Caption by HyattFranchise Cost, Revenue & Review 2026
Data from FDD filing
FranchiseVerdict summary · 2026
A Caption by Hyatt franchise requires a total initial investment of $25.0M – $31.6M, including a $95K franchise fee and an ongoing 5.0% royalty[2]. The 2026 FDD does not disclose unit-level revenue (no Item 19). Verdict grade: F. Run a live ROI scan →
Data last verified June 18, 2026 · figures per the 2026 FDD issuance
Overview
- Investment
- $25.0M – $31.6M
- 51st pct Lodging
- Avg gross sales
- N/A
- 2nd pct Lodging
- Royalty
- 5.0%
- 4th pct Lodging
- Units
- 1
- 7th pct Lodging
- SBA default
- N/A
Quick verdict · Lodging · color = vs category peers
Green = >15% above Lodging avg · No shading = within ±15% · Red = >15% below avg · Source: FDD filings + SBA 7(a)
Data from public FDD filings and SBA records. Not financial advice. Methodology
Franchised units fell from 1 to 0 over 3 years. Investigate why operators are leaving.
Bottom line
- Total investment $25.0M – $31.6M including a $95K franchise fee, 5.0% ongoing royalty.
- No Item 19 financial performance data disclosed. The franchisor chose not to publish revenue figures.
- Verdict F (Bottom Quintile) with a risk score of 100/100.
- No Item 19 financial performance representation. Without franchisor-disclosed revenue data, you'll need to gather unit economics directly from existing franchisees.
Item 1 · who you're contracting with
The Franchisor
- Legal entity
- Hyatt Franchising, L.L.C.
- Parent company
- Hyatt Hotels Corporation
- Incorporated in
- DE
- HQ
- 150 North Riverside Plaza, Chicago, Illinois 60606
- Auditor
- Deloitte & Touche LLP
- Audited financials
- Franchisor revenue
- $6.6B
- vs $7.1B prior year
Overview
About
Caption by Hyatt franchisees own and operate premium lifestyle hotels under the Hyatt brand umbrella. Day-to-day operations include guest services, housekeeping, F&B management, revenue management, staffing, and maintaining brand standards across all hotel departments—while paying 5% royalties on all room revenue to Hyatt.
- CEO
- Mark Hoplamazian
- Headquarters
- IL
- Founded
- 1957
- FDD year
- 2026
- States available
- 1
FDD Item 7 · 2026 filing · 24 line items
Initial investment breakdown
| Line item | Low | High | |
|---|---|---|---|
| New development application fee or change of ownership application fee | $95K | $95K | |
| Comfort letter fee(s) | $0 | $3K | |
| Design Review Fee | $5K | $45K | |
| Extension of opening deadline | $0 | $10K | |
| IT Project Management Services expense reimbursement | $7K | $11K | |
| Signage | $65K | $100K | |
| Telecommunications systems and certain Technology System equipment and fees | $113K | $113K | |
| Architecture and design | $576K | $832K | |
| Construction, improvements, remodeling, decorating costs and other sitework | $20.7M | $23.9M | |
| Furniture, fixtures, other fixed assets and equipment | $1.7M | $2.8M | |
| Operating supplies & equipment | $640K | $1.0M | |
| General and administrative buildout costs | $320K | $500K | |
| Revenue management fees | $0 | $26K | |
| Field marketing program fees | $0 | $9K | |
| Pre-opening marketing and sales expenses | $64K | $250K | |
| Liquor license | $30K | $400K | |
| Operator approval fees | $0 | $33K | |
| PIP fee | $0 | $10K | |
| Training expenses (fees and reimbursements payable to us) | $19K | $42K | |
| Training expenses (your and your personnel's costs to attend) | $21K | $29K | |
| Total initial investment | $25.0M | $31.6M |
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
- $25.0M – $31.6M
- Near category avg vs category
- Liquid capital req'd
- $360K – $675K
- Better than avg vs category
- Franchise fee
- $95K – $95K
- Near category avg vs category
- Royalty
- 5.0%
- Gross Rooms Revenue · typical 6–8%
- Ad fund
- -n/d
- Total fee load
- 8.9%
- vs 9–13% typical
Ongoing fees · Item 6
| Fee | Amount |
|---|---|
| Royalty | 5.0% of gross sales |
| Technology fee | $3 |
| Training fee | $19K |
| Transfer fee | $150K |
| Renewal fee | $0 |
| Total fee load | 8.9% of rev |
Financial Performance
This franchisor did not disclose financial performance representations in Item 19, or our extractor could not parse them.
vs Lodging averages
How Caption by Hyatt Compares
Unit growth
Item 20 · unit dynamics
The Growth Chart
- Total units
- 1
- Opened
- 0
- Last reporting year
- Closed
- 1
- Terminated
- 0
- Franchisor ended the franchise (per Item 20)
- Non-renewed
- 0
- Term expired, not renewed (per Item 20)
- Turnover rate
- 100.0%
- Company-owned
- 0
- Corporate units in the system
- % franchised
- 100%
- vs corporate-owned
- Multi-unit owners
- 11.1%
- Net growth (yr3)
- +0.0%
- Net unit change last year
3-year detail · Item 20
- Transfers (3yr)
- 0
- Projected new
- 1
- Franchisor's next-year forecast
- Continuity rate
- 100.0%
- Units that stayed open
Year-over-year franchised unit counts and net change. Source: FDD Item 20.
