Dive Brief:

• Sonesta International Hotels Corporation announced the establishment of a luxury and lifestyle lodging development team to spur growth of its upper-upscale brands, including The James and The Royal Sonesta franchises.
• The team is led by senior vice president Phil Hugh, who joined Sonesta in March after serving as CEO of the Hugh Hotel Group and chief development officer at the Radisson Hotel Group Americas and Red Roof Inn over the past 10 years.
• According to Sonesta, the move better positions the company to tap the luxury market — which is already ahead of 2019 average daily rate numbers — and accelerate portfolio growth with The James and The Royal Sonesta brands.

Dive Insight:

The establishment of the Luxury & Lifestyle Lodging Development Team demonstrates Sonesta’s commitment to growing its presence in the luxury market, which the company said is proving to be a strong player coming into 2023.

“The luxury and lifestyle markets are a compelling opportunity for Sonesta,” said Hugh in a press release. “Sonesta has continued to expand its development capabilities and we, as a team, are committed to working with owners, management companies and the development community to grow this segment.”

The immediate focus of Hugh’s team will be to build The James and The Royal Sonesta brands — which were made available for franchising in January 2023 and November 2022, respectively — in the Americas, opening up Sonesta to new management, ownership and franchise opportunities, the company said. 

Additionally, building those two brands will have a “halo effect for the upscale, midscale and even economy hotels when operating in the same locales,” said a Sonesta spokesperson. “Marquee assets in the top 25 or 50 DMAs [Designated Market Areas] are important to continued growth of the organization.”

“We are empowering this team, dedicated to the upper end of the market, to continue expanding Sonesta's footprint of our upper upscale brands,” said Brian Quinn, Sonesta chief development officer in the press release. “We anticipate accelerated portfolio growth with The James and The Royal Sonesta brands.”