Cambria Hotels Development Financing in 2026: Costs, Fees, Choice’s Capital Support and What Lenders Need to See

Cambria Hotels (Cambria) is Choice's upscale brand and the one it finances most directly. Choice owns 10 of the 77 Cambrias open at mid-2026. Its 10-K says its development and ownership efforts "primarily focus on the Cambria Hotels and Everhome Suites brands," and it runs a board-authorized investment, financing and guaranty-support program alongside its forgivable key money. For a developer, that makes Cambria the Choice brand where a joint venture, a Choice guaranty or a capital-support note is on the table before a lender is. The fee schedule in the Lodging 2025 guide is a 5.5% royalty and a 3.25% marketing and reservation fee. The 2026 franchise disclosure document is not publicly registered, because Choice holds a Minnesota registration exemption for Cambria through April 2027, so current fees and the Item 7 cost come from Choice's development team.

Lenders underwrite a Cambria as an upscale select-service build. That means about $200,000 per room at the HVS median, 55% to 65% of cost from a bank or up to 75% from a hotel debt fund or Bridge, a C-PACE layer, Choice's capital, and 20% to 35% equity. The brand's 2025 performance is the caution: Choice's U.S. upscale-and-above RevPAR was $84.35, down 3.8%, well below Hilton Garden Inn and Courtyard, so a Cambria pro forma has to earn its leverage on the comp set. On a 130-key Cambria at $29 million all-in, the worked example below lands a $17 million senior loan at 59% of cost with Choice capital in the stack. This guide covers the brand, the fees, the cost benchmarks, Choice's programs, the SBA position, the lenders and the sizing. Choice owners get Bridge's 50-basis-point placement fee on $10 million-plus loans; the terms are on Bridge's Choice owner page.

Key takeaways

• 77 Cambrias open at June 30, 2026 (10,278 rooms), more than 50 in the pipeline, 10 owned by Choice.
• Fees (Lodging 2025 guide): 5.5% royalty, 3.25% marketing and reservation; the 2026 FDD is not publicly registered.
• Cost benchmark: about $200,000 per room for select-service and $265,000 for upscale extended-stay per HVS 2026.
• Choice's U.S. upscale RevPAR was $84.35 in 2025, down 3.8%; underwrite to the comp set, not the brand.
• Choice co-invests: $650M across its ownership, incentive and financing programs; SBA code S0336.

What is Cambria, and what does it cost?

Cambria is Choice's upscale, new-build-focused brand aimed at the Hyatt Place, Hilton Garden Inn and Courtyard tier. The headline facts and their sources:

The brand is bigger than its count suggests: trade reporting on the August 2026 openings put it at more than 75 open and more than 50 in the pipeline, with a presence in about 75% of the top 25 U.S. markets. The table reads as a mature upscale flag, but the RevPAR line below is the one a lender weighs first. Cambria's distribution is Choice's, not Hilton's or Marriott's, so the same building earns less unless the market is one where Choice already sells upscale rooms well.

What are the Cambria fees, and why is the 2026 FDD missing?

The Lodging 2025 guide lists Cambria at a 5.5% royalty and a 3.25% marketing and reservation fee, with 67 franchised and 9 owned or managed hotels. A third-party summary shows a $60,000 initial fee and a 6% royalty, which conflicts. Choice's 10-K says its royalties "typically range from 5% to 6%" with marketing and reservation fees of 3% to 4%. Add the Choice Privileges charge of 4.5% to 5.5% on member room revenue, and a Cambria's total fee load runs 10% to 11% of room revenue.

The 2026 Cambria FDD is not on the Minnesota registry. Choice holds an order of exemption from registration for Cambria franchise sales through April 14, 2027, granted on the basis of its financial resources, and a separate cancellation order shows the prior registration lapsed in June 2026. The document exists and is provided to prospects; it is simply not public. The Item 7 cost, the Item 19 performance and the current fee schedule therefore come from Choice's development team, and a lender will want the FDD in the file before it credits any of them.

What does a Cambria cost to build?

Without a public Item 7, the benchmarks are the segment's. HVS's 2026 survey puts the median at about $200,000 per room for select-service hotels and about $265,000 for upscale extended-stay, with full-service at $467,000. The upscale select-service brands Cambria competes with published 2026 FDD ranges of $190,000 to $279,000 per key for Hilton Garden Inn (134 rooms) and $189,000 to $323,000 for Courtyard (80 to 110 rooms). A Hyatt Place ran about $167,000 to $213,000 pre-Gen 4. A Cambria's lobby bar and larger meeting space sit at the top of that band, so a reasonable 2026 planning figure is $200,000 to $260,000 per key before land and $225,000 to $300,000 all-in. Choice's own cost-reduction work, a prototype refresh that cut Comfort and Country Inn costs 10% to 15% and an FF&E procurement program saving up to 20%, has not been announced for Cambria.

