- Sonesta combines 25 hotels in one meetings offer.
- It represents about 2 percent of Sonesta’s properties.
- Owners must distinguish new demand from shifted bookings.
SONESTA INTERNATIONAL HOTELS CORP. grouped 25 hotels into a single meetings program across the U.S. and Canada, according to an Oct. 9 announcement. The move tests whether a network can win multi-city group business more effectively than individual hotels.
The Sonesta F1RST Meetings Collection covers The Royal Sonesta and Sonesta Hotels & Resorts properties in markets such as Chicago, San Francisco, Washington, D.C., and Toronto. Each hotel has 200 to 500 guest rooms and four to 26 meeting rooms. Together, the hotels offer 500,000 square feet of event space.
“With the goal of making planning easier, Sonesta acts as one coordinated partner across the properties within the collection, simplifying the planning process and appealing to events of all types,” said Jim Mooney, Sonesta's vice president of sales for managed portfolio.
Mooney said the program is designed to give planners high-touch support, seamless execution and specially designed packages.
Sonesta said planners receive coordinated support and can earn two Sonesta Travel Pass Planner Perks points per dollar spent.
The sales equation
Sonesta targets the underserved middle market with flexible meeting spacesPhoto credit: Sonesta International Hotels Corp.
The figures show who the program targets. Sonesta said meeting space ranges from 10,000 to 65,000 square feet per hotel. Dividing the network’s 500,000 square feet by 25 hotels gives an average of 20,000 square feet per property, although actual capacity varies. That points to mid-size programs rather than convention-scale events. Sonesta positions the collection for what it calls the underserved middle market.
The larger change is what a planner can source through one program. Organizers running events in several cities can work with one coordinated network rather than sourcing each venue separately. The company said the collection offers concession packages aligned with planner priorities and a consistent experience across locations.
The launch comes as Sonesta expands its wider portfolio.
In its July 22 update, the company reported 22 hotel openings and 28 franchise agreements in the first half of 2026. The agreements covered brands including Signature Inn by Sonesta, Americas Best Value Inn by Sonesta, Sonesta Essential and Red Lion Inn & Suites by Sonesta. Sonesta’s Oct. 9 announcement describes a portfolio of approximately 1,100 properties across 13 brands. Against that base, the meetings collection represents about 2 percent of properties.
What to watch
Meeting planners seek measurable returns, raising expectations for hotel servicePhoto credit: Sonesta International Hotels Corp.
Meeting planners are also weighing the returns from events. In its 2026 meeting rankings release, Cvent said planners are choosing destinations, venues and suppliers more carefully and want proof of results. That puts pressure on hotels to compete on service and execution, not just available space.
The risk is that the network shifts business rather than creates it. A booking transferred from one Sonesta property to another may benefit the receiving hotel without increasing revenue across the group. The Hospitality Sales and Marketing Association International advises hotels to assess group business against its total value, including incremental spending, concessions and revenue that might be displaced. That makes contract profitability, not booking volume alone, a key measure of the collection’s performance.
Owners in the collection should track lead sources, conversion rates, repeat bookings and total event profitability. They should also establish who approves concessions and which party bears their cost. HSMAI’s guidance on group sales and revenue management highlights the importance of weighing concessions, incremental revenue and displaced business when evaluating contracts. Operators outside the collection should watch whether coordinated networks become a competitive factor in winning multi-city contracts.
Investors should look for evidence that the network generates incremental business, supports weekday room demand and improves returns on meeting facilities. According to Cvent’s 2026 Planner Sourcing Report, 63 percent of surveyed planners identified attendee engagement as their primary success metric, while 72 percent expected event costs to rise.
These findings suggest hotels must demonstrate value beyond available space, but they do not establish whether Sonesta’s collection will improve financial performance. Until results appear, the collection remains a strategy to evaluate, not proof of stronger returns.
In January, Sonesta reported 26 percent franchise net unit growth in 2025, driven by organic franchise expansion and the sale of 112 Service Properties Trust hotels with long-term Sonesta franchise agreements. The meetings collection represents a different growth strategy: coordinating sales across selected properties rather than expanding the franchise network alone.
