AC Hotels by Marriott Franchise Cost, Revenue & Review 2026
- Investment
- $18.2M – $48.1M
- Disclosed sales
- partial, no system average
- SBA charge-off
- Under 10 loans (7)
Data from FDD filing + SBA 7(a) records
Analysis by FranchiseVerdict Research · Methodology
AC Hotels by Marriott is an upscale, European-inspired select-service hotel franchise. Franchisees own and operate individual properties, running rooms, bar, and guest services on Marriott's systems.
FranchiseVerdict summary · 2026
A AC Hotels by Marriott franchise requires a total initial investment of $18.2M – $48.1M, including a $90K – $115K franchise fee and an ongoing 6.0% royalty[2]. The 2025 FDD on file does not yield a unit-revenue figure we can publish. FranchiseVerdict grade: C (Average), an editorial assessment, not investment advice. Run a live ROI scan →
Sources, dates and evidence
FDD issued: · Data extracted: · Last cited check: · Staleness risk: medium - issued 12 to 24 months ago; a newer filing is likely on file
Evidence: strong✓ Investment (Item 7)✓ Item 19 status✓ Units and owners (Item 20)✗ SBA loan coverage✓ Litigation (Item 3)✓ Financial statements (Item 21)✓ Franchisor identityhow this is scored4 of 5 headline figures on this page cite a page of the filing; the rest are marked “Not cited” beside the figure.
Overview
- Investment
- $18.2M – $48.1M
- 56th pct Lodging
- Avg gross sales
- N/A
- Projection
- Royalty
- 6.0%
- 53rd pct Lodging
- Units
- 126
- 49th pct Lodging
- SBA charge-off
- N/A
Quick verdict · Lodging · color = vs category peers
Green = favorable by >10% vs Lodging median · No shading = within ±10% · Red = unfavorable by >10% · Source: FDD filings + SBA 7(a)
Data from public FDD filings and SBA records. Not financial advice. Methodology
Bottom line
- COSTTotal investment $18.2M – $48.1M including a $90K franchise fee, 6.0% ongoing royalty.
- RETURNSItem 19 discloses hotel-level operating metrics (ADR, occupancy, RevPAR, RevPAR Index), reservation channel contributions, and loyalty program contributions rather than franchisee gross sales or net income. For 99 STR Included Hotels in CY2024: average ADR $210.45, average occupancy 74.9%, average RevPAR $157.61, average RevPAR Index 118.5. ADR ranged $128.60-$320.12 (median $200.72); RevPAR median $156.24.
- RISKVerdict C (Average), verdict score 45/100 (higher is better).
- GROWTHPositive: net +9 franchised outlets in the latest year (9 opened, 0 closed) (Item 20).
- LEGAL16 litigation matters disclosed in Item 3, higher than typical. Review the summary for patterns (franchisor-initiated vs. franchisee-initiated).
Item 1 · who you're contracting with
The Franchisor
Corporate structure & franchisor financials
- Legal entity
- MIF, L.L.C.
- Parent company
- Marriott International, Inc.
- FDD Item 1, page 9 of the 2025 FDD
- CEO title
- Global Development Officer
- Noah J. Silverman
- Incorporated in
- Delaware
- HQ
- 7750 Wisconsin Avenue, Bethesda, Maryland 20814
- Auditor
- EY (Ernst & Young) - per audited financial statements of MIF, L.L.C.
- Audited financials
- Franchisor revenue
- $103.3M
- vs $94.4M prior year
Same owner · FDD Item 1, page 9
8 other brands on this site name Marriott International, Inc. as parent or ultimate parent in their own FDD.
- Aloft HotelsB
- City Express by MarriottB
- Delta Hotels by MarriottB
- Fairfield by MarriottA
- Marriott Hotel / JW MarriottA
- Postcard CabinsC
- SpringHill Suites by MarriottA
- TownePlace Suites by MarriottA
Grouped by the owner's name as each filing prints it (this page: the 2025 FDD). Spelling variants of the same group may be listed apart; a brand is never grouped with an owner its filing does not name.
Overview
About
- CEO
- Noah J. Silverman
- Headquarters
- Maryland
- FDD year
- 2025
- States available
- 35
Can you afford it, and what does the money buy?
Entry cost runs 272% above the typical lodging franchise.
