Classico A Sonesta Collection
Bottom line
- Total investment $1.7M including a $125K franchise fee, 5.0% ongoing royalty.
- No Item 19 financial performance data disclosed — the franchisor chose not to publish revenue figures.
- Rated AVOID with a risk score of 85/100.
- 19 litigation matters disclosed in Item 3 — higher than typical. Review the summary for patterns (franchisor-initiated vs. franchisee-initiated).
Item 1 · who you're contracting with
The Franchisor
Yale framework · single-unit ROIC
Returns Analysis
Pulls Item 7 (investment) and Item 19 (revenue) from this brand's FDD into the Yale unlevered-ROIC formula. Override any input to stress-test it against your own assumptions.
The model · Yale framework
What would one Classico A Sonesta Collection unit return on the cash you put in?
Unlevered ROIC · per unit
3%
Below typical band (30–60%)
Overview
About
Franchisees operate mid-scale upscale hotel properties under the Classico A Sonesta Collection brand, managing daily operations including front desk, housekeeping, maintenance, and guest services while paying 5% of gross room revenue as royalties to Sonesta/RLHC. Day-to-day activities involve revenue management, staff supervision, compliance with brand standards, and capital maintenance of the property.
Item 7 · what it costs
The Vitals
Item 19
Financial Performance
This franchisor did not disclose financial performance representations in Item 19, or our extractor could not parse them.
Item 20 · unit dynamics
The Growth Chart
Year-over-year franchised unit counts and net change. Source: FDD Item 20.
Item 20 · 16 states with active franchisees
The Territory Map
Derived from franchisee contact records. Shows states with at least one current operator — not where the franchisor is registered to sell new units (that data is re-extracting in a future refresh).
States derived from franchisee phone area codes (Item 20). Approximate — ported numbers may show the original state, not the franchisee's current location.
Government records
SBA Loan Data
Aggregated from SBA 7(a) loan disclosures, public data unique to FranchiseVerdict.
No SBA loan data available for this brand.
FranchiseVerdict rating + FDD Items 3, 5, 6, 12, 17
Risk & Legal
Extreme risk: single-unit system with going concern issues, active multi-front litigation, undisclosed financials, and unproven economics representing a speculative bet on a potentially insolvent corporate parent.
Score breakdown · what drove the 85 / 100 rating
- 01MINOROnly 1 operating unit with unknown growth trajectory indicates system is either nascent, contracting, or non-viable
- 02HIGHGoing Concern status FALSE suggests material doubt about parent company's (Sonesta/RLHC) financial viability
- 03HIGHMultiple active litigation types (securities class actions, breach of contract, trademark, tortious interference) indicate systemic legal/operational problems
- 04MEDNo disclosed average revenue or net income prevents ROI validation; 5% royalty on unknown sales cannot be assessed
- 05MINORUnprotected territory combined with single-unit system creates cannibalization risk and competitive exposure
- 06MINOR$1.7M+ investment with 20-year commitment to essentially unproven concept with no franchisee success data
- 07HIGHSecurities class action litigation related to RLHC merger suggests potential accounting irregularities or misrepresentation at corporate level
Severity inferred from the FDD text · not a regulatory classification
FDD Items 5, 6, 12, 17 · continued from Risk & Legal
Contract & Territory Detail
Item 11
Training & Operations
Item 20
Franchisee Contacts
Phone numbers extracted directly from this brand's FDD Item 20. After purchase, you'll also receive a list of validation questions tailored to this brand.
Franchisee contacts
26 numbers
One-time purchase · CSV download · Validation questions included
FDD download
Classico A Sonesta Collection · FDD (2024) PDF