HVS U.S. Hotel Franchise Fee Guide 2020
By Kasia M. Russell, Managing Director and Senior Partner with the HVS Portland office and Bomie Kim, Senior Project Manager, San Francisco


Introduction To U.S. Hotel Franchise Fee Guide
Please note that the study results are not indicative of the impact an individual brand may have on a hotel's overall profitability because only the costs, and not the benefits of the franchise affiliations, have been analyzed. Furthermore, the study does not reflect, nor does it claim to address, operating results of any one brand or any particular brand affiliation upon any single hotel property. The 2020 U.S. Franchise Fee Guide is meant to illustrate a basic comparison among franchise fees charged by participants.
HVS has extensive experience with assisting clients in selecting the appropriate franchise for their proposed or existing hotels. This service also includes assisting with or managing the negotiations in coordination with experienced attorneys and other industry professionals.
Summary of Findings
- The COVID-19 pandemic has tested the very core of the hospitality franchise community. Franchisors and franchisees have both been directly affected by the demise of travel,
globally. Although select accommodations for payment deferrals may have been negotiated, there have been no sweeping permanent changes across brand families as of yet. - This report includes four more participating brands than the previous year's publication. We anticipate that participation will increase as mergers of hotel companies and the
proliferation of new brands continue. - In the past few years, loyalty-fee percentage to rooms revenue has increased, largely attributed to guests' rising participation rates in hotel companies' frequent-traveler programs.
- Consistent with last year's guide, collection brands' franchise cost structures remained generally below the average franchise fees of other brands within the same parent company.

Kasia M. Russell
Kasia Russell, MAI is a Managing Director and Senior Partner with the HVS Portland office. HVS leaders now live in and work from more than 30 markets throughout the North American region, including San Diego, LA, San Francisco, Portland, Seattle, Vancouver, Las Vegas, and Phoenix in the west. Kasia has front-line hotel experience with Extended Stay America and Best Western and also worked for the Hotel Bellwether in Bellingham, Washington, and the Skagit Valley Resort in Bow, Washington.
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Bomie Kim
Bomie Kim, a Senior Project Manager with the HVS office in San Francisco, has years of experience in consulting, finance and data analysis, which she puts to use in conducting feasibility studies, market studies, and valuations for hotels. Bomie gained hands-on hospitality experience at hotels in both the U.
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