How do I choose a hotel broker?
Last updated: By Nate Solomon, Matthews Hotel Markets
Ask these nine questions before you sign an engagement in 2026: recent closings in your chain scale and price band, who does the underwriting, how the buyer list is built, the fee and what it covers, the marketing plan, reporting cadence, the value opinion methodology, references from sellers who did not close, and whether they will tell you to hold. The answers to the last two tell you the most.
Key takeaways
- Track record in your chain scale and price band beats total transaction volume.
- Ask who does the underwriting. If it is an analyst you will never meet, you have a template, not a value opinion.
- A broker who cannot describe the buyer list specifically does not have one.
- Ask for a reference from a seller whose deal did not close. How a broker handles that is the real signal.
- A broker who has never advised a client to hold is selling, not advising.
What should I ask before signing?
The nine questions in the table below, asked in the first conversation, before any engagement letter is on the table.
Each question is designed to separate a broker who has done the specific work from one giving a polished general answer. The table shows what a weak answer sounds like next to what a strong one sounds like, so the difference is easy to hear in a real conversation.
Our answer. Matthews Hotel Markets underwrites off the Matthews Hotel Index, published each quarter with cap-rate bands across 14 markets,[1] and names the analyst who runs the numbers on a client's specific asset before the first call ends.
How do I judge a broker's track record?
By named, recent closings in your specific chain scale and price band, not by a total transaction-volume figure that could include any asset class or any decade.
A broker who closed forty apartment buildings and two hotels is not a hotel specialist, whatever the combined dollar figure says. Ask for named deals: address or market, key count, price band, and year. When a public REIT was on the other side, the trade may also appear in SEC filings you can search yourself.[2] As a rule of thumb, a broker who cannot produce three examples in your segment within the last 18 months either does not specialize in your asset type or has not been active recently, both worth knowing before you sign.
Our answer. Ask Matthews Hotel Markets for closings in your specific chain scale and metro. We will name them, or tell you plainly if we have not done one recently in that exact segment.
National brokerage or local specialist?
Neither wins by default. A national platform brings a wider buyer database; a local specialist brings deeper knowledge of one market. Ask which one actually applies to your asset.
A single-market boutique hotel in a leisure destination may be better served by a specialist who knows every buyer active in that specific niche. A branded select-service asset that could attract a family office in one region and a REIT in another benefits more from a national buyer reach. There is a real trade-off here, and a broker who tells you their model is right for every asset is not being straight with you.
Our answer, honestly stated. Matthews Hotel Markets is a national platform, which is the right fit for a branded, sellable-anywhere asset with a broad buyer pool. It is not automatically the right fit for a hyper-local, relationship-driven niche asset where a specialist with decades in one submarket may know the three real buyers better than anyone. Ask us directly whether your asset is a national-platform fit; if it is not, we will tell you.
What is the difference between a hotel broker and a business broker?
A hotel broker underwrites the real estate and the operating business together; a general business broker, used to selling restaurants or retail concepts, typically does not.
Hotels are transacted as going concerns, which means value depends on operating performance, brand agreement terms, and capital obligations, not just the real estate underneath. A broker trained on business sales generally, without hospitality-specific underwriting, can undervalue or mis-scope a PIP, misread a STAR competitive set, or miss a franchise transfer condition that changes the timeline.
How do I know the broker is working for me and not the deal?
Watch whether they push you toward a fast, easy transaction that suits their calendar or an honest one that suits your outcome, and ask directly whether they have ever told a client not to sell.
Brokers who are REALTOR members pledge under the NAR Code of Ethics to protect and promote their client's interests.[3] Still, a broker paid only on a closed transaction has a structural incentive to get a deal done. That is not automatically a conflict, most of the time a closed deal is also the right outcome for the seller, but it means the questions in this list matter. Asking for a reference from a seller whose deal did not close is the single best test: a broker with nothing to hide can produce one and explain why it did not close.
Will a good broker ever tell me not to sell?
Yes, when the numbers say hold. A broker who has never once advised a client against selling has an incentive problem, not a perfect track record.
Our answer. Matthews Hotel Markets has told clients to hold when a cap-rate cycle or a near-term PIP made selling the wrong move for that owner's goals. We will say so on the first call if that is what the numbers show for your asset, even though it means no fee that quarter.
