Hotel RL (Red Lion Hotels) franchise: cost, fees & unit track record
Opening a Hotel RL (Red Lion Hotels) franchise takes $1,351,345 – $36,586,945 all-in, per its franchise disclosure filings (data as of 2026-05). The initial franchise fee is $86,945 – $108,445. Ongoing, franchisees pay a royalty of 5% on sales plus an ad-fund contribution of up to 4%. Anything the filings do not state is marked "Not disclosed" below — never estimated.
Hotel RL (Red Lion Hotels) franchise costs and fees
| Verification mark | Cost item | Low | High | Range |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Initial franchise feeOne-time, paid to the franchisor at signing | $86,945 | $108,445 | $86,945 to $108,445 | |
| Initial investment (all-in)FDD Item 7-derived range: build-out, equipment, opening costs | $1,351,345 | $36,586,945 | $1,351,345 to $36,586,945 | |
| Net worth requiredFranchisor's stated qualification minimum | Not disclosed1 | Not disclosed1 | ||
| Liquid cash requiredFranchisor's stated qualification minimum | Not disclosed1 | Not disclosed1 | ||
| Cash to open (all-in range) | $1,351,345 | $36,586,945 | $1,351,345 to $36,586,945 | |
- 1 "Not disclosed" means Hotel RL (Red Lion Hotels)'s filings do not state this figure. We publish the gap instead of estimating it.
| RoyaltyOngoing, % of sales | 5% |
|---|---|
| Ad fundOngoing, % of sales | Up to 4% |
| Initial termLength of the first franchise agreement | 20 years |
See the full Hotel RL (Red Lion Hotels) cost breakdown — what's in that number and what isn't
How Hotel RL (Red Lion Hotels)'s cost compares
A dollar figure means more with a yardstick. Here is where Hotel RL (Red Lion Hotels)'s disclosed cost sits against the Lodging & Leisure category:
- Minimum startup cost of $1,351,345 — about 78% below the Lodging & Leisure median of $6,130,275.
- Initial franchise fee of $86,945 — about 1.4× the Lodging & Leisure median of $63,600.
Category medians are computed from the Lodging & Leisure brands in our data that disclosed each figure — a benchmark for scale, not a quality judgment. See all Lodging & Leisure franchises
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How Hotel RL (Red Lion Hotels)'s units have held up
Openings and closures from FDD Item 20-style unit history, 2019–2021: began the window at 3 units; 5 units opened, 3 closed, ending at 4 units.
What about earnings?
We don't publish per-brand earnings figures — for Hotel RL (Red Lion Hotels) or anyone else. The only primary source is Item 19 of the brand's own franchise disclosure document (FDD), and no law requires a franchisor to publish one, so the "average owner income" numbers circulating elsewhere are usually unsourced or survivorship-biased. Ask Hotel RL (Red Lion Hotels) for its current FDD and read Item 19 yourself — and if there is no Item 19, that silence is information too.
What this data can't tell you
Everything on this page comes from disclosure filings — fees, ranges, and unit counts. Four questions that matter just as much are not in any filing we can source, so we say so instead of guessing:
- The hours and the labor
- No dataset field says whether Hotel RL (Red Lion Hotels) is a manage-from-a-laptop business or a 60-hour week in disguise. Item 15 of the FDD states whether you're obligated to run the business personally, and Item 11 lists what the franchisor actually does for you — then ask current owners what their week looks like (validation calls), not the sales team.
- How hands-on the ownership really is
- "Semi-absentee" is a pitch, not a filing field. Treat any hands-off claim as unverified until it's consistent with Item 15 and with what multiple current franchisees tell you — what absentee ownership actually means.
- Your territory — whether it's protected, and whether it's open
- Two territory questions sit outside our data. Whether Hotel RL (Red Lion Hotels) grants a protected or exclusive area is set in Item 12 of the FDD and varies brand to brand — some grant none, and the carve-outs (online sales, national accounts) matter as much as the map. And filing data can't say what's open in your market this month; only Hotel RL (Red Lion Hotels) can confirm current availability. Ask both before you inquire, and get the answer in writing.
- What owners earn
- Covered honestly above: our dataset has no earnings fields, the only primary source is the brand's own Item 19, and here is how to read that evidence.
About the Hotel RL (Red Lion Hotels) franchise
Hotel RL (Red Lion Hotels) is a lodging & leisure franchisor with 4 units at the end of 2021 (FDD Item 20-style unit history). Between 2019 and 2021, it began the window at 3 units; its filings record 5 unit openings and 3 closures, ending at 4 units. Its parent company is RLH Corp..
No franchise-related lawsuits reported in the disclosure data we hold (FDD Item 3, as of 2026-05) — an absence in our sources, not a guarantee; confirm against the brand's current FDD.
From the franchisor's materials
The franchise offered in this disclosure document is for the rights to operate a Hotel RL-branded hotel.
Hotel RL (Red Lion Hotels) franchise: quick answers
- How much does a Hotel RL (Red Lion Hotels) franchise cost?
- $1,351,345 – $36,586,945 all-in to open, per Hotel RL (Red Lion Hotels)'s franchise disclosure filings (data as of 2026-05).
- How many Hotel RL (Red Lion Hotels) units are there?
- 4 units at the end of 2021 (FDD Item 20-style unit history).
- How have Hotel RL (Red Lion Hotels)'s units held up?
- 62.5% of units at risk between 2019 and 2021 did not close, per our metric recomputed from FDD Item 20-style unit history (methodology published on our verification page).