How do you open a Howard Johnson franchise in the United States?
The 2026 Howard Johnson FDD does not disclose one complete inquiry-to-opening duration. The verified path is disclosure and application, franchisor qualification and site approval, Franchise Agreement execution, then a format-specific development track. Conversions generally face a 90-day pre-opening window from the Effective Date unless the attached PIP sets another deadline; new construction must reach authorized opening within 30 months. Transfers follow a separate acquisition-and-PIP process.
The Howard Johnson FDD requires a $2,500 non-refundable Application Fee when the Franchise Application is submitted. Separately, the FTC Franchise Rule requires the FDD at least 14 calendar days before a prospect signs a binding agreement or pays money to the franchisor or an affiliate in connection with the proposed sale. If the Application Fee is collected at submission, the disclosure period therefore must already be satisfied. The current FDD controls the brand-specific obligation; the FTC consumer guide and FTC Franchise Rule page explain the federal timing rule.
What must an applicant disclose and qualify for?
The Franchise Application collects the applicant and entity-principal contacts, hotel ownership or operating experience, proposed property details, room count, site contacts, entity information, and ownership percentages. Before entering an agreement, the applicant must identify every individual with at least 10% ultimate beneficial ownership. The application also authorizes Wyndham Hotel Group, LLC and affiliates to investigate the financial condition, character, reputation, and background of the applicant, owners, officers, directors, partners, shareholders, and managers.
The 2026 FDD does not state a universal minimum net-worth figure, liquidity threshold, credit score, education requirement, or mandatory prior hotel-ownership requirement. Hotel experience is requested, not presented as a fixed minimum. However, if the franchisee will not personally manage the Facility, it must use an individual manager or management company with significant training and experience managing similar lodging facilities. Howard Johnson International may require an approved third-party manager if the owner lacks significant hotel-management experience or receives a Development Incentive. Entity owners or controlling principals generally must guarantee Franchise Agreement obligations, with spouse signatures required in specified marital-property situations.
How does application, site approval, and franchise award work?
The applicant selects the proposed location and describes it in the Franchise Application. Howard Johnson International states that it typically reviews the site and other application elements and awards or declines the franchise within 30 to 60 days after receiving a completed Franchise Application and all supporting documentation, but it sets no mandatory approval deadline. The franchisor may require, at the applicant’s expense, a positive market feasibility study from an approved nationally prominent accounting or consulting firm as a condition of site approval.
Site approval and franchise approval are linked: the FDD says the site is approved when the Franchise Application is approved. That approval means only that Howard Johnson International is willing to have the applicant represent the Chain at that location. A buyer should not treat it as lease approval, construction approval, permit approval, financing approval, or opening authorization.
What is the opening sequence from inquiry to authorization?
Define the project path
Action: Identify whether the project is new construction, conversion of an existing hotel, or acquisition/transfer of an existing Howard Johnson. Actor: Applicant. Timing: Before contract documents are finalized. Next dependency: A specific proposed location and project information.
Receive and review the FDD
Action: Obtain the current U.S. FDD and attachments. Actor: Franchisor delivers; applicant reviews. Timing: At least 14 calendar days before a binding agreement or covered payment. Blocker: The waiting period cannot be shortened by treating it as an opening timeline.
Submit the Franchise Application
Action: Provide applicant, ownership, hotel-experience, property, site-contact, entity, and supporting documentation; pay the $2,500 Application Fee. Actor: Applicant. Timing: After the applicable federal disclosure timing is satisfied if payment is collected. Blocker: Incomplete support documents delay review.
Complete qualification and site review
Action: Howard Johnson International reviews the applicant, supporting information, background, and site; it may require a feasibility study. Actor: Franchisor. Timing: Typically 30–60 days after a complete submission. Next dependency: Approval/award; the Application Fee is forfeited if the application is not approved.
Set territory terms and sign
Action: At the applicant’s request, negotiate a Protected Territory before signing; execute the Franchise Agreement, guaranty if required, and relevant ancillary technology documents, and pay the Initial Fee balance. Actor: Franchisee and franchisor. Blocker: Approval does not guarantee any minimum Protected Territory.
Establish site control and approved scope
Action: Document ownership or lease/ground-lease control, then follow the format-specific Schedule D. Conversions and transfers receive a PIP; new builds follow a Milestone Schedule and Approved Plans. Actor: Franchisee, architect/contractor, franchisor. Timing: Conversion—by the earlier of 30 days after the Effective Date or Opening Date; new construction—by the earlier of 90 days after the Effective Date or Opening Date; transfer—by Opening Date.
Build, renovate, permit, insure, and equip
Action: Obtain required governmental permits, licenses and consents; maintain required insurance from the start of construction or renovation; complete PIP or construction work; procure required signage, systems, and approved-source items. Actor: Franchisee and third parties. Blocker: Permits, financing, contractor performance, and required plan revisions.
Integrate technology and opening systems
Action: Select an approved PMS, execute the MITA and PMS schedule, arrange Wyndham Gateway, required payment-card gateway services, Internet connectivity, and other System Standards. Actor: Franchisee, franchisor/affiliates, approved suppliers. Timing: PMS set-up and implementation fee is due at least 30 days before Opening Date.
Pass readiness checks and obtain opening authorization
Action: Complete pre-opening PIP items or new-build construction, inspections, and required certifications. Actor: Franchisee completes; Howard Johnson International determines brand readiness and authorizes Opening Date. Blocker: Failed inspection, incomplete PIP, missing new-build ADA Certification, or unauthorized premature use of the Marks.
Selected disclosed day-based process periods
The bars share one unit—calendar days—but have different contractual triggers. They show process exposure, not additive stages and not a total opening duration.
