July 28, 2026

$200 Million Hotel Broker: Why Your Franchise Flag Might Be Capping Your Hotel's Revenue | Chris Kilcullen E90

$200 Million Hotel Broker: Why Your Franchise Flag Might Be Capping Your Hotel's Revenue | Chris Kilcullen E90

Chris Kilcullen has spent three decades in hotels, closing more than $200 million in deals as a senior broker at Avison Young. He's also sold franchises, brokered acquisitions for a REIT, and now built his own hotel concept, so he's seen the flag question from every angle. In this episode, he and Michael dig into the real math: why a commodity economy hotel can lose 30 to 40 percent of its value the moment it drops its brand, and why a well-positioned independent or boutique property can out-earn a branded one because it isn't capped by what guests expect to pay for a templated room. They also cover how Hilton and Marriott are using new soft brands to pull independent hotels back into their loyalty ecosystems, the F&B concept Chris is building to fix the one thing every guest complains about, and why some aging economy hotels are worth more converted into workforce housing than they are as hotels.

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