By Jim Butler —
Every hotel management agreement and franchise agreement has a history. This post is the first in “The New Rosetta Stone” series telling that story: the people, the deals, and the decisions that created the documents we negotiate today. The founders who built this industry faced the same questions owners and operators face now: Who owns the building? Who runs it? Who sets the standard? And what happens when someone fails to meet it?
Six strangers in one bed
Two hundred fifty years ago, six strangers shared one bed at a roadside inn — and any person who complained was judged unreasonable. In this first post, Benjamin Franklin puts John Adams to sleep with a lecture on air. The first hotel room with a lock and key in 1829! And the moment brand segmentation was born—at a wagon stand on the National Road.
~ From “DNA of the Hotel Deal,” prelude to Hotel Management & Franchise Agreements: Negotiating and Terminating Hotel Contracts (expected publication early 2027).
When privacy was an unreasonable demand
Today, the United States has approximately 65,000 hotels and 5.8 million guest rooms. It is one of the most saturated hospitality markets on earth. Two hundred and fifty years ago, six strangers shared one bed at a roadside tavern, and the only person who complained was judged unreasonable. Everything between those two facts is the story this book will tell.
Six strangers shared one bed at a roadside tavern, and the only person who complained was judged unreasonable.
In colonial New England, keeping a “public house” was civic duty, not business. The Massachusetts General Court required towns to maintain houses of entertainment for travelers. Connecticut demanded that every town identify a “sufficient inhabitant” to serve as keeper. When Concord and Newbury failed to provide accommodations, they were fined. The colonial records of 1644 note that “strangers were straitened” (pressed for shelter) when towns neglected the obligation.