SONESTA INTERNATIONAL HOTELS CORPORATION HAS LAUNCHED A NEW BRAND , REINTRODUCED ANOTHER AND KICKSTARTED ITS FRANCHISE GROWTH , ALL AMID A NEW BRAND CAMPAIGN .
By DAVID EISEN , EDITOR IN CHIEF
Shortly after the calendar turned to 2023 , Sonesta International Hotels Corporation uncorked a new brand campaign that perfectly encapsulates the brand . Dubbed “ Famous Yet Nameless ,” it marks Sonesta ’ s first major effort to build up recognition on a name that has been around for years but not necessarily as omnipresent as a Marriott or Hilton . The campaign features Judy Greer , who , like the Sonesta name , is someone you probably have seen on TV (" Arrested Development ", Xfinity commercials ), but not likely known her name . For Sonesta , it ’ s the perfect comparison , but for every new hotel it opens , or brand it launches , the correlation becomes more tenuous .
The growth of Sonesta has been nothing short of meteoric , with a huge assist from its parent company , Service Properties Trust , a real estate investment trust , which over the last couple of years has been delivering hotels into the Sonesta portfolio that , prior , had brandished flags from lodging companies from Marriott International to InterContinental Hotels Group .
It all comes on the heels of Sonesta now offering full franchising services in the U . S , which puts it in direct competition with owners and developers of all the major hotel brands .
The latest dispatch from Sonesta is the launch of a new brand alongside the reintroduction of another .
In one move , Sonesta announced the expansion of its global development strategy to include The James brand as part of the Sonesta Franchise portfolio in the U . S . and in Latin America . Sonesta ’ s rights to The James brand came with the acquisition of the Denihan portfolio in New York last year .
Currently , The James Nomad , New York is the prototype for future properties under its license agreement . Sonesta will also reflag two Royal Sonesta properties it manages to The James brand — The Royal Sonesta Chicago River North and The Royal Sonesta Washington , D . C . Dupont Circle .
In another move , Sonesta announced the debut of Sonesta Essential , a new uppermidscale , select-service segment brand , now also available to franchise in the U . S .
The first two Sonesta Essential hotels will be Sonesta Essential Vacaville , Calif ., set to open in late spring 2023 , and Sonesta Essential Chattanooga , Tenn , which will be a conversion from a Sonesta Select in the fall of 2023 .
And all this expansion comes after Sonesta ’ s first full year after its acquisition of RLH Corporation in March 2021 .
It ’ s a lot of activity and it keeps Keith Pierce , EVP and president of franchise & development at Sonesta , on his toes and on his game . In 2022 alone , Sonesta opened 55 new franchises . And in a testament to Sonesta ’ s prowess , when Service Properties Trust , which trades under the name SVC , sold 68 hotels last year , the vast majority remained in the Sonesta brand family .
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