You are required to use our central reservation system (“CRS”). Our CRS consists of our toll-free telephone reservation system, our proprietary internet sites, mobile phone and tablet reservation applications, interfaces with global distribution systems, 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, SABRE and Worldspan that facilitate the reservation process for travel agents and corporate travelers. We also offer rooms for rent on our website (http://www.choicehotels.com) and mobile applications as well as those of online travel agents (OTAs) and other third-party internet referral or booking services. Our toll-free telephone reservation system primarily utilizes third-party call center service providers. Reservation agents trained on the reservation system have the goal of matching each caller with a Choice-branded hotel meeting the caller’s needs. We also operate a call forwarding program through which our franchisees can leverage our CRS capabilities by forwarding reservation calls received directly by the property to one of our reservation centers. Some components of the CRS have separate fees, as further described in Item 6 below. We also continue to upgrade our technology to ensure that our CRS can effectively handle the current and future volume on digital channels and support the
From the filings
Clarion Hotels
LodgingSoftware 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
Ordinary royalty terms
5.5% component; full terms unconfirmed
Complete royalty terms are not confirmed for the selected filing.
Recorded percentage components
These are recorded percentage components. Each has its own base and conditions; the chart does not state the total payment or confirm ad-fund completeness.
1recorded components (FY2026)
15% reference
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.
You are required to use our central reservation system (“CRS”). Our CRS consists of our toll-free telephone reservation system, our proprietary internet sites, mobile phone and tablet reservation applications, interfaces with global distribution systems, 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, SABRE and Worldspan that facilitate the reservation process for travel agents and corporate travelers. We also offer rooms for rent on our website (http://www.choicehotels.com) and mobile applications as well as those of online travel agents (OTAs) and other third-party internet referral or booking services. Our toll-free telephone reservation system primarily utilizes third-party call center service providers. Reservation agents trained on the reservation system have the goal of matching each caller with a Choice-branded hotel meeting the caller’s needs. We also operate a call forwarding program through which our franchisees can leverage our CRS capabilities by forwarding reservation calls received directly by the property to one of our reservation centers. Some components of the CRS have separate fees, as further described in Item 6 below. We also continue to upgrade our technology to ensure that our CRS can effectively handle the current and future volume on digital channels and support the
You are required to use our central reservation system (“CRS”). Our CRS consists of our toll-free telephone reservation system, our proprietary internet sites, mobile phone and tablet reservation applications, interfaces with global distribution systems, 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, SABRE and Worldspan that facilitate the reservation process for travel agents and corporate travelers. We also offer rooms for rent on our website (http://www.choicehotels.com) and mobile applications as well as those of online travel agents (OTAs) and other third-party internet referral or booking services. Our toll-free telephone reservation system primarily utilizes third-party call center service providers. Reservation agents trained on the reservation system have the goal of matching each caller with a Choice-branded hotel meeting the caller’s needs. We also operate a call forwarding program through which our franchisees can leverage our CRS capabilities by forwarding reservation calls received directly by the property to one of our reservation centers. Some components of the CRS have separate fees, as further described in Item 6 below. We also continue to upgrade our technology to ensure that our CRS can effectively handle the current and future volume on digital channels and support the
We require chip-enabled credit card acceptance (EMV) hardware for use in your hotel. We estimate the cost of each device, including programming, to be approximately $875. Fees may vary based on the number of devices required for your hotel. We also require EMV software for use in your hotel. 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. You will make payments directly to Shift4. 71 Clarion - Franchise Disclosure Document - April 1, 2026 Shift4 is a Qualified Vendor. See Item 8 of this Disclosure Document.
