Highlights
- Opening one unit is estimated at $13,851,273 to $20,877,080, including a None initial fee.p.58
- Holiday Inn Express discloses unit performance in Item 19.p.98
- The system went from 2,273 outlets at the start of 2023 to 2,340 at the end of 2025, a net gain of 67.p.102
- In 2025, closures of all kinds equalled 0.9% of the outlets open at the start of the year.
- Item 3 discloses 17 matters, including 8 actions the franchisor brought against franchisees last year.p.14
Tools, from this filing's numbers
Cash you would need to open
The filing's Item 7 range, $13,851,273 to $20,877,080, is an estimate for one unit including only its first months. Slide between the low and high cases and add the months of runway you want beyond that.
Monthly operating cash is taken as one-twelfth of your weekly-sales figure above times 52 (set to $15,000 a week here), a placeholder for rent, labor and food until you have your own budget.
Where the units went in 2025
Every outlet that opened, and every one that left, drawn from Item 20 Table 3 to scale.p.110
Total outlets, 2022 to 2025
Compare Holiday Inn Express with another brand
Side by side, every figure cited.
Fees (Items 5 and 6)
| Initial franchise fee, standard | None | |
| Royalty | not stated | |
| Advertising fund | 3% of GRR | p.31 |
| Technology fee | $17.75 per room, per month | p.34 |
The filing lists every recurring and conditional fee in Item 6. The report carries all of them.
Estimated initial investment (Item 7)
| Expenditure | Low | High | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Application Fee (Note 1) | $75,000 | $75,000 | p.56 |
| PIP Fee (Note 2) | $0 | $10,000 | p.56 |
| Building Construction (Note 4) | $11,740,300 | $17,473,900 | p.57 |
| Furniture, Fixtures & Equipment (Note 5) | $1,081,300 | $1,405,700 | p.57 |
| Operating Supplies & Equipment (Note 6) | $195,600 | $254,300 | p.57 |
| PMS Equipment (Note 7) | $22,000 | $31,000 | p.57 |
| Entertainment, Security System and Other Technology Systems Equipment and Fees (Note 7) | $117,900 | $145,186 | p.57 |
| Next-Gen Payment Solution (Note 7) | $223 | $794 | p.57 |
| Opening Date Extension Fee (Note 9) | $0 | $5,000 | p.57 |
| Market Feasibility Study | $0 | $30,000 | p.57 |
| Professional Fees (Note 11) | $352,000 | $874,000 | p.57 |
| Security Deposits (Note 11) | $2,500 | $15,000 | p.57 |
| Insurance (Note 12) | $46,000 | $197,000 | p.57 |
| Hotel Photography (Note 13) | $3,500 | $5,000 | p.57 |
| Pre-Opening Support Fee (Note 14) | $6,500 | $6,500 | p.57 |
| Primary Identification Sign (Note 15) | $30,000 | $67,000 | p.57 |
| IHG Revenue and IHG Commercial Services (Note 16) | $1,500 | $3,400 | p.58 |
| Additional Funds (first three months after opening) (Note 17) | $150,000 | $225,000 | p.58 |
| Total | $13,851,273 | $20,877,080 | p.58 |
Revenue (Item 19)
Holiday Inn Express reports a financial performance figure across 1747 outlets.p.98 What the figure measures, which units were excluded and what it leaves out are in the report.
Units (Item 20)
| Type | Year | Start | End | Net | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| franchised | 2023 | 2,273 | 2,304 | 31 | p.102 |
| company owned | 2023 | 0 | 0 | 0 | p.102 |
| total | 2023 | 2,273 | 2,304 | 31 | p.102 |
| franchised | 2024 | 2,304 | 2,324 | 20 | p.102 |
| company owned | 2024 | 0 | 0 | 0 | p.102 |
| total | 2024 | 2,304 | 2,324 | 20 | p.102 |
| franchised | 2025 | 2,324 | 2,340 | 16 | p.102 |
| company owned | 2025 | 0 | 0 | 0 | p.102 |
| total | 2025 | 2,324 | 2,340 | 16 | p.102 |
Openings and closures, system totals (Table 3)
| Year | Start | Opened | Terminated | Non-renewed | Reacquired | Ceased, other | End | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2023 | 2,273 | 42 | 3 | 8 | 0 | 0 | 2,304 | p.110 |
| 2024 | 2,304 | 45 | 7 | 18 | 0 | 0 | 2,324 | p.110 |
| 2025 | 2,324 | 39 | 2 | 20 | 0 | 0 | 2,340 | p.110 |
Arithmetic checks flagged: Item 20 Table 3 does not foot for 2025: start + opened - closures = 2,341, filing states 2340. The figures shown are as filed.
Litigation (Item 3)
9 pending cases described.p.14 8 actions filed by the franchisor against franchisees in the last fiscal year.p.18 Counts are of distinct matters as the filing describes them; the report carries each one in plain words.
Scorecard
Rank among the brands on this site that report the figure, on each list's own direction. No blended grade. How the lists work.
| Cost to open | $13,851,273 | 61 of 61 |
| Royalty plus ad fund | held | held |
| Three-year unit growth | 2.9% | 39 of 61 |
| Closure rate, 2025 | 0.9% | 49 of 58, 1 = most |
| Discloses unit revenue | yes | |
| Litigation disclosed | 17 | 1 of 55, 1 = most |
Source
Wisconsin Department of Financial Institutions franchise filing 640784, effective 4/2/2026, expires 4/2/2027. Extracted 2026-09-04 by two independent readers; only figures both agreed on, whose quoted words appear on the cited page, are shown. 12 fields held for review. How this works.