Source: FDD 2025 · Items 5–7
Full Item 7 breakdown19 line items
Initial investment breakdown
| Line item | Low | High | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Initial Franchise Application Fee | $90K | $90K | |
| Pre-Opening Training, Revenue Management, Marketing & Digital Support, and Related Services | $50K | $86K | |
| Property Management, Reservation, Yield Management, Opportunity Management, and Other Systems | $92K | $114K | |
| Market Feasibility Study | $6K | $18K | |
| Real Estate | — | — | |
| Building Permit, Tap, and Impact Fees | — | — | |
| Building Construction | $14.2M | $39.3M | |
| Kitchen and Laundry Equipment | $320K | $930K | |
| Furniture and Fixtures | $1.7M | $3.5M | |
| Technology Hardware & Software and Network Infrastructure | $172K | $329K | |
| Operating Supplies | $238K | $341K | |
| Professional Design Services (including stylist) | $723K | $2.0M | |
| Insurance | — | — | |
| Start-up Costs | $230K | $525K | |
| Hard Cost Contingency (5% of hard costs) | — | — | |
| Food Safety and Sanitation Compliance | $210 | $210 | |
| Food and Beverage Consulting Services | $6K | $8K | |
| Opening Advertising | $121K | $156K | |
| Additional Funds (first 3 months) | $300K | $750K | |
| Total initial investment | $18.2M | $48.1M |
Line items extracted from FDD Item 7. Ranges reflect the franchisor's stated low and high per line. Total is the sum of line-item lows / highs — actual costs may fall outside this range depending on market and build-out scope.
Item 7 · what it costs to open + operate
The Vitals
- Total investment
- $18.2M – $48.1M
- Middle of category vs category
- Liquid capital req'd
- N/A
- Cash you must have on hand
- Franchise fee
- $90K – $115K
- Middle of category vs category
- Royalty
- 6.0%
- typical 6–8%
- Ad fund
- 2.5%
- typical 3–5%
- Total fee load
- 12.3%
- vs 9–13% typical
Ongoing fees · Item 6
| Fee | Amount |
|---|---|
| Royalty | 6.0% of gross sales |
| Marketing / ad fund | 2.5% of gross sales |
| Technology fee | $3 |
| Transfer fee | $200K |
| Inventory (initial) | $238K – $341K |
| Total fee load | 12.3% of rev |
What do units actually make?
Source: FDD 2025 · Item 19
ROI & LBO modelsSingle-unit · 25-unit portfolio · editable
No Item 19 revenue figure for AC Hotels by Marriott is on file. The return models need a revenue figure to start from, and the operating costs that turn gross sales into a profit are in no FDD. Enter your own and the calculator runs on your assumptions — nothing here is modelled until you do.
Returns model · single-unit ROIC
What would one AC Hotels by Marriott unit return on the cash you put in?
Illustrative category typicals — not sourced to any filing, survey or sample. Replace them with figures from franchisee validation calls before you rely on the output.
Unlevered ROIC · per unit
Your modelled return on total invested capital, before any debt financing.
—
An FDD discloses gross sales, not profit. We hold no sourced figure for annual revenue, COGS, labour, rent / occupancy, other operating costs and working capital, and will not substitute an assumed one. Enter your own and the model runs on your assumptions.
These models are for research and scenario planning only. Not investment advice. Actual results depend on your specific location, management, and market conditions. Consult a franchise attorney and accountant before signing any franchise agreement.
Item 19 · Source: 2025 FDD
Financial Performance
Item 19 discloses hotel-level operating metrics (ADR, occupancy, RevPAR, RevPAR Index), reservation channel contributions, and loyalty program contributions rather than franchisee gross sales or net income. For 99 STR Included Hotels in CY2024: average ADR $210.45, average occupancy 74.9%, average RevPAR $157.61, average RevPAR Index 118.5. ADR ranged $128.60-$320.12 (median $200.72); RevPAR median $156.24.
An occupancy metric, not unit revenue
- Item 19 type
- other
- Sample size
- 99
- vs category median 98
- Reporting year
- 2024
- Fiscal year the figures cover
- Source filing
- FDD 2025
- Disclosed in the 2025 filing, covering 2024
Compared against 175 Lodging brands
Operator outlook
What the numbers say
Data-driven interpretation of this brand's financial disclosures, fee structure, and system trajectory.
Fee burden
Total ongoing fee load of 12.3% — above the Lodging median of 8.5%.
Disclosure
Item 19 reports other rather than annual gross sales, so unit revenue is not directly comparable.
Operator retention
System expanding at 18.0% CAGR over 3 years across 126 units — operators are staying and new ones are joining.
Multi-unit rate
Only 15% of franchisees own multiple units. Could indicate challenging economics or a young system where operators haven't had time to expand.
Source: FDD Item 19 financial performance representations and publicly filed FDD data. Past performance is not indicative of future results. Verify all figures with the franchisor and current franchisees before making any investment decision.
vs Lodging medians
How AC Hotels by Marriott Compares
Category median of published Lodging brands that report the figure; the middle half spans the 25th to 75th percentile and n counts the brands behind it. Medians are used because a few very large systems pull an average far from the typical brand. Revenue is disclosed gross sales, not profit.
Is the system healthy?
