The collection
Sonesta International Hotels Corporation launched the Sonesta F1RST Meetings Collection. The portfolio holds 25 hotels across The Royal Sonesta and Sonesta Hotels & Resorts brands. LODGING Magazine carried the announcement on 13 October 2026 from Newton, Massachusetts.
Sonesta places the collection in city center locations, resort destinations and convention markets. It describes the spaces as purpose-built for mid-size, multi-city meetings and events.
Space range at each property
Meeting space runs from four to 26 rooms per location. Each location holds 10,000 to 65,000 total square feet. Guest room capacity runs from 200 to 500 rooms.
Sonesta counts 500,000 square feet across the network. It publishes no per-property table.
Four markets named
Participating hotels sit in Chicago, San Francisco, Washington, D.C. and Toronto. Sonesta adds "and more" and publishes no roster of the 25.
A planner working a city from this launch holds four market names, a space range and a room band. Property detail comes from Sonesta on request.
What the programme offers a group desk
Sonesta lists designed concession packages aligned with planner priorities. It publishes no value or tier for them.
Planners earn Sonesta Travel Pass Planner Perks at 2 points for every dollar spent. A $10,000 event spend returns 20,000 points on that rate.
The company names a consistent experience across locations, flexible solutions for mid-size and multi-city programmes, value through incentives and efficiencies, and simplified planning for repeat events.
Mooney on the model
Jim Mooney, vice president of sales for the managed portfolio, said: "We're pleased to launch the Sonesta F1RST Meetings Collection across key cities in the U.S. and Canada."
Mooney described the aim: "This new program is designed to help planners elevate the meeting experience with Sonesta's high-touch support, seamless execution, and specially designed packages for all types of meetings and events." He said Sonesta "acts as one coordinated partner across the properties within the collection, simplifying the planning process and appealing to events of all types."
The name
F1RST expands to Flexible, Innovative, Reliable, Swift and Transparent. Sonesta presents the five words as the service standard for the collection.
The company describes the collection as curated for the underserved middle market.
What a group desk can write today
Rate, minimum stay, booking window, cut-off date and the per-property space table are all unpublished. A request inside 10,000 to 65,000 square feet and 200 to 500 rooms sits inside the published band.
Two lines belong in the first request: the market list and the property detail behind the space range. Sonesta holds both.