1 Clarion - Franchise Disclosure Document - April 1, 2026 of direct franchising and master franchising or master development relationships since approximately 1958. Our indirect subsidiary, Choice Hotels Licensing B.V. (“Choice BV”), a private limited liability company formed in the Netherlands on June 8, 2000, has been a franchisor or a master franchisor of our various Choice hotel brands internationally. Since July 2024, we have been the franchisor of our brands in the Caribbean and Latin America region. Our international operations are primarily conducted in the following countries and territories, as organized by region: (1) Asia-Pacific - Australia, China, India, Japan, and New Zealand, and these have been mainly our ASCEND, CLARION, COMFORT, ECONO LODGE, MAINSTAY SUITES, and QUALITY INN brands; (2) Europe & Middle East – Andorra, Austria, Czech Republic, Denmark, Faroe Islands, Finland, France, Germany, Ireland, Italy, Kingdom of Saudi Arabia, Lithuania, Norway, Portugal, Slovakia, Spain, Sweden, Turkey, and the United Kingdom, and these have been mainly our ASCEND, CLARION, COMFORT, ECONO LODGE, and QUALITY INN brands; and (3) Latin America & Canada – Argentina, Aruba, Bahamas, Barbados, Bolivia, Brazil, Canada, Chile, Colombia, Costa Rica, Dominican Republic, Ecuador, El Salvador, Grenada, Guatemala, Honduras, Mexico, Panama, Peru, Puerto Rico, Sint Maarten, Suriname, Trinidad and Tobago, Uruguay, and U.S. Virgin Islands and these have been our ASCEND, CLARION, COMFORT, COUNTRY INN & SUITES, ECONO LODGE, MAINSTAY SUITES, PARK INN, RADISSON, RADISSON BLU, RADISSON INDIVIDUALS, RADISSON RED, RODEWAY, QUALITY INN, and SLEEP INN brands. Choice BV’s wholly owned subsidiary, Choice Hotels France, S.A.S. (a French company incorporated in France on November 23, 2006), conducts franchise operations in France. Choice BV’s wholly owned subsidiary, Choice Hotels Asia-Pac Pty. Ltd. (an Australia company incorporated on March 30, 1998), conducts franchise operations in Australia and New Zealand. Prior to June 2025, Choice (through direct or indirect subsidiaries) franchised the following brands in Canada: CAMBRIA, COUNTRY INN & SUITES® BY RADISSON, EVERHOME, MAINSTAY, PARK INN BY RADISSON, RADISSON BLU, RADISSON®, RADISSON INDIVIDUALS, SUBURBAN STUDIOS and WOODSPRING. For its other brands (ASCEND COLLECTION, COMFORT, CLARION, ECONO LODGE, QUALITY, RODEWAY INN, and SLEEP INN brands) these were franchised pursuant to a master franchise agreement with Choice Hotels Canada, Inc. (“CHC”) a corporation incorporated on May 21, 2008 under the laws of the Province of Ontario, pursuant to a master franchise agreement. CHC was equally owned by Choice Hotels International Licensing ULC, a company formed in May 2008 under the laws of the Province of Alberta, Canada, and a wholly owned subsidiary of Choice BV, and by InnVest Management Holdings Limited. In July 2025, Choice acquired the remaining 50% stake in CHC from InnVest Hotels, taking full ownership to transition from a master franchising model to a direct, 100% owned model. These brands are now franchised directly by a direct or indirect 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, LLC, that developed and marketed cloud-based technology products, including inventory management, pricing and connectivity to third party channels, to hoteliers who do not have franchise agreements with us. Prior to the dissolution of this entity on December 31, 2025, all trademarks, assets, and liabilities were assigned to Choice.
You are required to use our central reservation system (“CRS”). Our CRS consists of our toll-free telephone reservation system, our proprietary internet sites, mobile phone and tablet reservation applications, interfaces with global distribution systems, 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, SABRE and Worldspan that facilitate the reservation process for travel agents and corporate travelers. We also offer rooms for rent on our website (http://www.choicehotels.com) and mobile applications as well as those of online travel agents (OTAs) and other third-party internet referral or booking services. Our toll-free telephone reservation system primarily utilizes third-party call center service providers. Reservation agents trained on the reservation system have the goal of matching each caller with a Choice-branded hotel meeting the caller’s needs. We also operate a call forwarding program through which our franchisees can leverage our CRS capabilities by forwarding reservation calls received directly by the property to one of our reservation centers. Some components of the CRS have separate fees, as further described in Item 6 below. We also continue to upgrade our technology to ensure that our CRS can effectively handle the current and future volume on digital channels and support the
Franchisor behaviours
What the franchisor requires
22 requirements the franchisor states in this filing, each in its own words; 4 explicit no's; 8 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?
YesItem 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?
YesFranchise 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?
YesItem 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?
YesItem 11
Currently, the Choice Hotels Owners Council (CHOC), the Econo Lodge Franchisee Association and the Rodeway Owners’ Association administer voluntary regional marketing cooperatives (“Marketing Cooperatives”), which we support.
Does the franchisor reserve the right to change designated suppliers or systems at any time?
YesItem 9
Choice reserves the right to update, modify, replace, terminate or otherwise change, at any time and in our sole discretion, any interfaces
Does the franchisor or an affiliate receive rebates, commissions or other revenue from designated or approved suppliers?
YesItem 8
The Company generates revenue from qualified vendors.
Can a franchisee propose a new supplier for the franchisor's approval?
YesItem 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?
YesItem 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?
YesItem 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?
YesItem 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?
YesItem 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?
YesItem 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?
YesFranchise 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?
YesItem 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?
YesFranchise 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?
YesItem 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?
YesItem 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?
YesFranchise 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?
YesItem 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?
YesItem 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?
YesItem 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?
YesItem 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. 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.
Ordinary royalty terms
Complete royalty terms are not confirmed.
Questions vendors ask
Clarion Hotels, answered from the filing
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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
Top states by locations
| CO | 2 |
|---|---|
| TX | 2 |
| VA | 2 |
| NC | 2 |
| AZ | 2 |
Ownership
The portfolio behind Clarion Hotels
Ownership: Choice Hotels.
Sibling brands
Related Lodging brands
Primary franchise filings · updated June 2026. Read the original filing for definitions, conditions, and qualifications.