Put to: Chad Sorensen and Michelle Russo.
Why it matters to buyers: USALI Schedule 16 is useful for identifying mandatory brand and operator costs, but HFTP explicitly warns against using it to benchmark providers because service definitions and scope differ. An owner-side operator comparison therefore needs additional normalization. (hftp.org)
Draft framing of a good answer: Request two comparisons. First, apply each proposed contract to one common operating case. Second, show each operator’s own forecast, preserving its separate assumptions and supporting evidence.
The hotel operator RFP template should request base and incentive calculations, corporate-service charges, procurement arrangements, reimbursables, technology, accounting, sales support, pre-opening costs and termination payments. Ask who bears cost overruns and how allocations are evidenced.
Compare service scope as well as charges. A lower fee should not receive automatic credit if the owner must separately purchase functions included elsewhere.
Sharp follow-up: “Which cost or responsibility is excluded from your headline fee but unavoidable for this property?”
Evidence to request: Common-case fee workbook, scope matrix, sample owner reporting and references from comparable assignments, including a difficult transition or underperforming property.
Interview status: No expert response has been recorded.