[Excerpt] As the owner of a hospitality property, you can be your own manager, as discussed in Chapter 17. But that chapter also outlined common ownership structures that are intended to maximize the value of your investment by involving various partners. I view these structures as a web of relationships that create and enhance value to all stakeholders. Hotel and restaurant investors have long recognized that separating the real estate from the brand and from management of a hotel can create value. In fact, today it is difficult to find publicly listed firms that do all three. Firms like Host Hotels and Resorts (NYSE: HST) or Hospitality Properties Trust (NYSE: HPT) are hotel owners that contract with other companies, such as Marriott International (NYSE: MAR) and Accor (PA: AC), which provide brand and management services.1 In the discussion in Chapter 17, you read about ownership structures that included management contracts, leases, and franchise agreements. In this chapter, I discuss how these contracts provide you with a set of ownership, brand, and management services to help you achieve your investment and ownership objectives. As a start, let's build on the outline of structures in Chapter 17. The examples I give here provide a context for this discussion of contracts and leases.