7 Best Hotel Franchises in the USA (2026 Comparison)

 By Dustin Thompson, Franchise Marketing and Development, Jack in the Box | Last updated: July 20, 2026

Key Takeaways

• Hilton, Choice Hotels, Marriott, IHG, Wyndham, Radisson, and Hyatt remain the most established hotel franchise systems for US operators in 2026.
• Marriott reports more than 9,900 properties in 146 countries and territories. Hilton reported 9,260 properties as of March 31, 2026.
• Radisson brands in the Americas, including Country Inn & Suites, have been owned by Choice Hotels since a 2022 acquisition.
• The International Franchise Association and FRANdata project lodging franchise output to grow about 1.8 percent in 2026.
• Some hospitality operators also evaluate quick service restaurants. The 2026 Jack in the Box Franchise Disclosure Document lists a total estimated initial investment of $1,909,500 to $4,041,500 for a new restaurant, excluding land, financing, and certain other costs.

I'm Dustin Thompson. I work in franchise marketing and development at Jack in the Box, and a surprising amount of my week is spent talking with hotel people. Hospitality groups are some of the most disciplined multi unit operators in franchising, and many of them research restaurant brands and hotel brands side by side.

That is why a burger franchisor publishes a hotel guide. This page started as a resource for the operators who kept asking us how the big lodging systems stack up, and I have refreshed it for 2026 with figures pulled directly from each company's own newsroom, fact sheets, and investor pages. Every number below links to its source so you can verify it yourself.

The seven best hotel franchises in the USA are Hilton, Choice Hotels, Marriott, IHG, Wyndham, Radisson, and Hyatt, listed here in no particular order. Together they franchise tens of thousands of properties, and each takes a different approach to segments, fees, and support.

How Do the Biggest Hotel Franchises Compare in 2026?

The table below uses each company's most recent self reported figures. Companies report on different dates and count properties differently, so treat this as a snapshot rather than an audited ranking.

1. Hilton Worldwide Holdings

Conrad Hilton founded the company in 1919, and it has grown into one of the largest hospitality systems on the planet. Hilton's Q1 2026 fact sheet lists 9,260 properties, 1,362,278 rooms, and 144 countries and territories as of March 31, 2026, spread across 28 brands.

The portfolio runs from Waldorf Astoria and Conrad at the luxury end down through DoubleTree, Hilton Garden Inn, Home2 Suites, and Hampton, with Spark by Hilton serving the premium economy segment. For franchise prospects, the appeal is scale plus the Hilton Honors loyalty engine, which the same fact sheet reports at more than 250 million members.

2. Choice Hotels International

Choice traces back to 1939, when a group of Florida motor courts organized as Quality Courts United. Several name changes later, it became one of the largest pure franchisors in lodging. The company's media center lists over 7,500 hotels, more than 650,000 rooms, and 46 countries and territories across a 22 brand portfolio.

Comfort, Quality Inn, Sleep Inn, Cambria, and WoodSpring Suites anchor the lineup, and the 2022 Radisson Americas acquisition added upscale full service brands. Choice announced its strongest extended stay year on record in 2025, opening 66 extended stay hotels domestically.

3. Marriott International

Founded by J. Willard and Alice Marriott in 1927 and headquartered in Bethesda, Maryland, Marriott now claims the largest property count in the industry. Its corporate page lists more than 30 brands and over 9,900 properties in 146 countries and territories.

High end travelers know Ritz-Carlton, JW Marriott, and St. Regis. Franchise prospects tend to focus on the select service workhorses, Courtyard, Fairfield, SpringHill Suites, and Residence Inn, which carry the Marriott Bonvoy loyalty program into secondary markets.

4. InterContinental Hotels Group (IHG)

IHG Hotels & Resorts is a British multinational headquartered in Windsor, England. Per IHG's July 2026 corporate reporting, the system spans 21 brands, more than one million rooms across 7,000 hotels in over 100 countries, and a development pipeline of another 2,300 properties.

