FranchiseVerdict
MOD A Sonesta Collection logo
FV-01658·CAUTIONStandard62

MOD A Sonesta Collection

Lodging - Hotels & MotelsFranchising since 2023Website
Investment
$1.7M
42nd pct Hotels & Mote…
Avg revenue
7th pct Hotels & Mote…
Royalty
5.0%
7th pct Hotels & Mote…
Units
0
0th pct Hotels & Mote…
SBA default

Bottom line

  • Total investment $1.7M including a $75K franchise fee, 5.0% ongoing royalty.
  • No Item 19 financial performance data disclosed — the franchisor chose not to publish revenue figures.
  • Rated CAUTION with a risk score of 75/100.
  • 18 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

Legal entity
Sonesta RL Hotels Franchising Inc.
Parent company
Red Lion Hotels Corporation
Incorporated in
Washington
HQ
400 Centre Street, Newton, Massachusetts 02458
Auditor
Deloitte & Touche LLP
Audited financials
Franchisor revenue
$54.0M
vs $55.6M prior year

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 MOD A Sonesta Collection unit return on the cash you put in?

Revenue · per unit, per year
$
Item 19 not disclosed — typing your own estimate
Franchisor take · royalty + ad fund
Royaltytyp 68%
%
Ad fundtyp 35%
%
Operating costs · category default: hospitality
COGS
%
Labor
%
Rent / occupancy
%
Other operating
%
Total invested capital · what you actually put in
Initial investment
$
Working capital
$
FDD reports $525K–$1.8M

Unlevered ROIC · per unit

3%

Below typical band (30–60%)

0%30–60% Yale band80%

Store EBITDA · annual
$94K
EBITDA margin
12.5%
Total invested
$2.8M
Payback
359 mo
Unit-level only. A multi-unit portfolio gives up roughly 5–15% of this to shared services (corporate G&A) before reaching the ~10-unit break-even Yale describes.

Overview

About

MOD (a Sonesta Collection brand) franchisees operate select-service or limited-service hotel properties under the MOD brand, managing daily operations including housekeeping, front desk, guest services, maintenance, and revenue management. Franchisees must maintain brand standards, pay 5% royalty on gross room revenue, and comply with Sonesta's corporate policies and systems.

CEO
John Murray
Founded
1986
FDD year
2024
States available
0

Item 7 · what it costs

The Vitals

Total investment
$1.7M
All-in to open one unit
Liquid capital
$525K – $1.8M
Cash you must have on hand
Franchise fee
$75K
Royalty
5.0%
Gross Rooms Revenue · typical 6–8%
Ad fund
2.5%
typical 3–5%
Total fee load
16.5%
vs 9–13% typical

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

Total units
0
Opened
0
Last reporting year
Closed
0
Company-owned
0
Corporate units in the system
2022
0±0
Franchised units
2023
0
Franchised units
2024
0
Franchised units

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).

AK
ME
VT
NH
MA
RI
CT
NY
NJ
PA
DE
MD
DC
WA
OR
CA
NV
ID
MT
WY
UT
CO
AZ
NM
ND
SD
NE
KS
OK
TX
MN
IA
MO
AR
LA
WI
IL
MS
TN
MI
IN
KY
AL
OH
WV
GA
VA
NC
SC
FL
HI
Registered · 16 states
Not registered

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

75
Risk · 0-100
CAUTION75 / 100

This is a pre-launch or failing hotel franchise with zero operating units, opaque financials, pending litigation, parent company going-concern warnings, and an unproven business model that carries extreme capital risk.

Score breakdown · what drove the 75 / 100 rating

  1. 01MINORZero operating franchise units with unknown growth trajectory indicates brand is either pre-launch or experiencing complete system collapse
  2. 02MINORNo Item 19 financial disclosure (avg revenue/net income) prevents any ROI validation or performance benchmarking
  3. 03MINORMultiple pending and concluded lawsuits including class action, stockholder disputes, and franchisee contract conflicts suggest systemic corporate governance and franchisor-franchisee relationship problems
  4. 04HIGHParent company (Sonesta/RLHC merger entity) disclosed 'going concern' accounting doubt signals potential insolvency or financial distress
  5. 05MINORUnprotected territory with 5% royalty on gross rooms revenue creates margin pressure and direct franchisor-franchisee competition
  6. 06MINORHigh initial investment ($1.67M) paired with zero operating units means no proven unit economics or franchisee success track record
  7. 07MINOR20-year term lock-in is excessive given brand immaturity and financial uncertainty of parent company

Severity inferred from the FDD text · not a regulatory classification

FDD Items 5, 6, 12, 17 · continued from Risk & Legal

Contract & Territory Detail

Protected territory
No
Initial term
20 years
Renewal term
20 years
Online sales rights
Restricted
Franchisor can compete
Yes
Hire a manager?
Allowed
Litigation count
18
Right of first refusal
Yes
Franchisor can buy back on resale
Mandatory arbitration
Yes
Jury trial waiver
Yes
Non-compete
2 yrs
Post-termination restriction
Owner-operator
Optional
Governing law
Massachusetts

Item 11

Training & Operations

Classroom training
0 hrs
On-the-job training
31 hrs
POS system
Oracle OPERA Cloud Property Management System
Operating tech stack

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

Locked
(804) 371-••••
VA
(608) 266-••••
WI
(608) 261-••••
WI

One-time purchase · CSV download · Validation questions included

FDD download

MOD A Sonesta Collection · FDD (2024) PDF

Single-page checkout · instant download · CSV export of contacts available separately above