In 1937, real estate mogul A.M. "Sonny" Sonnabend pooled his resources with six other investors to purchase the Preston Beach Hotel in
Swampscott, Massachusetts. Sonnabend personally managed the hotel and began focusing on the hospitality industry. Over the following years, Sonnabend invested in other hotel properties, which he managed through Sonnabend Operated Hotels in 1944. In 1953, he purchased the
Plaza Hotel in
Manhattan from hotelier
Conrad Hilton for a reported $15 million. In 1956, Sonnabend merged Sonnabend Operated Hotels with
Childs Company, forming the Hotel Corporation of America. The company purchased the
Mayflower Hotel in
Washington, D.C., that year. The first Charterhouse Hotel was opened in Bangor, Maine, in 1957. Twenty-five other Charterhouse Hotels were built between 1957 and 1983. Beginning in the late 1950s, the name "Sonesta" became affiliated with hotels in the US and abroad. In 1968, the corporation began to grow internationally with the construction of the Sonesta Montreal. In 1969, the first Royal Sonesta Hotel was built in
New Orleans. In 1970, the Hotel Corporation of America was rebranded Sonesta International Hotels. The name "Sonesta" was a portmanteau of A.M. Sonnabend's nickname "Sonny" and his wife Esther's name. The company introduced "Just Us Kids", a children's club program, in 1975. The Sonesta Art Collection, formed in 1976, was one of the first corporate hotel programs to showcase original art. As of 2012, the collection included over 7,000 works of original art. Throughout the 1980s and 1990s, Sonesta built several hotel properties in Egypt, and began operating
Nile cruises. In the 1990s and 2000s, the company opened several new hotels in South America and the Caribbean.
Expansion and acquisition of Red Lion Hotels Corporation Sonesta was sold in 2011 to an affiliate of Newton-based Hospitality Properties Trust (subsequently named Service Properties Trust), and it became a privately owned company again. 34% of Sonesta International Hotels Corporation is owned by Service Properties Trust (SVC), a
real estate investment trust. In 2015, the company created Sonesta ES Suites, in cities like
Columbus, Ohio,
Cincinnati, and
Cleveland. In 2020, Sonesta became one of the fastest-growing hospitality companies in the United States. It had 80 hotels in early 2020. From September 2020 to March 2021, Service Properties Trust transferred over 200 hotels from
Marriott Hotels & Resorts and
IHG Hotels & Resorts to Sonesta brands, after the previous managers were
negatively impacted by the COVID-19 pandemic. As of 2023, the company operates in eight countries and has over 1,200 properties. It is the 8th-largest hotel company in the United States as of 2024. Sonesta's largest hotels are in Los Angeles, Houston, Chicago and New Orleans. == Sonesta brands ==