Source: FDD 2025 · Item 20
Unit growth
Item 20 · unit dynamics
The Growth Chart
- Total units
- 126
- Opened
- 9
- Last reporting year
- Closed
- 0
- Turnover rate
- N/A
- Company-owned
- 8
- Corporate units in the system
- % franchised
- 94%
- vs corporate-owned
- Multi-unit owners
- 15.0%
- Net growth (3-yr)
- +18.0%
- Net unit change over 3 years
- 3-yr CAGR
- +18.0%
- Compounded over last 3 years
Last fiscal year · Item 20 exits and transfers
- Transfer rate
- 3.2%
- Owners selling to other franchisees
- Continuity rate
- 100.0%
- Units that stayed open
Year-over-year franchised unit counts and net change. Source: FDD Item 20.
Item 20 · 35 states with active franchisees
The Territory Map
Derived from franchisee contact records. Shows states with at least one current operator. Not where the franchisor is registered to sell new units (that data is re-extracting in a future refresh).
States derived from franchisee contact records (FDD Item 20). Shows states with at least one current operator on file. Full state registration data (Item 12) will appear on a future FDD refresh.
Where the owners are · Item 20 owner list
115 current owners across 35 states.
- CA 15
- FL 14
- TX 9
- NC 8
- OH 6
- AZ 5
- GA 5
- MO 5
- MA 4
- WA 4
- DC 3
- MN 3
- +23 more states
Counts only, from the list the franchisor prints in Item 20; 31 entries carry no state. Names and phone numbers are for your own due diligence and are not shown here.
SBA loan performance
Government records
SBA Loan Data
Aggregated from SBA loan disclosures. This brand has only 7 7(a) loans on file; statistical reliability is limited below 10 loans.
- Total loans
- 7
- Loan volume
- $17.0M
- Median loan
- $2.5M
- 50th percentile
- Charge-off rate
- Under 10 loans (7)
- Insufficient SBA coverage: 7 loans, rate hidden below 10
Historical SBA 7(a) lending data, not predictive of future performance. How SBA charge-off rates are calculated
- Repayment rate (PIF)
- Under 10 loans (7)
- 5-yr charge-off
- Under 10 loans (7)
- Loans approved 2021+
- Active lenders
- 7
- Defaults
- N/A
Explore lender portfolios on Bank Reports or regional data on State Reports.
What could kill this investment?
Source: SBA 7(a) FOIA · FDD Items 3, 21
Risk analysis
FranchiseVerdict rating + FDD Items 3, 4, 8, 16, 21
Risk & Legal
AC Hotels presents meaningful risks due to opaque financial performance data, active litigation exposures, lack of territorial protection, and capital-intensive model with unproven returns.
Litigation (Item 3)
Subject: the franchisor is a named party (defendant).
Item 3 discloses data security incident litigation (In re Marriott International Customer Data Security Breach Litigation MDL No. 19-md-2879; City of Chicago v. Marriott; consolidated Canadian class actions; numerous administrative investigations resolved including $52M AG settlement and ICO ~$23.8M penalty), resort/destination fee litigation (District of Columbia v. Marriott; Pennsylvania $225,000 resolution), franchisor-initiated arbitrations/suits (Arkansas Knoxville Hotel; Lucky Cleveland Holdings $1.95M award; Pride Hotel), other pending actions (Portillo v. CoStar; Segal v. Amadeus antitrust; Hall v. Marriott $16M jury verdict on agency theory, under appeal), and concluded actions.
Bankruptcy (Item 4)
None disclosed
Audited financials (Item 21)
Yes · EY (Ernst & Young) - per audited financial statements of MIF, L.L.C.
Franchisor revenue (Item 21)
Franchisor entity revenue (not unit-level)
ⓘ These are the parent company's consolidated financials (the parent guarantees the franchisor), not this brand's standalone results — the figure reflects the whole corporate group, not this brand alone.
Supplier relationship · Items 8 & 16
- Franchisor sells you products: Yes
- Kickbacks from required suppliers: Yes
- Must buy proprietary products: Yes
- Restricted to system-approved products: Yes
- Can negotiate own supplier terms: No
Score breakdown · what drove the 45 / 100 verdict
- 01HIGHSignificant litigation portfolio including 2018 data breach class actions, regulatory investigations, and ongoing fee disputes affecting brand reputation
- 02MINORModest unit growth of 8.3% YoY suggests slower expansion and potential market saturation in select-service segment
- 03MINORNo territorial protection leaves franchisees vulnerable to company-owned or competing franchisee cannibalization
- 04MINORHigh capital requirement ($18.2M) with 6% royalty creates significant fixed cost burden without revenue guarantees
Severity inferred from the FDD text · not a regulatory classification
What are you signing up for?
Ongoing fees run about 12.3% of sales (royalty + ad fund), before rent and labor.
