From the filings

HQ-led decisions

Clarion Hotels

Lodging

Software purchasing at Clarion Hotels is controlled at the corporate level, with a tightly mandated tech stack covering PMS, payments, and loyalty. The brand operates 172 franchised locations with no company-owned units, and the most recent 2026 FDD names Patrick S. Pacious (President and CEO) and Dominic E. Dragisich (EVP, Operations and Chief Global Brand Officer) among the key executives. For vendors, this means a single buying center and a clear set of incumbent systems to displace or integrate with.

For software vendors selling into US franchise brands.

Live signals

Total units
172
172 franchised
Unit growth YoY
—
vs prior filing
AUV
—
Item 19, 2026
Royalty
5.5%
of gross sales
Ad fund
3.25%
national + local
Initial fee
$45K
per unit
Investment range
$478K–$3.09M
all-in, Item 7
Procurement
—
from the filing
Item 19
Claims
from the filing

Ongoing fee load

What the operator pays every month

The recurring percentage of gross sales named in this filing, before rent, labour or any technology fee.

8.75%of gross sales (FY2026)

Ongoing fees: 8.75% of gross sales (FY2026)Royalty 5.5%, Ad fund 3.25%. Total 8.75% of gross sales. Drawn against a 15% reference scale.

15% reference

Royalty 5.5%Ad fund 3.25%

Mandated & recommended tech

The systems vendors compete with

Systems named in Item 11 of this filing. None is recorded as mandated here, which is not the same as the filing mandating nothing. Read Item 11 before treating the category as open.

Amadeus
SchedulingItem 5

and other internet reservations sites (such as online travel agencies). Our CRS provides a data link to our franchised properties as well as to travel reservation systems such as Amadeus, Galileo, SAB

Galileo
SchedulingItem 5

r internet reservations sites (such as online travel agencies). Our CRS provides a data link to our franchised properties as well as to travel reservation systems such as Amadeus, Galileo, SABRE and W

Sabre
BookingItem 5

t reservations sites (such as online travel agencies). Our CRS provides a data link to our franchised properties as well as to travel reservation systems such as Amadeus, Galileo, SABRE and Worldspan

Sage 50
AccountingItem 2

ranchise Sales Development: Jamey Cua Mr. Cua has been Vice President, Franchise Sales Development since November 2022. Previously, he was Vice President, Business Development for Peachtree Hospitalit

Shift4
PaymentsItem 11

tem is only available from Shift4 Payments, a Nevada corporation, with a business address at 1491 Center Crossing Road, Las Vegas, Nevada 89144. You will make payments directly to Shift4. 71 Clarion -

SkyTouch
Industry softwareItem 1

subsidiary of Choice. As of December 31, 2025, there were approximately 1,388 Choice franchised hotels operating in these various countries. In 2013, we established a subsidiary, SkyTouch Solutions, L

TripAdvisor
Industry softwareItem 9

res that you allow Choice to publish and/or retain your ResConnect program number on Digital Channels as designated by Choice, such as but not limited to Choicehotels.com, Google, Tripadvisor, and Bin

Worldspan
SchedulingItem 5

ions sites (such as online travel agencies). Our CRS provides a data link to our franchised properties as well as to travel reservation systems such as Amadeus, Galileo, SABRE and Worldspan that facil

Franchisor behaviours

What the franchisor requires

21 requirements the franchisor states in this filing, each in its own words; 4 explicit no's; 9 questions the text does not settle, which is not a no.

Accounting

Does the franchisor have direct or independent electronic access to the franchisee's financial, sales or customer records?

Yes

Item 11

We will have independent access to the information that will be generated by the choiceADVANTAGE® property management system and will use the information and data to identify trends, as well as to perform statistical analysis for improvement of the brand standards, as well as the overall Choice franchise system.

Must the franchisee submit periodic financial statements (monthly, quarterly or annual) to the franchisor?

Yes

Franchise agreement

calendar month during the Term, you will send us a statement on a form to be determined by us showing the Gross Room Revenues, occupancy and other related information that we request for the immediately preceding month

How the franchisor buys

Is the franchisor or an affiliate itself a supplier of required products, services or systems?

Yes

Item 9

We reserve the right to require you to purchase any or all approved products or services solely from us or our designated affiliate, and who may profit from such purchases.

Is there a franchisee advisory council, association or committee?

Yes

Item 11

As of the date of this Disclosure Document, we may periodically assemble franchise advisory councils who meet with corporate representatives to advise on issues relating to the System (including advertising issues).

Does the franchisor or an affiliate receive rebates, commissions or other revenue from designated or approved suppliers?