Interpretation: the 90-day conversion window can be the dominant disclosed contractual period for an existing hotel, while the 30–60 day application review occurs earlier and is only typical. None of these periods should be added together mechanically because their triggers differ and some work can overlap.
Sources: 2026 Howard Johnson FDD, Item 11; Item 5; Exhibit C-1 Schedule D; and the Federal Trade Commission franchise disclosure guidance.
How do new construction, conversion, and transfer paths differ?
New construction
Provide proof of ownership or a ground lease within 90 days; Preliminary Plans within 180 days; approved plans submitted for permitting plus the general-contractor agreement within nine months; commence construction within 18 months; complete construction, deliver the required Certification, and obtain opening authorization within 30 months.
Missing Milestones 1, 2, or 3 reduces the construction-start deadline from 18 months to 12 months. Opening requires a completion inspection and properly completed post-construction ADA Certification.
Conversion
Provide proof of ownership or lease by the earlier of 30 days after the Effective Date or Opening Date; begin renovation within 30 days; complete all PIP work designated “prior to opening” by the PIP deadline, or otherwise within 90 days from the Effective Date.
The PIP may require additional work after opening. Temporary exterior signage can be used only under the disclosed approval arrangement; opening before permanent signage does not waive the pre-opening PIP or authorization requirements.
Transfer / acquisition
The transferee must be approved, submit an application, pay the Application and Relicense Fees, sign a new Franchise Agreement, and bring the property to required standards. The transfer addendum requires renovation to begin within 30 days and generally uses a 90-day improvement deadline unless the PIP states another date.
Unless Howard Johnson International requires the Facility to close for pre-opening improvements, the Opening Date is generally the Effective Date—the date the transferee first takes possession.
Schedule D states that time is of the essence. Howard Johnson International may grant extensions in its sole discretion, and may assess a non-refundable $5,000 extension fee payable within 10 days of the Opening Date. For conversions, failure to commence or complete required pre-opening work can lead to termination after the specified five-day post-notice cure. New construction deadlines can also support termination if missed, subject to applicable law. An extension is therefore not an automatic right.
Does site approval create an exclusive territory?
No. The franchise is granted for one approved location. At the applicant’s request, Howard Johnson International may negotiate a Protected Territory before the Franchise Agreement is signed, but the FDD states there is no minimum Protected Territory and it may be limited to the Facility location. The franchisor will not open or allow another Howard Johnson Chain Facility in that Protected Territory during the applicable period, subject to stated exceptions, yet other Wyndham-affiliated brands and overlapping protected territories may still compete.
For development execution, the franchisee—not the franchisor—must secure the property interest, engage qualified architects, engineers and contractors, and obtain governmental permits, licenses and consents. Franchisor plan review tests brand compliance and does not replace code, engineering, zoning, ADA, landlord, lender, or governmental approval. Wyndham’s public pages describe its broader new-hotel development support and conversion support, but the 2026 Howard Johnson FDD and Franchise Agreement control the specific contractual deadlines.
What training must be completed before or around opening?
Training is not a single pre-opening gate. New-construction franchisees must participate in on-site Opening Training; conversion franchisees may be required to do so when an architectural PIP applies. The training can occur from two weeks before Opening Date through 60 days after opening and lasts one day for 0–50 rooms, up to three days for 51–200 rooms, or up to five days for more than 200 rooms.
The general manager must complete the approximately 34-hour Hospitality Management Program to Howard Johnson International’s satisfaction no later than 90 days after Opening Date. Human Trafficking Prevention Training and Count on Us training also have post-opening completion requirements. Because these programs can occur after opening, successful training completion should not be confused with the franchisor’s separate authorization to open. The franchisor’s current general hotel-franchising overview likewise describes training and integration support at a high level; see the Wyndham hotel franchise FAQ.
Who controls each major dependency?
| Phase | Applicant / franchisee | Howard Johnson International | Third-party dependency |
|---|---|---|---|
| Qualification | Submit accurate application, ownership data, support documents, and fee. | Investigates, reviews, and decides whether to award the franchise. | Credit bureaus, financial institutions, references, and regulators may supply information. |
| Site | Select and secure the location; provide requested feasibility evidence. | Approves the site with the Franchise Application; may require a feasibility study. | Landlord, seller, lender, consultant, and local authorities remain independent decision-makers. |
| Design / PIP | Create plans, hire professionals, complete construction or renovation. | Reviews brand compliance, issues/attaches PIP where applicable, may inspect work. | Architects, engineers, contractors, utilities, and permitting authorities control their own work. |
| Systems | Procure approved PMS and required technology; execute technology agreements. | Provides system standards and required integration framework. | Approved PMS, gateway, Internet, signage, and other suppliers must deliver and install. |
| Opening | Finish pre-opening obligations, certifications, insurance, equipment, and readiness. | Determines whether brand requirements are satisfied and authorizes Opening Date. | Government inspections or permits and contractor completion can still delay readiness. |
What should a prospective franchisee verify before signing or scheduling opening?
Bottom line. The verified Howard Johnson path is: satisfy federal disclosure timing, submit the Franchise Application and supporting information, pass franchisor and site review, execute the Franchise Agreement and related documents, then complete the Schedule D path for new construction, conversion, or transfer before Howard Johnson International authorizes the Opening Date. The total inquiry-to-opening timeline is undisclosed.
The most important applicant-controlled dependency is completing accurate qualification, site-control, PIP/construction, permit, insurance, technology, and certification work on the contractual schedule. The most important franchisor/third-party dependency is the combination of Howard Johnson International’s approvals and independent lender, landlord, contractor, supplier, and government timing. The deadline to verify most carefully is format-specific: 90 days for the default conversion pre-opening phase, or 30 months for new construction, with earlier milestones that can accelerate the construction-start deadline.