What should the engagement agreement say?
The fee in writing, the marketing plan with dates, a reporting cadence, and a defined term, so both sides know what happens if the asset does not sell in that window.
A vague engagement letter, no dates, no defined deliverables, is itself a signal. The fee structure and what it covers is worth reading in detail; see Hotel broker fees for the full breakdown of what a fee typically does and does not include.
Nine questions, and what a good answer sounds like
| Ask | A weak answer | A strong answer |
|---|---|---|
| Recent closings in my chain scale and price band | A total volume number | Named deals, with keys, price band and year |
| Who underwrites my asset | Our team does | The person, by name, who you will speak with |
| How is the buyer list built | We have a huge database | The specific buyer types and why they want this asset |
| What is the fee and what does it cover | Standard rate | The percentage in writing, and the deliverables it includes |
| What is the marketing plan | We will list it widely | A named sequence with dates and a call-for-offers date |
| How often will I hear from you | We will keep you posted | A set cadence with a written activity report |
| How did you get to that value | Comps | The method, the comps, the cap rate and the adjustments |
| Can I speak to a seller whose deal did not close | Deflection | A name and a number |
| Would you ever tell me to hold | We can sell it in any market | Yes, and here is when I have |
Worked example
Hypothetical: why the value opinion methodology question matters
Hypothetical. Two brokers value the same 96-key hotel with $1.42 million of NOI. Broker A says $18.5 million. Asked how, the answer is that is where the market is. Broker B says $17.2 million, at an 8.25 percent cap, and shows four comps in the same chain scale within 200 miles, adjusted for a $2.3 million PIP that two of the comps did not carry. Broker A's number is 7.6 percent higher and unfalsifiable. Broker B's number can be argued with, which is what makes it useful. The higher number wins listings. The explainable number survives due diligence. Ask for the method, then decide.
Frequently asked
- How do I choose a hotel broker?
- Ask the nine questions above before signing: track record in your chain scale, who underwrites, the buyer list, the fee, the marketing plan, reporting, methodology, references, and whether they will ever tell you to hold.
- What should I ask a hotel broker before hiring them?
- Recent closings in your specific chain scale and price band, who personally underwrites your asset, how the buyer list is built, and for a reference from a seller whose deal did not close.
- Is a national or local hotel broker better?
- Neither by default. A national platform brings a wider buyer database; a local specialist brings deeper market knowledge. Ask which advantage actually applies to your specific asset and market.
- What is the difference between a hotel broker and a business broker?
- A hotel broker underwrites the real estate and the operating business together, including franchise standing and PIP status. A general business broker typically does not have that specialization.
- Should I pick the broker with the highest valuation?
- No. Ask for the method behind the number. REALTOR members may not deliberately mislead an owner about market value to win a listing.[3] An explainable number with comps and a cap rate is more likely to survive due diligence.
- How do I know my broker is working for me?
- Ask whether they have ever advised a client to hold rather than sell, and ask for a reference from a seller whose deal did not close. Both answers are hard to fake.
- Will a hotel broker ever tell me to hold?
- A good one will, when the numbers say hold. A broker who has never once advised against selling has an incentive problem, since they are paid only when a sale closes.
- What should a hotel listing agreement include?
- The fee in writing, a marketing plan with dates, a reporting cadence, and a defined term specifying what happens if the asset does not sell within it.
Who wrote this
Hospitality Associate, Matthews Hotel Markets
(512) 839-6999nate.solomon@matthews.comLinkedIn
Reviewed by Luke Thompson, VP & Director, Capital Markets.
Sources
- Matthews Hotel Index, Q1 2026 · Matthews Hotel Markets (first-party) · accessed September 17, 2026
- EDGAR full-text search · U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission · accessed September 18, 2026
- 2026 Code of Ethics and Standards of Practice (Article 1; Standards of Practice 1-3 and 1-12) · National Association of REALTORS · accessed September 18, 2026
Related
Other questions in this guide
Terms defined in the glossary
Our own data
Matthews Hotel Markets answers all nine of these on the first call, including the one about telling a client to hold.