Yes

Item 8

The Company generates revenue from qualified vendors.

Can a franchisee propose a new supplier for the franchisor's approval?

Yes

Item 9

If you desire to purchase designated products or services from a party other than a Qualified Vendor, you must submit to us a written request to approve the proposed supplier, together with such information as we may reasonably require.

Data and IT

Must the franchisee comply with PCI, data-security or cybersecurity standards set by the franchisor?

Yes

Item 9

You also acknowledge and agree that you are obligated to comply with all information security and data privacy standards and requirements contained in the Rules and Regulations and all applicable federal and state laws, regulations, and standards relating to information security and data privacy, including, without…

Franchise management

Does the franchisor conduct periodic inspections, audits or evaluations of the franchised business?

Yes

Item 11

We will administer a quality assurance program that may include periodic visits to your hotel (by us or our authorized representatives) and/or guest satisfaction surveys to evaluate your compliance with your franchise agreement and the Rules and Regulations.

Can the franchisor change the operations manual and brand standards unilaterally?

Yes

Item 11

We may periodically revise, add to or update brand standards and other requirements by issuing revisions to the Rules and Regulations and other manuals that we may publish.

Must the franchisor approve the franchisee's site or location before opening?

Yes

Item 11

We must approve the site you select.

Marketing

Is the franchisee prohibited from operating its own website or social media accounts, or required to use pages the franchisor provides?

Yes

Item 13

You may not participate in any website or other electronic media (including social media) that markets goods and services under the Choice Marks unless it is first approved in writing by us.

Must the franchisee participate in a customer loyalty or rewards program?

Yes

Franchise agreement

the supply to us of all information and the purchase of any supplies, equipment or services) to participate in any loyalty, discount or promotional programs

Operations

Must the franchisee buy products from a designated distributor?

Yes

Item 9

You must also purchase all products and services that we designate in the Rules and Regulations solely from suppliers (including manufacturers, distributors and other sources) approved by us (collectively, “Qualified Vendors”)

Must equipment be purchased from designated or approved suppliers?

Yes

Franchise agreement

You must also purchase all products and services that we designate in the Rules and Regulations solely from suppliers (including manufacturers, distributors and other sources) approved by us (collectively, “Qualified Vendors”)

Payments

Must the franchisee use a payment processor or merchant-services provider designated or approved by the franchisor?

Yes

Item 11

The required EMV software for processing credit card payments through choiceADVANTAGE ® property management system is only available from Shift4 Payments, a Nevada corporation, with a business address at 1491 Center Crossing Road, Las Vegas, Nevada 89144.

Are royalties and other fees collected by automatic bank debit (ACH or electronic funds transfer) from the franchisee's account?

Yes

Item 9

You are required to pay all amounts due to us and/or our affiliates by electronic fund transfer, pre-authorized auto-draft arrangement (“EFT”), or such other method as we may specify from time to time.

Must the franchisee participate in a gift card program?

Yes

Franchise agreement

Participate in and honor the terms of any loyalty, discount or promotional program and pay all applicable fees or charges associated with such programs (including any room discounts, rewards programs, frequent traveler programs, photographic or virtual tour programs or gift card programs that are applicable to the…

People

Does the franchisor require minimum staffing levels or specific roles?

Yes

Item 11

You must have at least one hotel staff member who is in a managerial role and is present on the hotel premises operations certified by attending the HOST program.

Point of sale

Does the franchisor have independent access to the data in the franchisee's POS or computer system?

Yes

Item 11

We will have independent access to the information that will be generated by the choiceADVANTAGE® property management system and will use the information and data to identify trends, as well as to perform statistical analysis for improvement of the brand standards, as well as the overall Choice franchise system.

Training

Can the franchisor charge the franchisee for additional, refresher or remedial training?

Yes

Item 11

We reserve the right to charge you a tuition fee for these additional training programs as established by us from time to time.

Is attendance at an annual convention or conference mandatory for the franchisee?

Yes

Item 11

You must comply with our training requirements by ensuring that you and the Hotel’s general manager(s) attend (at the times required by us) our then-current training programs, including our annual national convention for hotels authorized to use the System.

