Investment Banks for Hotel and Resort Sales in 2026
by Raises.com
Hotels are the one asset class where generalist capital markets desks routinely lose to specialists. Buyer lists are short, operations drive value, and the brokers who know which family office wants a beach resort this quarter guard that knowledge like inventory. Here is the specialist bench in 2026.
The hospitality specialists
- Hodges Ward Elliott: the boutique name synonymous with hotel capital markets
- RobertDouglas: hotels and resorts advisory across sales, debt, and equity
- JLL Hotels & Hospitality and CBRE Hotels: the global platforms' dedicated lodging desks, deep in both trophy urban and resort trades
- Eastdil Secured: the institutional standard when the hotel is the trophy
- Marcus & Millichap's hospitality division: the private-client tier for select-service and independent properties
Why hospitality stays a specialist game
A hotel sale is an operating business sale wearing a real estate wrapper: RevPAR trajectories, brand encumbrances, management agreements, PIP obligations, and seasonality-loaded debt service all price into the trade. Specialists carry live comps on all of it and, more valuably, the direct lines to the fifty buyers who matter in each segment.
Under the specialist minimums
Specialist engagement economics start around $25 to $30 million. The independent 45-key coastal hotel, the $8 million boutique conversion, the roadside select-service portfolio: those deals raise through the sponsor's own structured vehicle, with HNW and family office equity beside SBA 504, conventional, or bridge debt. The hospitality raise mechanics are covered in our hotel acquisition funds guide and the vehicle build at https://raises.com/services/fund-spv-formation; the wider landscape in our real estate investment banking overview.
Frequently asked questions
Who are the top hotel investment banks in 2026?
Hodges Ward Elliott, RobertDouglas, and the dedicated hotel desks at JLL, CBRE, and Eastdil dominate institutional lodging processes.
What do hotel investment banks charge?
The standard grammar applies (roughly 1 to 2 percent on sales at institutional size, more in the middle market) with hospitality's operational diligence built into longer processes.
How do smaller hotel deals get funded without a bank?
Structured SPV equity from HNW and family office investors alongside SBA or bridge debt, with a model that survives seasonality stress tests.
Raising to buy? Here is how we structure it
Most readers of pages like this are raising for their own deal, not hiring a bank. Raises.com builds the vehicle that lets investors wire: the fund or SPV, the PPM, subscription and operating agreements, CFA-built proformas, and the data room, then debt and equity introductions matched to the deal. Flat fee, no percentage of the raise. Start at https://raises.com/buy-a-business or book a strategy call at https://raises.com/call.