Hampton Inn / Holiday Inn Express / Marriott Select: 2026 Brand-Flag Cap Rate Guide

Stabilized PIP-current Hampton Inns, Holiday Inn Express, and Marriott select-service flags are clearing the market in a 7.25 to 8.75 percent cap range as of Q2 2026 (HVS US Market Pulse, April 2026; CBRE H2 2025 Hotel Cap Rate Survey). Sun Belt secondary markets trade roughly 75 basis points wider than primary urban; tertiary markets trade another 50 to 100 basis points wider than secondary. Within each market tier, the PIP-current premium runs 50 to 125 basis points versus PIP-overhang assets. Royalty and marketing fees, loyalty channel contribution, and franchise term remaining are the three within-brand variables that explain most of the residual spread.

What is a brand-flag cap rate, and why does it differ by parent. A select-service hotel cap rate is the trailing or stabilized net operating income divided by purchase price. The flag itself does not set the cap rate; the buyer pool does. But buyer pools cluster by flag because the underwriting is flag-specific. Hampton Inn underwriters work from a known Hilton Honors mix and a known PIP cycle. Holiday Inn Express underwriters work from a known IHG One Rewards mix and a known IHG Express renovation cadence. Marriott select underwriters work from a known Bonvoy mix and Marriott's brand-standards refresh schedule. The per-flag underwriting playbooks produce per-flag pricing bands. We document those bands below from publicly disclosed franchise economics, recently filed franchise disclosure documents (FDDs), and our own transaction file.

Hampton Inn (Hilton). Hilton's Hampton family is the largest single-flag select-service brand in the U.S. with roughly 2,800 properties open globally and the highest unit count in U.S. hospitality (Hilton 2024 10-K). Hampton's franchise economics from Hilton's most recently filed FDD (issued 2025, public via Wisconsin and California state filings) carry a 6 percent royalty fee on gross room revenue plus a 4 percent program fee for marketing, reservations, and loyalty, for an effective 10 percent franchise load. Hilton Honors typically contributes 60 to 70 percent of room nights at a stabilized U.S. Hampton (Hilton investor presentations, Q4 2025), the highest loyalty mix among the three flags covered here. Hampton's standard franchise term is 15 to 20 years; PIP cycle runs 7 to 10 years.

Where Hampton trades in 2026. Stabilized PIP-current Hampton Inns in Sun Belt secondary markets price in a 7.50 to 8.50 percent cap range. Stabilized Hamptons in primary urban Sun Belt metros (Austin, Dallas-Fort Worth, Atlanta, Nashville, Tampa) price 7.25 to 8.00 percent. Tertiary-market Hamptons price 8.25 to 9.25 percent, with the wider end reflecting smaller buyer pools and the franchise-license-extension question. PIP-overhang Hamptons (renovation due in 18 months or less) trade 50 to 125 basis points wider than the PIP-current band in the same market. Recent comp: HVS reported select-service Hilton-flagged transactions averaging $156,000 per key in H2 2025 across the markets where transaction data was publicly disclosed (HVS Hotel Sales Data, Q1 2026 report).

Hampton buyer pool. Hampton attracts the broadest select-service buyer pool of the three flags. The dedicated select-service public REITs (Apple Hospitality, Summit Hotel Properties, Chatham Lodging Trust, Service Properties Trust) hold material Hampton exposure (each company's most recent 10-K supplemental). Family offices and HNW first-time hotel buyers compete for single-asset Hamptons in the $8 to $20 million range. PE select-service roll-ups bid for portfolios in the $50 to $300 million range. AAHOA-network owner-operators dominate the smaller secondary and tertiary deals. The breadth of the bid is itself a cap rate compressor of 25 to 50 basis points versus comparably positioned IHG and Marriott select-service flags in the same market.

Holiday Inn Express (IHG). IHG's Holiday Inn Express is the second-largest select-service brand in the U.S. by unit count, with approximately 2,300 properties (IHG 2024 annual report). IHG's most recently filed Holiday Inn Express FDD (issued 2025) shows a 6 percent royalty fee plus a 3 percent system fund (marketing) fee plus reservation contribution, for an effective franchise load in the 9.5 to 10 percent range depending on system charges. IHG One Rewards (the unified loyalty program launched 2022) typically contributes 50 to 60 percent of room nights at a stabilized U.S. HIE (IHG investor day presentations, 2024 and 2025), measurably below Hampton's Hilton Honors mix. Standard franchise term: 10 to 15 years. PIP cycle: 10 years, with the IHG Express renovation program (rolled out 2023) as the active design refresh.

