Franchise funding by sector
Rooms, linens and PTAC units: operating capital for a flagged hotel that is already open.
✓ Merchant Fund Express starts with a soft credit pull. Terms depend on your business's revenue and history.
Updated October 21, 2026 · Merchant Fund Express
Already operating a franchised hotel and need capital? Merchant Fund Express funds existing hotel owners with business loans, merchant cash advances, revenue-based financing, lines of credit, equipment financing and working capital for renovations, FF&E, PTAC units and payroll. We do not provide real-estate or acquisition financing; we fund the operating business. A complete file gets a same-day decision.
A flagged hotel lives under brand standards. Inspections look at room condition, soft goods, lobby finishes and guest-facing technology, and a property that falls behind gets a list of items to fix on a schedule. Those lists are where operating capital earns its keep: carpet and vinyl in a block of rooms, new mattresses and case goods, bathroom refreshes, breakfast-area equipment, door locks, televisions and Wi-Fi gear.
The everyday side matters too. Linens wear out on a cycle, PTAC units in individual rooms fail one at a time and a room with a dead unit cannot be sold, housekeeping and front desk payroll runs every week, and occupancy swings with the season. Merchant Fund Express funds that operating side for owners who already run the property. We do not fund the purchase of a hotel or the real estate itself, and we do not take a mortgage position. See hotel business funding for the general hotel view.
| Cost line | Timing | What fits |
|---|---|---|
| Brand-standard renovation items (rooms, lobby, breakfast area) | Scheduled after an inspection or at a franchisor-scheduled refresh | Term loan for Tier 1; working capital otherwise |
| FF&E: case goods, mattresses, soft seating | Per renovation phase | Equipment financing on vendor quotes |
| PTAC units and rooftop HVAC | Failures through the year; batches in spring | Equipment financing; working capital for urgent replacements |
| Linens and towels | Par replenishment cycle | Inventory funding or a line draw |
| Housekeeping and front desk payroll | Weekly, including low-occupancy weeks | Line of credit |
| Royalty, marketing and reservation-system fees | Recurring | Counted before sizing |
We have not published individual hotel brand pages. Any operating franchised property can apply. Merchant Fund Express reads the operating account's deposits over about 3 months (card settlements from the front desk, online travel agency payouts and direct-bill corporate payments), subtracts the royalty, marketing and reservation-system fees as normal costs, and sizes funding after existing obligations, including the mortgage payment.
A beach or ski property can see occupancy fall by half between seasons; a highway or business-travel hotel sags on holiday weeks and summer weekends. The fixed costs do not fall with it. A hotel off-season working capital draw covers payroll and utilities through the trough, repaid when rooms fill again.
Picture a hypothetical 90-room franchised hotel depositing $185,000 a month in season and $110,000 off-season. Royalty, marketing and reservation fees, the mortgage payment and utilities take $62,000 a month. An inspection list calls for new soft goods in 30 rooms ($75,000), and 18 PTAC units need replacing before summer ($27,000 on the vendor quote).
Figures in this example are illustrations of the arithmetic, not an offer, quote or approval. Real terms depend on the file and the funder.
For a scheduled renovation on a clean Tier 1 file, a term loan gives fixed weekly payments and 0% origination. For repeated small needs (a PTAC here, linens there, a payroll week in January), a line of credit charges only on what is drawn. For a property with a current advance or a shorter history, revenue-based financing sizes payments to revenue, and an existing payment can be restructured lower rather than stacked; see existing advances. Neither revenue-based financing nor an MCA is a loan.
Terms depend on the business's revenue and history.
No tax returns for a typical first review; full financials usually only above $250,000. The application takes about 5 minutes with a soft credit pull.
Yes. Merchant Fund Express funds operating franchised hotels for renovations, FF&E, PTAC and HVAC units, linens and payroll, from $25,000 to $5,000,000 sized on deposits.
No. We fund the operating business only. We do not provide real-estate, acquisition or mortgage financing.
It is counted as a recurring obligation like rent at other businesses, and payment capacity is sized after it.
Yes. Room and lobby items are a normal purpose. Equipment financing fits FF&E on quotes; a term loan or working capital fits the labor and finishes.
Yes, when they settle into the hotel's business account.
Same-day on a complete file, with funding often the next business day.
Merchant Fund Express reviews your location's revenue, deposits and existing payments. Same-day decision on a complete file; funding often the next business day. About five minutes to apply.
