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GrandStay Hotels Franchise Fees 2026: Royalty, Marketing and Initial Fee
GrandStay Hotels is an upper midscale brand from GrandStay. Here is what it charges to join and to stay in the system, where the numbers come from, and how they compare with similar brands.
GrandStay Hotels fees at a glance
| Initial fee | $35,000 |
|---|---|
| Royalty | 5% |
| Marketing or program fee | 2% |
| Royalty plus marketing | 7% of rooms revenue |
| Franchisor | GrandStay |
| Segment | Upper midscale |
| Disclosure year | 2026 |
Note: Initial fee confirmed for 2026; royalty and advertising rates are from an older listing.
Source: From an automated franchise research site. Treat these figures as estimates until confirmed in the brand’s FDD. Source 1 · Source 2
How GrandStay Hotels compares
GrandStay Hotels’s royalty and marketing fees add up to 7% of rooms revenue. That is below the 8.7% average for the 11 upper midscale brands in our table with a comparable headline figure, the lowest of the 11.
| Upper midscale brand | Franchisor | Royalty | Marketing | Headline |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Holiday Inn | IHG | 5% | 3% (Services Contribution) | 8% |
| Hyatt Select | Hyatt | 5% | 3% (Commercial Services Fee) | 8% |
| Wyndham Garden | Wyndham | 5% | 3% (Marketing and Global Sales Fee) | 8% |
| Wingate by Wyndham | Wyndham | 5.5% | 3% (System Assessment Fee) | 8.5% |
| Undergraduate by Hilton | Hilton | 5% | 4% | 9% |
| Holiday Inn Express | IHG | 6% | 3% (Services Contribution) | 9% |
| Comfort Inn | Choice Hotels | 6% | 3.5% (Marketing and Reservation Fee) | 9.5% |
| Comfort Suites | Choice Hotels | 6% | 3.5% (Marketing and Reservation Fee) | 9.5% |
| Country Inn & Suites by Radisson | Choice Hotels | 6% | 3.5% (Marketing and Reservation Fee) | 9.5% |
| Hampton by Hilton | Hilton | 6% | 4% | 10% |
What it costs on a typical hotel
Take a 100-room GrandStay Hotels running 70% occupancy at a $130 average daily rate. That is about $3,321,500 in rooms revenue a year.
| Royalty (5%) | $166,075 a year |
| Marketing (2%) | $66,430 a year |
| Royalty plus marketing | $232,505 a year |
Illustrative math by The Hotelier Times, not a quote. It leaves out reservation, loyalty, technology and other program fees, which usually push the real total higher.
What the headline number leaves out
Royalty and marketing are only the start. Most brands also charge for reservations and distribution, loyalty-program assessments on member stays, required technology and property-management systems, training and quality assurance. Brands also negotiate: ramp-up royalty discounts, key money and conversion incentives are common. Ask GrandStay for its estimate of total fees as a share of rooms revenue, and read Items 5 and 6 of the current FDD before you sign. Our analysis of what owners really pay a brand puts the typical all-in bill at 10% to 13% of rooms revenue.
Keep going
- Compare franchise fees for all 164 brands
- Price per key, cap rate and OTA cost calculators
- Hotels for sale across the U.S.
- 2026 hotel sales tracker
The Hotelier Times is a publisher, not a franchise adviser. Fees change; confirm every figure in the brand’s current Franchise Disclosure Document. Spot an error? Email nathan@hoteliertimes.com.