Red Lion Hotel (Red Lion Hotels) franchise: cost, fees & unit track record
Opening a Red Lion Hotel (Red Lion Hotels) franchise takes $17,074,113 – $23,615,800 all-in, per its franchise disclosure filings (data as of 2026-05). The initial franchise fee is $59,650 – $138,416. Ongoing, franchisees pay a royalty of 5% on sales plus an ad-fund contribution of up to 3%. Anything the filings do not state is marked "Not disclosed" below — never estimated.
Red Lion Hotel (Red Lion Hotels) franchise costs and fees
| Verification mark | Cost item | Low | High | Range |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Initial franchise feeOne-time, paid to the franchisor at signing | $59,650 | $138,416 | $59,650 to $138,416 | |
| Initial investment (all-in)FDD Item 7-derived range: build-out, equipment, opening costs | $17,074,113 | $23,615,800 | $17,074,113 to $23,615,800 | |
| 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) | $17,074,113 | $23,615,800 | $17,074,113 to $23,615,800 | |
- 1 "Not disclosed" means Red Lion Hotel (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 3% |
| Initial termLength of the first franchise agreement | 20 years |
See the full Red Lion Hotel (Red Lion Hotels) cost breakdown — what's in that number and what isn't
How Red Lion Hotel (Red Lion Hotels)'s cost compares
A dollar figure means more with a yardstick. Here is where Red Lion Hotel (Red Lion Hotels)'s disclosed cost sits against the Lodging & Leisure category:
- Minimum startup cost of $17,074,113 — about 2.8× the Lodging & Leisure median of $6,130,275.
- Initial franchise fee of $59,650 — about in line with 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 Red Lion Hotel (Red Lion Hotels)'s units have held up
Openings and closures from FDD Item 20-style unit history, 2012–2017: began the window at 17 units; 63 units opened, 17 closed, ending at 61 units.
What about earnings?
We don't publish per-brand earnings figures — for Red Lion Hotel (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 Red Lion Hotel (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 Red Lion Hotel (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 Red Lion Hotel (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 Red Lion Hotel (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 Red Lion Hotel (Red Lion Hotels) franchise
Red Lion Hotel (Red Lion Hotels) is a lodging & leisure franchisor with 61 units at the end of 2017 (FDD Item 20-style unit history). Between 2012 and 2017, it began the window at 17 units; its filings record 63 unit openings and 17 closures, ending at 61 units. Its parent company is Red Lion Hotels Corporation.
Litigation history not in our data for Red Lion Hotel (Red Lion Hotels) — FDD Item 3 is the primary source to check directly.
From the franchisor's materials
The franchise offered in this disclosure document is for the rights to operate a Red Lion branded hotel.
Red Lion Hotel (Red Lion Hotels) franchise: quick answers
- How much does a Red Lion Hotel (Red Lion Hotels) franchise cost?
- $17,074,113 – $23,615,800 all-in to open, per Red Lion Hotel (Red Lion Hotels)'s franchise disclosure filings (data as of 2026-05).
- How many Red Lion Hotel (Red Lion Hotels) units are there?
- 61 units at the end of 2017 (FDD Item 20-style unit history).
- How have Red Lion Hotel (Red Lion Hotels)'s units held up?
- 82.4% of units at risk between 2015 and 2017 did not close, per our metric recomputed from FDD Item 20-style unit history (methodology published on our verification page).