Where Holiday Inn Express trades in 2026. Stabilized PIP-current HIE in Sun Belt secondary markets prices in a 7.75 to 8.50 percent cap range. Primary urban HIE prices 7.50 to 8.25 percent. Tertiary HIE prices 8.50 to 9.50 percent. The HIE within-flag spread to Hampton runs 25 to 50 basis points wider in most markets, attributable primarily to the loyalty mix delta and to the IHG Express renovation overhang on properties that have not yet completed the program. Properties that have completed IHG Express renovation in the past 24 months trade at the tight end of their market band; properties scheduled for the program in the next 18 months trade at the wide end.

Holiday Inn Express buyer pool. The HIE buyer pool overlaps heavily with Hampton at the institutional end (Apple Hospitality, Summit, Chatham, Service Properties Trust) but skews more toward franchise-experienced owner-operators and PE roll-ups in the middle of the market. IHG-affiliated operating groups, where they exist, occasionally come into the bid for portfolio acquisitions in their geographies. The PE select-service roll-up bid is most aggressive on portfolios that combine HIE with Staybridge Suites or Candlewood Suites (the IHG extended-stay flags), which produces operating-platform synergies the bidders model in their underwriting.

Marriott select-service: Fairfield Inn, Courtyard, SpringHill Suites, TownePlace Suites. Marriott International's select-service stack covers four primary flags. Fairfield Inn & Suites is the upper-midscale entry point, comparable in positioning to Hampton and HIE. Courtyard by Marriott sits at upscale select-service, with a higher capex base and ADR ceiling. SpringHill Suites is upscale all-suites. TownePlace Suites is upper-midscale extended-stay. Marriott's most recently filed FDDs (issued 2025, public via state filings including Maryland and Wisconsin) show royalty fees of 5 percent for Fairfield, 6 percent for Courtyard and SpringHill, and 5 percent for TownePlace, with marketing program fees in the 2 to 3 percent range plus loyalty contribution charges. Effective franchise loads: Fairfield 8 to 9 percent, Courtyard 10 to 11 percent, SpringHill 9 to 10 percent, TownePlace 8 to 9 percent. Bonvoy contributes 55 to 65 percent of room nights at stabilized U.S. Marriott select-service properties (Marriott 2024 10-K and 2025 investor presentations).

Where Marriott select-service trades in 2026. Fairfield Inn & Suites in Sun Belt secondary prices in a 7.75 to 8.75 percent cap range, comparable to HIE and modestly wider than Hampton. Courtyard by Marriott in primary urban Sun Belt prices 7.25 to 8.00 percent for stabilized PIP-current assets, comparable to Hampton in the same markets. SpringHill Suites trades in a similar band to Courtyard, with the all-suites configuration commanding a 10 to 25 basis point compression from buyers who prioritize the room-product. TownePlace Suites, as extended-stay product, trades 25 to 50 basis points tighter than the upper-midscale select-service comparables in the same market on the back of consistent extended-stay performance through 2024 and 2025 (STR extended-stay performance reports, 2025). Recent comp: a representative Sun Belt secondary Courtyard transaction in Q1 2026 cleared at approximately $142,000 per key on a 7.95 percent stabilized cap (publicly reported in the press release).

Marriott select-service buyer pool. Marriott select attracts the same dedicated select-service REITs as Hampton and HIE, with Apple Hospitality and Summit Hotel Properties holding particular concentration in Courtyard and Residence Inn (the extended-stay sister flag to TownePlace). DiamondRock Hospitality has historically taken Courtyard exposure. Family offices and PE roll-ups bid Fairfield in the same band as Hampton and HIE. Courtyard portfolios attract the deepest institutional bid of the four Marriott select flags because the unit economics support a per-key check size that fits institutional underwriting minimums.

Comp set behavior across the three families. Within a typical Sun Belt secondary market, a Hampton Inn, a Holiday Inn Express, and a Courtyard or Fairfield Inn & Suites will sit in the same effective comp set. The flags compete for the same demand. RevPAR index reporting (STR) typically shows the three flags within 5 to 10 index points of each other in stabilized markets, with the leader rotating based on local Hilton Honors versus Bonvoy versus IHG One Rewards corporate-account penetration. The within-comp-set rotation is the single most important variable for the within-flag premium that buyers will pay. A Hampton with a 110 STR index is materially more valuable than the same Hampton with a 95 index, and the within-flag valuation premium can run 50 to 100 basis points of cap rate.