The filing answers no to 4 questions
  • Must the franchisee participate in a customer-satisfaction or net-promoter survey program?Item 11
  • Is a minimum grand opening advertising spend required?Franchise agreement
  • Is the franchisee required to spend a minimum amount on local advertising or marketing, as a percentage of sales or a fixed amount?Item 11
  • Must the franchisee participate in a regional advertising cooperative when one exists?Item 11

The vendor opportunity at Clarion Hotels

Clarion Hotels presents a concentrated, 172-unit addressable market for software vendors selling into lodging franchises. All 172 locations are franchised; the brand reports no company-owned properties. The operator base is highly fragmented — the FDD maps 18 operators, all single-unit, with no multi-unit groups on file. Top states by unit count include Colorado (2), Texas (2), Virginia (2), North Carolina (2), and Arizona (2), suggesting a dispersed national footprint rather than regional clustering. Average unit volume (AUV) and royalty percentages are not disclosed in the most recent FDD. The initial franchise term runs 20 years, which implies long replacement cycles for core systems unless a brand-wide mandate forces a change.

Who controls software purchasing

Purchasing authority sits at the corporate level. The 2026 FDD Item 1 names Patrick S. Pacious as Director, President and Chief Executive Officer, and Dominic E. Dragisich as Executive Vice President, Operations and Chief Global Brand Officer. For a software vendor, the operations and brand leadership function under Dragisich is the most natural entry point — this role typically oversees the technology ecosystem that franchisees must adopt. Additional C-suite names on file include Patrick J. Cimerola (Chief Human Resources Officer), David A. Pepper (SVP, Chief Development Officer), and Scott E. Oaksmith (Chief Financial Officer). No dedicated CIO or CTO is listed, which may mean technology decisions roll up through operations or finance.

Mandated and current tech stack

Clarion Hotels mandates a specific, named suite of systems. The FDD lists choiceADVANTAGE as the property management system, ChoiceConnect and ChoiceNow as operational or connectivity platforms, Shift4 Payments for payment processing, SkyTouch Technology (a cloud-based hotel operations platform), and the Choice Privileges loyalty program. All are designated as mandated — there is no mention of optional or recommended alternatives. For a vendor, this stack defines both the incumbents you must displace and the integration points you must support. Shift4’s presence as the mandated processor is particularly notable; any fintech or payments-adjacent tool must either complement or compete with that relationship.

Procurement, renewals, and timing

The FDD does not extract a procurement framework from Item 8, so the formal supplier designation process — whether designated, approved, or open — is not publicly characterized. Given the fully mandated tech stack, however, the practical model is almost certainly a designated-supplier arrangement. Item 17, which would typically describe renewal, modification, or re-negotiation windows, also yields no extract. Combined with the 20-year initial term, this suggests that contract cycles are not publicly telegraphed. Vendors should monitor leadership changes, brand repositioning efforts, or major Choice Hotels corporate initiatives for signals that a system review is underway.

How to read the Clarion Hotels FDD

The 2026 Franchise Disclosure Document is the authoritative source for the unit counts, executive roster, and mandated systems cited here. It is filed with state franchise regulators and available in the embedded viewer on this page. When reading the FDD, focus on Item 1 (executives), Item 11 (franchisor’s obligations around technology and mandated systems), Item 8 (procurement restrictions), and Item 17 (renewal and termination). These sections contain the signals that matter for software sales qualification. If you need a ranked target list of franchise brands matched to your software category, FranCloud can build that from FDD data across the entire lodging segment.

Questions vendors ask

Clarion Hotels, answered from the filing

The 2026 FDD lists Patrick S. Pacious (President and CEO) and Dominic E. Dragisich (EVP, Operations and Chief Global Brand Officer) as key executives. Purchasing decisions likely route through operations and brand leadership.
The FDD mandates choiceADVANTAGE (PMS), ChoiceConnect, ChoiceNow, Shift4 Payments (processing), SkyTouch Technology, and the Choice Privileges loyalty program. No optional or recommended systems are disclosed.
There are 172 franchised Clarion Hotels units in the US. No company-owned locations are reported. The operator footprint shows 18 single-unit operators across states including CO, TX, VA, NC, and AZ.
The 2026 FDD does not extract a specific procurement model from Item 8. Vendors should assume a designated-supplier or mandated-vendor structure given the tightly prescribed tech stack.
The FDD provides no renewal or contract-cycle extract from Item 17. With a 20-year initial term and no disclosed renewal triggers, timing is opaque. Monitor executive changes or brand refresh cycles for signals.
The 2026 FDD is filed with state franchise regulators. You can view the embedded PDF viewer below to read the full disclosure document directly.
Source

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Clarion Hotels2026 FDDView only

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The brands you can actually sell into, from the filings.

Operator footprint

Who runs the locations

18 operators run 18 mapped locations. 0 of them are multi-unit. Aggregate counts from the filing; no names.

Operators by units owned

Single-unit18

Top states by locations

CO2
TX2
VA2
NC2
AZ2

Related Lodging brands

Primary franchise filings · updated June 2026. Every figure is source-traceable and QA-checked.