As the president of InnWorks, a Minnesota company that manages hotels in 10 states, from Arizona to North Carolina, Teresa Matsui Sanders knows a lot about the franchise agreements that bind hotel owners to national brands.
‘They’re harder to get out of than most marriages, and much more costly,’ Ms. Sanders said.
Until recently, her hotels were covered by 20-year agreements with the Wyndham Hotel Group, one of the largest hotel franchisors in the world. The agreements allowed the hotels to use the Wyndham brand name Super 8.
But as the contracts expired in the last few years, Ms. Sanders said that she was reluctant to renew them. Too much has changed since the 1980s, when Wyndham was a small company and, she said, ‘I could get any of the principals on the phone.’
With hotel companies changing hands regularly, ‘it’s hard to imagine committing to a 20-year alliance with anyone,’ she added.
Photo: T. C. Worley / The New York Times.
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