PIP cycles and how buyers price them. All three franchisors operate on roughly 7 to 10 year PIP cycles, with the renovation program updated periodically. Hilton's Hampton standard refresh runs in the $12,000 to $25,000 per-key range depending on configuration and condition. IHG's Express renovation program runs in the $15,000 to $30,000 per-key range. Marriott's select-service PIPs run a wider band, $15,000 to $40,000 per-key, with Courtyard refreshes at the upper end and Fairfield at the lower end (industry-published PIP cost ranges; FDD-disclosed renovation requirements). Buyers price PIP exposure by deducting the full undepreciated PIP cost from value at the cap rate they would underwrite the asset at post-renovation, then adding back the construction risk and time discount. The implied valuation drag for a property facing a $1.5 million PIP within 18 months is materially larger than the headline PIP cost, often 1.5 to 2.0 times.

Royalty and marketing fee load: the per-flag math. Effective franchise load (royalty plus marketing plus reservation plus loyalty contribution charges) varies meaningfully across the three families. Hampton: approximately 10 percent of gross room revenue. HIE: approximately 9.5 to 10 percent. Marriott select: 8 to 11 percent depending on flag. The 50 to 100 basis points of franchise load delta translates into measurable NOI delta and, at constant cap rate, into per-key value delta. A 100 basis point franchise load reduction at 70 percent occupancy and $130 ADR and a 7.75 percent cap rate produces approximately $4,200 per key of additional value. Buyers underwrite this directly.

Loyalty contribution: the channel cost question. Hilton Honors, IHG One Rewards, and Marriott Bonvoy each charge participating hotels a per-stay loyalty contribution fee plus a per-night reward redemption charge plus a periodic system maintenance fee. The all-in loyalty cost for a typical select-service hotel runs 4 to 6 percent of loyalty room revenue (industry-published franchise economics; multiple FDD analyses). Loyalty channel contribution is a net positive to NOI when the loyalty mix produces ADR and occupancy lift that exceeds the all-in loyalty cost, which is generally true for Hampton and Marriott select where the loyalty mix sits at 60 percent or above, and is more marginal for HIE where loyalty mix sits closer to 50 to 60 percent. Buyers underwrite the loyalty channel contribution as a discrete line and the within-flag valuation differences this produces are real, particularly between Hampton and HIE.

Tertiary-market math: where the wider cap rates come from. Tertiary-market select-service hotels trade in an 8.50 to 9.75 percent cap range across all three flag families, materially wider than secondary or primary. The drivers: smaller buyer pool (tertiary deals primarily attract owner-operators and AAHOA-network buyers, not the full institutional stack), lower transaction frequency producing fewer comps and higher per-deal underwriting risk premium, more variable franchise license extension outcomes given franchisor portfolio strategy, and lower ADR ceilings producing thinner NOI margin against the same fixed franchise load. The flag selection inside a tertiary market is often less important than the local economic base; an Express in a stable mid-sized regional medical center prices tighter than a Hampton in a declining tertiary CBD.

Recent transaction comps where publicly reported. Public hotel transaction data is patchy compared to office and industrial, but several 2025 and Q1 2026 trades were publicly disclosed via SEC filings, REIT supplemental data packs, and trade press: Apple Hospitality REIT's 2025 Hampton acquisitions averaged in the high $150,000 per key range across Sun Belt secondary markets (Apple Hospitality 2025 10-K supplemental). Summit Hotel Properties disclosed select-service acquisitions in the $130,000 to $165,000 per key range across mixed Hilton and Marriott flags in 2025. Service Properties Trust dispositions through 2025 included multiple Hampton and Courtyard assets at publicly reported pricing. The trade press (LODGING, Hotel News Now) covered representative Q1 2026 select-service trades in the $135,000 to $170,000 per-key band for Sun Belt secondary stabilized assets. These comps support the cap rate ranges documented above.

How to use this guide. Sellers should price-test their asset against the appropriate band on three variables: market tier (primary urban / Sun Belt secondary / tertiary), PIP status (current / due in 24 months / overdue), and within-flag positioning (STR index against the local comp set). The combination of those three variables generally locates the asset within a 75 basis point window of the headline range. Buyers should verify the franchise term remaining and the franchisor's most recent capital improvement letter before committing to underwriting at the tight end of any band; a property with five years of franchise term remaining trades meaningfully wider than the same property with fifteen years of term and a recent license extension. The transaction-comp file we reference for first-call pricing across all three flag families is updated quarterly; the next refresh ships with the Q3 2026 brand-flag transaction comps update.