By the end of the 1980s, hotel companies discovered they could make almost as much money with a management contract as with a property lease without assuming any of the financial risks. Consequently, they started to change their mode of operation. Today, only a few hotel property leases are still in effect; those that remain date from the 1980s and 1960s and are now nearing the end of their terms.¹In the early 1980s, fewer than 65 management companies were operating. By the early 1990s, the number had increased to over 500. How-ever, as the lenders who had foreclosed on properties in the1980s sold off these hotels, the need for third-party management companies dwindled. The buyers who purchased these properties were owners or operators who had no need for third-party services. By 1993, management companies were downsizing, consolidating, or disappearing. In fact, the number of small management companies has dropped even further, with the larger chains assuming more management contracts.²