The largest hotel chains in the US hold roughly 52% of 91,797 hotels. We map every property and the owner who actually buys.

By US property count, Wyndham Hotels and Resorts is the largest, with roughly 6,100 hotels under brands like Days Inn, Super 8, Ramada, and La Quinta. By global rooms, Marriott International is the largest hotel company in the world with more than 1.6 million rooms, but in the United States its property count sits around 5,800. Property count and room count answer different questions: budget chains stack a lot of small hotels, premium brands stack fewer hotels with more rooms each.

There are approximately 91,797 hotels in the United States with around 5.6 million guest rooms, based on the American Hotel and Lodging Association State of the Industry report for 2024. That count includes everything from highway exit motels to luxury urban properties. Roughly 70 percent of US hotels are operated under a brand affiliation; the rest are independent.

The top 10 hotel chains operate roughly 52 percent of branded US hotels by property count. Wyndham, Choice, Marriott, Hilton, IHG, Best Western, Hyatt, Sonesta, G6, and Extended Stay America together account for the majority of the franchised and branded universe. The remaining 48 percent is split between smaller chains, soft brands, and the roughly 27,000 independent US hotels that operate without a flag.

Almost never Marriott or Hilton. The major hotel companies are franchisors and managers, not owners. A typical branded hotel is owned by a real estate group or REIT like Host Hotels and Resorts, Pebblebrook, or Apple Hospitality, managed by a third-party operator like Aimbridge or Highgate, and flagged with a Marriott or Hilton brand under a franchise agreement. Vendors selling into the property are talking to the management company and the ownership group, not the brand.

The brand sets standards and runs the loyalty program. The management company hires the GM and runs the property day to day. The ownership group puts up the capital and signs the franchise and management contracts. Aimbridge Hospitality and Highgate together manage thousands of hotels they do not own, under brands they do not control. If you sell anything that touches operations, the management company is your buyer. If you sell anything tied to capital expenditure, the ownership group decides.

AHLA and STR publish the headline US property and room counts annually. The branded portion is well tracked because franchisors report quarterly. The independent half is harder; many small motels open, close, or change hands without ever showing up in a national database. Orbital builds the universe from property-level signals refreshed against the broader US small business map, so independents and recent ownership changes appear faster than the annual report cycle.

Vendors selling into hotel operations. Property management system companies like Cloudbeds, Mews, and Stayntouch. Revenue management and dynamic pricing platforms. OTA channel managers. Food and beverage distributors and procurement teams. Loyalty and CRM platforms. Payment processors. In-room technology vendors selling smart locks, streaming, and casting. Housekeeping and maintenance software. The common thread is that they need the property, the GM, and the ownership group, not just the flag on the door.

Yes. Tell us the brands, classes, or states you want and we send a sample of around 100 verified property records with the owner, the management company, and the on-property GM, so you can check them against your own pipeline before anything changes hands. There is no charge for the sample.