French Translation of Hotel Management Agreements for a U.S. Group

Translating a hotel management agreement is not (only) about hospitality or room service. It first and foremost requires an understanding of the complex economic and legal mechanisms that govern the operation of a branded property.

🏨 Project Context

A leading U.S. hotel group entrusted us with the French translation of several strategic contractual models, including:

• hotel management agreement,

• technical services agreement,

• internal systems and software agreement,

• and trademark license agreement, governing the operation of franchised properties under the group’s brand.

🎯 Objective: to enable operating partners located in French-speaking regions to use these documents in the context of hotel development projects aligned with the group’s standards.

📚 Key Terminology (specific to this context)

• design development → développement de la conception

• hotel equipment specification book → cahier des charges sur les équipements hôteliers

• formal opening → ouverture officielle

• hotel operations → exploitation de l’hôtel

• standard of operation → normes d’exploitation

• operating budget → budget d’exploitation

• hotel employees → salariés de l’hôtel

• brand → enseigne

• capital lease → crédit-bail

• debt service → remboursement de la dette

🔎 Specific Challenges Encountered

The project required rigorous terminological harmonization across technical, commercial, financial, and legal documents, covering areas as diverse as:

• trademark licensing,

• hotel employment law,

• operating accounting,

• and franchisor compliance obligations.

Our mission went well beyond translation: it was also about adapting terminology so that it remained intelligible, usable, and consistent with contractual practice in French-speaking jurisdictions, while fully respecting the original legal framework.