The Management Agreement Will Cost You More Than Your Architect, Your Contractor, and Your Interior Designer Combined. Most Owners Don't Read It Until It's Too Late.

The Owner's Playbook shows you exactly where the money goes, how to get out if it stops flowing your direction, and how to negotiate an agreement that actually protects your investment.

Get the Playbook — $47

Includes 7 templates, 3 checklists, 2 financial models. Immediate download.

The $14 Million Mistake Most Hotel Developers Don't Know They're Making

Developer A

Signed in 90 days with a general real estate attorney. Base fee 3% flat, incentive at 10% of GOP, system charges uncapped, 10x termination buyout, 20-year term at brand's election.

Developer B

Hired hospitality counsel, ran a competitive process, spent 4 months negotiating. Base fee 2% ramping to 3%, incentive at 8% after owner priority, system charges capped at 4%, 3x buyout, 15-year term.

Over 20 years, the difference: $14 million. Same brand. Same market. Same counterparty. The only difference was preparation.

What You'll Learn

Chapter 1

The Landscape

Understand the power dynamics, structural choices, and information asymmetry before you sit down.

Chapter 2

The Fee Stack

Calculate the true all-in cost. Build the Total Extraction Model. Know if you're paying market rate or getting taken.

Chapter 3

Performance Tests & Termination

Five exit scenarios every owner needs. How tests are structured to never trigger, and how to fix them.

Chapter 4

The Hidden Clauses

Area of protection, approval rights, key money strings, FF&E traps, and sale restrictions that cost 10–20% of exit value.

Chapter 5

Running the Process

28-week negotiation playbook from brand selection through executed agreement. Where leverage sits at each phase.

35
Visual Frameworks
5
Real-World Case Studies
7
Negotiation Templates Included
$14M+
In Documented Savings
“The brand's standard form is a starting position, not a final offer. Almost everything is negotiable.”
“The difference between a 10x and 3x termination buyout is $29.4 million. The legal cost to negotiate it: $50,000. Return: 588x.”
“Of every dollar your hotel earns, nearly 12 cents goes to the brand in various fees before you pay your mortgage.”

Not Ready to Buy? Start With the Free HMA Red Flag Checklist.

15 management agreement provisions that cost owners millions. For each one: what the brand's standard form says, what your agreement should say, and the 20-year economic impact.

You'll also get one negotiation insight per week. Real term sheets. No theory. Unsubscribe anytime.

This book is for you if:

  • You're evaluating a branded management agreement for the first time
  • You're a family office or LP investing in a hotel development deal
  • You've done commercial real estate but never negotiated an HMA
  • You want to know what's negotiable before your attorney starts billing
  • You're an asset manager inheriting an existing management agreement

This book is NOT for you if:

  • You've already negotiated 10+ HMAs (you know this stuff)
  • You're looking for legal advice (this is strategy, not law)
  • You want a general hotel investing guide (this is specifically about the management agreement)
JH

About the Author

James Harwood has spent over 15 years in luxury hotel development, sitting in all three chairs: advisory, owner-operator, and brand-side development. He has evaluated over 100 hotel deals, negotiated management agreements on properties ranging from $30M urban conversions to $250M ground-up resorts, and advised owners whose combined portfolio value exceeds $2 billion. He wrote this book because the information asymmetry between brands and owners is real, expensive, and fixable.

Get the Playbook

$47

Immediate download. No account required.

Buy Now — $47

30-day money-back guarantee. If you don't find at least one insight worth more than $47, email me for a full refund.