Source: FDD 2025 · Items 11, 12, 17
FDD Items 12, 15, 17 · continued from Risk & Legal
Contract & Territory Detail
| Initial term | 20 years |
|---|---|
| Renewal term | 0 years |
| Allowed renewalsℹ | 0 |
| Territory type | No territory protection |
| Protected territory | No |
| Exclusive territoryℹ | No |
| Online sales rightsℹ | Restricted |
| Franchisor can compete | Yes |
| Hire a manager? | Allowed |
| Owner-operator | Optional |
| Right of first refusalℹ | No |
| Transfer requires consent | Yes |
| Termination notice | 30 days |
| Mandatory arbitration | Yes |
| Arbitration location | Baltimore, Maryland |
| Jury trial waiver | Yes |
| Governing law | Maryland |
| Litigation count | 16 |
View Item 3 litigation summary
Item 3 discloses data security incident litigation (In re Marriott International Customer Data Security Breach Litigation MDL No. 19-md-2879; City of Chicago v. Marriott; consolidated Canadian class actions; numerous administrative investigations resolved including $52M AG settlement and ICO ~$23.8M penalty), resort/destination fee litigation (District of Columbia v. Marriott; Pennsylvania $225,000 resolution), franchisor-initiated arbitrations/suits (Arkansas Knoxville Hotel; Lucky Cleveland Holdings $1.95M award; Pride Hotel), other pending actions (Portillo v. CoStar; Segal v. Amadeus antitrust; Hall v. Marriott $16M jury verdict on agency theory, under appeal), and concluded actions.
Items 10, 11
Training & Operations
- Classroom training
- 187 hrs
- On-the-job training
- 0 hrs
- Training location
- On-site and corporate
- Time to open
- 15 mo
- From signing to launch
- Franchisor financing
- Not offered
- Item 10
- POS system
- Proprietary (system designated by Marriott)
- Operating tech stack
Items 5 & 11
Franchisor Support
Technology: Proprietary (system designated by Marriott)
Item 20 · call current owners
Franchisee Contacts
146 owners to call
Name · phone · city · state. Extracted from FDD Item 20
Frequently asked questions
Frequently Asked Questions
How much does it cost to open a AC Hotels by Marriott franchise?
The total investment to open a AC Hotels by Marriott franchise ranges from $18.2M – $48.1M, with an initial franchise fee of $90K. This includes real estate, equipment, inventory, and working capital as disclosed in their Franchise Disclosure Document (FDD).
What do AC Hotels by Marriott franchise owners earn?
Item 19 of the AC Hotels by Marriott FDD discloses figures for part of the system but no single average across all outlets. These are gross sales figures, not profit; the Revenue section shows what the filing reports and on what basis. Item 20 of the FDD lists current and former franchisees; asking them directly is the standard way to fill this gap.
Who owns AC Hotels by Marriott?
AC Hotels by Marriott is franchised by MIF, L.L.C.. Its parent company is Marriott International, Inc.. Source: FDD Item 1, 2025 filing.
What is Item 19 in the AC Hotels by Marriott FDD?
The FDD section where a franchisor may disclose financial performance of its outlets. Disclosure is optional and formats vary; figures are typically gross sales, which is revenue before expenses, not profit. FranchiseVerdict extracts these figures directly from the AC Hotels by Marriott FDD and qualifies whose outlets they describe.
What is AC Hotels by Marriott's franchise failure rate?
SBA 7(a) loan charge-off data is not available for AC Hotels by Marriott (fewer than 10 loans on file). Charge-off rates are one way to gauge franchise risk, but not all franchise loans go through the SBA program. We recommend reviewing turnover and closure data in the FDD and speaking with current franchisees.
How many AC Hotels by Marriott franchise locations are there?
As of their most recent FDD filing, AC Hotels by Marriott has 126 total units in the United States, including 118 franchised units and 8 company-owned units. 9 new units were opened in the latest reporting year.
Is AC Hotels by Marriott a good franchise to buy?
FranchiseVerdict rates AC Hotels by Marriott as a C-grade franchise with a verdict score of 45 out of 100 (higher is better). The grade is a deterministic score built from six weighted dimensions — financial health, unit economics, unit growth, scale, legal, and transparency — then calibrated against SBA loan charge-off rates and FDD age. Transparency is one of the six, so a filing that discloses less scores lower on that dimension than one that discloses more. Our rating is based solely on publicly available FDD and government data; we recommend speaking with current franchisees before making any investment decision. This is not investment advice.
Data sourced from public FDD filings and SBA 7(a) FOIA records. Not financial advice.
For franchisors
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Data extracted from public FDD filings and SBA 7(a) loan disclosures (FOIA). This information is provided for research purposes only and does not constitute financial, legal, or investment advice. Verify all figures with the franchisor's current Franchise Disclosure Document before making any investment decision.