Holiday Inn and Holiday Inn Express remain the volume engines, with Candlewood Suites and Staybridge Suites covering extended stay and Kimpton and InterContinental at the top of the stack. IHG One Rewards counts over 160 million members.

5. Wyndham Hotels & Resorts

Wyndham, headquartered in Parsippany, New Jersey, describes itself on its investor relations page as one of the world's largest hotel franchising companies, with approximately 8,400 hotels across roughly 100 countries on six continents.

The 25 brand portfolio leans economy and midscale, with Super 8, Days Inn, La Quinta, Ramada, Microtel, Baymont, Travelodge, and Howard Johnson among the most recognizable names. Wyndham actively courts both new construction and conversions of existing independent hotels, which keeps its entry paths flexible for owners.

6. Radisson

Radisson's ownership picture changed in 2022, and it trips up a lot of researchers. Choice Hotels completed its acquisition of Radisson Hotels Americas in August 2022 for approximately $675 million, taking on nine brands and roughly 67,000 rooms in the United States, Canada, Latin America, and the Caribbean.

So if you want to franchise a Radisson, Radisson Blu, Country Inn & Suites, or Park Inn property in the Americas, you are working with Choice. Outside the Americas, the brands belong to Radisson Hotel Group, a separate company headquartered in Belgium. The brand itself dates to a Minneapolis hotel, and Curt Carlson's 1962 purchase of it set up decades of expansion.

7. Hyatt Hotels Corporation

Hyatt began in 1957 with the purchase of the Hyatt House at Los Angeles International Airport and is headquartered in Chicago. Per Hyatt's January 2026 announcement, the portfolio included more than 1,450 hotels and all inclusive properties in 82 countries as of September 30, 2025, and the company reported a record pipeline of approximately 148,000 rooms at year end 2025.

Hyatt is the smallest system on this list by property count, and that is by design. It concentrates on upscale, luxury, and all inclusive segments through Park Hyatt, Grand Hyatt, Andaz, and Miraval, backed by the World of Hyatt program with over 63 million members.

How Much Does It Cost to Open a Hotel Franchise?

There is no single answer, and I would be doing you a disservice if I quoted one. Hotel development costs depend on land, room count, construction type, brand standards, and whether you are building new or converting an existing property. Every US franchisor is required by the FTC Franchise Rule to disclose its fees and estimated initial investment in a Franchise Disclosure Document, so the honest move is to request the FDD from each brand you are considering and compare Items 5, 6, 7, and 19 line by line. The FTC's consumer guide to buying a franchise walks through exactly what each Item covers.

Two things I hear again and again from the hotel developers I work with: land is the wild card in the budget, and the construction timeline is the wild card in the calendar. Neither shows up cleanly in a brochure, which is why the FDD comparison matters more than any listicle, including this one.

On the demand side, the sector is still expanding. The IFA's 2026 Franchising Economic Outlook, produced with FRANdata, projects lodging franchise output to grow about 1.8 percent in 2026, with franchising overall reaching roughly 845,000 establishments. Projections are estimates, not guarantees.

How Does a Hotel Franchise Compare to a QSR Franchise?

This is where I can share exact numbers, because they come from our own disclosure document. The Jack in the Box Franchise Disclosure Document issued March 13, 2026 lists a total estimated initial investment of $1,909,500 to $4,041,500 for a new prototypical restaurant, excluding land, financing, and certain other costs. The initial franchise fee is $50,000. Ongoing fees are a 5 percent royalty and a 5 percent marketing fee, each calculated on gross sales. Candidates need $750,000 in minimum liquidity and $1,500,000 in minimum net worth. You can see the full breakdown on our franchise costs page.

For context on revenue scale, Item 19 of the same FDD reports average gross sales of $1,913,335 for fiscal year 2025 among franchised Jack in the Box restaurants in the continental US that were open for the full 12 month period, excluding certain locations such as new openings and convenience store or travel plaza units. That figure is gross sales only, not profit or earnings. Individual restaurant results vary widely around that average, some outlets have earned these amounts, your individual results may differ, and there is no assurance you will earn as much.