Item 20 · 13 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.
SBA loan performance
Government records
SBA Loan Data
Aggregated from SBA 7(a) and 504 loan disclosures, public data unique to FranchiseVerdict.
No SBA loan data available for this brand.
Risk analysis
FranchiseVerdict rating + FDD Items 3, 5, 6, 12, 17
Risk & Legal
An ultra-high-investment, single-unit, unproven hotel franchise with no financial disclosure, questionable franchisor stability, and impossible ROI validation represents extreme execution and financial risk.
Litigation (Item 3)
Item 3 (Litigation) section not provided in document
Bankruptcy (Item 4)
None disclosed
Audited financials (Item 21)
Yes · Deloitte & Touche LLP
Franchisor revenue (Item 21)
Franchisor entity revenue (not unit-level)
Supplier relationship · Items 8 & 16
- Franchisor sells you products: Yes
- Kickbacks from required suppliers: No
- Must buy proprietary products: Yes
- Restricted to system-approved products: Yes
- Can negotiate own supplier terms: No
Score breakdown · what drove the 100 / 100 rating
- 01MEDMassive capital requirement ($25M-$31.5M) with no disclosed average revenue or net income data to justify ROI
- 02MINOROnly 1 existing unit indicates either brand-new concept or severe contraction; impossible to validate unit economics or growth trajectory
- 03HIGHGoing Concern = False suggests franchisor financial instability or startup status, creating existential risk to franchisee support
- 04MINORNo Item 19 financial performance representations eliminates ability to model realistic returns despite $25M+ investment
- 05MINOR20-year term locks franchisee into relationship with unproven, single-unit system with no exit clarity
- 06MINOR5% royalty on 'Gross Rooms Revenue' (not net) compounds burden on already-thin hotel operating margins
Severity inferred from the FDD text · not a regulatory classification
FDD Items 5, 6, 12, 17 · continued from Risk & Legal
Contract & Territory Detail
| Initial term | 20 years |
|---|---|
| Renewal term | 10 years |
| Allowed renewalsℹ | 1 |
| Territory type | geographic or radius |
| Protected territory | Yes |
| Exclusive territoryℹ | Yes |
| Territory radius | 3 mi |
| Online sales rights | Granted |
| Franchisor can compete | Yes |
| Hire a manager? | Allowed |
| Owner-operator | Optional |
| Right of first refusalℹ | Yes |
| Transfer requires consent | Yes |
| Termination notice | 30 days |
| Termination groundsℹ | 6 |
| Curable defaultsℹ | 2 |
| Mandatory arbitration | Yes |
| Arbitration location | Chicago, Illinois |
| Jury trial waiver | Yes |
| Governing law | Illinois |
| Litigation count | 0 |
View Item 3 litigation summary
Item 3 (Litigation) section not provided in document
Items 10, 11
Training & Operations
- Classroom training
- 28 hrs
- On-the-job training
- 36 hrs
- Training location
- On-site and corporate
- Ongoing training
- Required
- Site selection
- franchisee
- Franchisor financing
- Offered
- Item 10
- POS system
- Opera PMS
- Operating tech stack
Items 5 & 11
Franchisor Support
Technology: Opera PMS
Item 20 · call current owners
Franchisee Contacts
24 owners to call
Name · phone · city · state. Extracted from FDD Item 20
FDD download
Caption by Hyatt · FDD (2026) PDF
Frequently asked questions
Frequently Asked Questions
How much does it cost to open a Caption by Hyatt franchise?
The total investment to open a Caption by Hyatt franchise ranges from $25.0M – $31.6M, with an initial franchise fee of $95K. This includes real estate, equipment, inventory, and working capital as disclosed in their Franchise Disclosure Document (FDD).
What do Caption by Hyatt franchise owners earn?
Caption by Hyatt does not disclose average franchise owner earnings in their FDD Item 19. Not all franchisors are required to make financial performance representations. We recommend asking existing franchisees directly about their financial experience.
What is Caption by Hyatt's franchise failure rate?
SBA 7(a) loan charge-off data is not available for Caption by Hyatt (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 Caption by Hyatt franchise locations are there?
As of their most recent FDD filing, Caption by Hyatt has 1 total units in the United States, including 1 franchised units and 0 company-owned units.
Is Caption by Hyatt a good franchise to buy?
FranchiseVerdict rates Caption by Hyatt as a F-grade franchise with a risk score of 100 out of 100, based on our analysis of investment costs, revenue data, SBA loan performance, and growth trends. 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.