooms most of which were

rebranded as Red Lion.

RED LION’S GROWING FAMILY OF BRANDS

Red Lion created its own upscale conversion brand, Hotel RL, and

acquired GuestHouse International to reach 130 properties and

over 5 ,000 additional rooms. Then, they acquired Vantage

Hospitality and its American’s Best Value Inns & Suites, Canada’s

Best Value Inn, and Signature Inn. With brand realignment,

RLHC rened the economy segment into “upper economy, economy,

and lower economy”. And rebranded itself as RLH Corporation,

moving to Denver Colorado. In 2018, RLHC also acquired the

Knights Inn Brand from Wyndham Worldwide.

OUR MORE RECENT HISTORY

In 2012, Sonesta was sold and became privately owned, and

created the Sonesta ES Suites extended stay brand. Between

September 2020 and March 2021, minority owner Service

Properties Trust transferred over 200 hotels from other

leading national brands to Sonesta brands, during which

Sonesta launched Sonesta Simply Suites and Sonesta Select.

Then, in December 2020, Sonesta announced the intention to

acquire Red Lion Hotels Corporation a transaction completed in

March 2021, bringing with it over 900 hotels to Sonesta. By the

end of that year, Sonesta had expanded its management company

to include a full franchise organization and launched four of the

Sonesta brands for franchising for the rst time domestically.

In 2022, to re-enter the hot New York market, Sonesta acquired

the properties of the Denihan Hospitality Group to create the

Benjamin Royal Sonesta New York, The Shelburne Sonesta

New York, the Gardens Sonesta ES Suites New York, and the

Fifty Sonesta Select New York along with the intellectual

property for The James brand.

With Sonesta’s now 17 brands, running

the gamut from economy to upper-upscale,

full-service, select-service, and extended

stay, across 1,200+ hotels, 100k rooms in 8

countries, the end is nowhere in sight.

FRANCHISE.SONESTA.COM

The Royal Sonesta Chicago Downtown

Sonesta Bee Cave Austin

The Royal Sonesta New Orleans

Red Lion Hotel Kalispell

HOSPITALITY

STARTED HERE…

2004

The James Hotels

brand launch

1937

Sonesta is founded.

A.M. (Sonny) Sonnabend

purchases the Preston

Beach Hotel in

Massachusetts

(1937 – 1952) with

six other investors.

1937

Washington Trust Bank

establishes property

management division

that would later become

Red Lion Hotels

Corporation.

1959

Portland, OR’s Thunderbird Motor Inn

is purchased and chain is grown, which

later becomes the Red Lion brand.

1953

The iconic

Plaza Hotel

is purchased

from Hilton for

$15,000,000.

1957

The rst Charterhouse

Hotel (1957 – 1968)

opens in Bangor, Maine.

It was followed by a line

of 25 others until 1983.

1968

First International

Sonesta Hotel

(Sonesta Montreal)

1969

Royal Sonesta

brand launch

1970

HCA is renamed

Sonesta International

Hotels Corp.

1982

Sonesta Cairo

Hotel &

Casino opens

1999

Sonesta Posadas del Inca

Hotels open in Miraores

Lima, Lake Titicaca Puno and

Sacred Valley Yucay, Peru.

2000

The Moon Goddess

launches on Egypt’s

Nile River

2012

Sonesta ES Suites

brand launch

2013

Travel Pass loyalty

program launch

2018

Sonesta Travel Pass

surpasses 1 million

members.

2020

Sonesta Simply Suites

brand launch

Sonesta Select

brand launch

2022

The James Hotels

brand acquired

2023

Sonesta Essentials

Brand Launch

2021

Acquisition of Red Lion

Hotels Corporation

2001

Completed acquisition

of Red Lion Hotels

(now NYSE RLH)

2004

Americas Best Value

Inn and Canadas

Best Value Inn

brands launch

(formerly Best Value Inn)

1989

Red Lion Hotels

brand launch

1980

Signature Inn

brand launch

1995

Red Lion Inn & Suites

brand launch

1996

Best Value Inn

brand launch

1994

GuestHouse brand launch

1998

Initial Public Offering

on the New York Stock

Exchange (NYSE CVH)

1999

Completed acquisition of

WestCoast Hotels, Inc.

1975

Knights Inn

brand launch

1944

Frank Goodale purchases

property management

division from Washington

Trust Bank.

2023

Classico & MOD

Sonesta Collections

Soft Brand Launch

Americas Best Value Inn

is awarded #1 in guest

satisfaction among

economy hotel brands

by J.D. Power

1940s

& Before

1950s 1960s 1970s 1980s 1990s 2000s 2010s 2020s

2014

Red Lion Hotels

Corporation Rebirth

• New leadership

• New lifestyle brand launch

(Hotel RL)

• New loyalty program

(Hello Rewards)

2015

Acquisition of the

GuestHouse and

Settle Inn brands

2016

Acquisition of Vantage

Hospitality Brands

increasing portfolio to

1,000+ hotels

2018

RLHC acquired Knights Inn

*Tied in 2023. For J.D. Power

2023 award information, visit

jdpower.com/awards.

Offering by Franchise Disclosure Document only where required by law. Void where prohibited. This advertisement is not an offer to sell or solicitation of an offer to buy any franchise.

FRANCHISE.SONESTA.COM

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