What does Choice put into a Cambria?

Three things, and together they are why Cambria pencils where another upscale flag would not.

• Ownership and joint ventures. Choice owns 10 Cambrias and develops others through joint ventures, with a develop-and-resell cycle of about five years. On its second-quarter 2026 call, management said about $650 million sits on the balance sheet across its ownership, incentive and financing programs, about $450 million of it in owned hotels. A first disposition is targeted for the first half of 2027. Net hotel-development outlays of $20 million to $45 million are planned for 2026, after $103.4 million in 2025.
• Guaranty and financing support. The 10-K describes a board-authorized program of "investment, financing, and guaranty support" for the brand. On a given deal that can mean a Choice guaranty of part of the construction loan, a mezzanine piece or a joint-venture equity position.
• Key money. Choice's Selected Capital Support program funds discretionary notes on strategic properties after opening, forgiven straight-line over the term. Choice's franchise-agreement acquisition costs were $83.4 million in 2025 and $72.2 million in the first half of 2026. The Incentive Program's per-room notes cover Comfort and Country Inn at $2,500 and Everhome at $3,000; Cambria incentives are negotiated.

The practical sequence is to bring Choice's development team into the capital stack before the lender. A Choice guaranty on 20% of a construction loan changes a bank's leverage, and a joint-venture equity commitment changes the equity requirement. The brand-wide picture is in the best financing options for Choice owners.

Is Cambria SBA eligible?

Yes, with a caveat about size. Cambria Hotels is on the SBA Franchise Directory effective October 15, 2026 as code S0336, listed since October 2017, with the hotel manager-affiliation condition. But a 7(a) caps at $5 million and a 504 debenture at $5.5 million, combinable to $10 million since July 2026, and a 504 needs 15% to 20% equity on a hotel. So SBA fits a Cambria acquisition or refinance of an existing hotel far more often than a $25 million-plus new build. Every owner must be a U.S. citizen or national since March 1, 2026. The rules and brand table are in the SBA Franchise Directory check for hotel brands.

Who finances a Cambria build?

Bridge closed more than $500 million of hotel loans in 2025 and charges a 50-basis-point placement fee on acquisitions and refinances of $10 million or more. Market terms for rows 3 and 4 are from the Crittenden 2026 hotel lending survey.

How do lenders size a Cambria construction loan?

Off the stabilized NOI from the upscale comp set, not from Choice's segment average. Choice's U.S. upscale-and-above RevPAR was $84.35 in 2025, down 3.8%, which blends Cambria with Ascend and the Radisson brands. A lender will instead use the market's Hilton Garden Inn, Courtyard and Hyatt Place comp set, where 2025 brand averages ran about $109 to $115 of RevPAR. In the example, a 130-key Cambria runs 68% occupancy and a $165 ADR, about $112 of RevPAR. The stack from there:

• Room revenue: 130 keys at about $112 of RevPAR is about $5.3 million a year.
• Total revenue with the bar: about $6.0 million.
• Deductions in the example: a 10.5% fee load, a 4% FF&E reserve and upscale operating costs.
• NOI at a 34% margin: about $2.04 million.

At the Choice upscale average of $84.35 the same hotel earns about $1.45 million and supports a $12 million loan, 41% of cost, which is why the comp set decides a Cambria. The construction checklist is in hotel construction loans in 2026.

Worked example: a 130-key Cambria

Building cost $26.5 million ($204,000 per key, at the HVS select-service median), land $2.5 million, $29 million all-in, $223,000 per key, in a top-50 market with a $112 RevPAR comp set.

Permanent debt service of about $1.44 million on the senior loan and $305,000 on the assessment gives 1.17x on the combined stack at $2.04 million of NOI. With the Choice note counted as equity and a 24- to 36-month ramp covenant, most lenders hold the senior loan at $17 million, or trim it to about $15.6 million for 1.25x. If Choice provides a guaranty on part of the construction loan under its guaranty-support program, a bank will usually move from 55% to 65% of cost on the strength of it, which is the single largest lever on a Cambria stack.

When is a Cambria the wrong build?

• Avoid it on a site under about $100 of upscale RevPAR. At $223,000 per key the loan drops toward 50% of cost there.
• Avoid budgeting without the FDD. It is not public; a lender will not credit fees or costs until the document is in the file.
• Avoid assuming Choice's capital without a signed commitment. Ownership, guaranty and key money are all discretionary.
• Avoid SBA for a new build. The $10 million combined cap is a third of a Cambria.
• Avoid a market where Choice already owns a Cambria. Choice's own hotels compete for the same demand and the same capital.