HOTELS, HOSPITALITY AND LEISURE

This is our flagship area of practice and has been the primary focus of our work for the past 25 years, covering a wide range of hospitality and leisure businesses, including branded hotels, resorts and residences, mixed-use developments, timeshare and fractional ownership, golf courses, theme parks, and sports clubs.

Major international brand chains design Hotel Management Agreements (HMAs) to maximise their corporate fees, capture long-term control, and protect their brand equity. For the past 25 years we have acted exclusively for hotel and resort owners and developers to restructure the one-sided templates of operators into balanced, fair, and owner-protective agreements and maximising for owners asset value and ROI, reducing owner cost and risk, securing a wider Area of Protection, preserving owner control, and building in exit flexibility.

We know where owners are most exposed, such as hidden fees and marketing charges buried in the detail, performance tests that look protective on paper but rarely trigger in practice, and de-branding or strata traps that only surface at exit or termination amongst many others. We Identify and close these gaps before signature which is where we add the most value.

Earlier in our career we also advised international operators directly on their own management and branding documentation, including drafting their templates. That experience gives us a genuine, first-hand understanding of how operators think, draft, and negotiate and which is insight we now put entirely to work for the benefit of owners.

Whether you are negotiating a new development or reviewing an existing relationship, our work covers the full suite of hotel management documentation typically comprising:

Term Sheets, LOIs and MOUs:  these set the framework for everything that follows – getting the broad terms right at this early stage, even if non-binding, is crucial as they shape every negotiation to come.

Pre-Opening and Technical Services Agreements: governing the design and fit-out specifications an operator requires to meet its brand standards, at the owner’s cost.

Hotel, Resort, Serviced Apartment and Spa Management Agreements:  the core agreement and often running 20 to 30 years governing how the operator runs the property on the owner’s behalf, and the single most consequential document in the relationship.

Brand and Trademark Licensing: the terms on which the operator’s brand, trademarks and other IP are licensed for use.

Marketing and Centralised Reservation Agreements: obliging the operator to use its international marketing and reservation systems, at a cost and scope owners need to scrutinise closely to avoid hidden or unexpected high charges.

Regulatory Issues, Licences and Permits: the construction and operational compliance obligations affecting the owner.

Strategic HMA Terminations and Operator Transitions: exit and transition terms where a relationship needs to end, or change hands.