The structural differences matter as much as the numbers. A restaurant occupies a smaller parcel than a hotel, opens on a shorter construction timeline, and runs a daypart driven operation instead of a nightly occupancy model. Neither model is better. They are different tools, and plenty of operators hold both.

Why Do Hotel Operators Look at Jack in the Box?

At Jack in the Box, we work with hospitality operators who want to diversify beyond lodging, and the pattern in those conversations is consistent. They already manage real estate, staffing, and guest experience at scale. A drive thru QSR lets them apply those muscles to a different revenue stream, sometimes on land they already control near their hotels. Our Why Jack in the Box page covers the brand fundamentals, and our multi unit development page explains how development agreements work for operators building several restaurants.

Two current programs come up often. The Development Incentive offers a $150,000 interest free construction loan for qualifying franchisees who commit to developing three or more restaurants. The Select Market Incentive reduces the royalty to 2 percent for five years in certain franchisor designated markets. Both programs have eligibility requirements, and both may be modified or discontinued at the franchisor's discretion, so confirm current terms with our team. Qualifying veterans may also receive a 25 percent reduction on the initial franchise fee through our participation in VetFran.

We are actively developing in Florida, Georgia, Illinois, Kentucky, and Tennessee, and you can see where opportunities exist on our available markets page. New franchisees also get structured onboarding, which we detail on our training and support page.

Frequently Asked Questions About Hotel Franchises

What is the largest hotel franchise in the USA?

Among the systems in this guide, Marriott reports the highest global property count, with more than 9,900 properties in 146 countries and territories. Hilton reported 9,260 properties as of March 31, 2026. Rankings shift as companies open and remove hotels, so check each company's current investor materials before relying on any single figure.

Who owns Radisson hotels in the United States?

Choice Hotels. Choice completed its acquisition of Radisson Hotels Americas in August 2022, which covered the Radisson franchise agreements, operations, and intellectual property in the United States, Canada, Latin America, and the Caribbean. Radisson Hotel Group, an unaffiliated company based in Belgium, owns the brands in the rest of the world.

How many hotels does Hilton have in 2026?

Hilton's Q1 2026 fact sheet reports 9,260 properties with 1,362,278 rooms in 144 countries and territories as of March 31, 2026.

How do I compare hotel franchise costs to restaurant franchise costs?

Request the Franchise Disclosure Document from each brand and compare Item 7, which lists the estimated initial investment, along with Items 5 and 6 for fees. As a restaurant reference point, the 2026 Jack in the Box FDD lists $1,909,500 to $4,041,500, excluding land, financing, and certain other costs.

Is the lodging franchise sector growing in 2026?

The IFA and FRANdata project lodging franchise output to grow about 1.8 percent in 2026, part of an overall franchise sector projected to exceed $920 billion in economic output. Projections are estimates and actual results may differ.

What Should You Do Next?

If a hotel franchise is the right fit, start with the FDDs from the systems above and talk to current franchisees in your target markets. 

You can review each step of our qualification and award process on the franchise process page, and when you are ready to talk, contact our franchise team.

This article is for informational purposes only and is not an offer to sell, or the solicitation of an offer to buy, a franchise. Franchise offers are made only through a Franchise Disclosure Document delivered in compliance with applicable law. Third party figures are as reported by the named companies on the dates indicated and are subject to change.

About the author: Dustin Thompson works in Franchise Marketing and Development at Jack in the Box, where he helps multi unit restaurant and hospitality operators evaluate franchise opportunities. Figures attributed to Jack in the Box are drawn from the Franchise Disclosure Document issued by Different Rules, LLC on March 13, 2026. Nothing in this article is a financial performance representation, and no employee or representative of the franchisor is authorized to make one outside of Item 19 of the FDD.