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Hotel franchise fees › Hotel Indigo

Hotel Indigo Franchise Fees 2024: Royalty, Marketing and Initial Fee

Hotel Indigo is a lifestyle brand from IHG. 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.

5%Royalty
3.5% (Services Contribution)Marketing or program fee
8.5%Royalty plus marketing

Hotel Indigo fees at a glance

Initial fee$500 per room, minimum $75,000
Royalty5%
Marketing or program fee3.5% (Services Contribution)
Royalty plus marketing8.5% of rooms revenue
FranchisorIHG
SegmentLifestyle
Disclosure year2024

Note: Amended 2024 FDD (issued March 28, 2024, amended June 28, 2024) on file with the Minnesota Department of Commerce; IHG has not filed a newer FDD there. Also a loyalty program contribution on member stays.

Source: Read in Hotel Indigo’s 2024 Franchise Disclosure Document (FDD). Source 1

How Hotel Indigo compares

Hotel Indigo’s royalty and marketing fees add up to 8.5% of rooms revenue. That is right at the 8.5% average for the 10 lifestyle brands in our table with a comparable headline figure, the 4th-lowest of the 10.

Lifestyle brandFranchisorRoyaltyMarketingHeadline
Motto by HiltonHilton5%3%8%
Unscripted by HyattHyatt5%3% (Commercial Services Fee; 3.5% with more than 5,000 sq ft of meeting space)8%
TRYP by WyndhamWyndham5%3% (Marketing and Reservation Fee)8%
Caption by HyattHyatt5%3.5% (Commercial Services Fee)8.5%
The StandardXHyatt5%3.5% (Commercial Services Fee)8.5%
The James HotelsSonesta5%3.5% (Brand Promotion Fee; can rise to 4.5%)8.5%
Canopy by HiltonHilton5%4%9%
Tempo by HiltonHilton5%4%9%
Graduate by HiltonHilton5%4%9%
AC HotelsMarriott6%2.5%—

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 IHG 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.

Other IHG brands

Holiday Inn Express · Holiday Inn · Candlewood Suites · Staybridge Suites · Crowne Plaza · Atwell Suites · Garner · voco · EVEN Hotels · Kimpton · InterContinental · Vignette Collection · Noted Collection · avid hotels

Keep going

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.

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