Overview
When Red Roof was looking for a preferred payment partner, the brand needed a solution that could work across a large franchise network, improve day-to-day hotel operations, give operators more flexibility, and help reduce payment-related costs. They landed on FreedomPay because its open, integrated platform could support those priorities while giving franchisees a more efficient way to manage guest payments.
With more than 700 franchised properties across the country, Red Roof’s franchise network requires payment technology that can support consistency at scale while still meeting the day-to-day needs of individual operators.
The property
Monil Patel owns and operates Red Roof PLUS+ & Suites Virginia Beach – Seaside. Situated in one of Virginia's busiest tourist destinations, this property welcomes a high volume of guests year-round. That makes a reliable, efficient and secure payment system that delivers a smooth guest experience while keeping operations running efficiently a non-negotiable.
Key results
On top of a seamless implementation process backed by FreedomPay’s 24/7/365 support and day-to-day improvements in operational efficiency, this property uncovered significant processing savings since switching to FreedomPay:
- $5,185.52 saved on credit card processing fees in just the first six months of 2026, approximately a 23% decrease year-over-year.
- Approximately $864 per month in average processing savings versus the prior year.
- Faster front desk operations, with authorization holds replacing deposit charges and refunds that resulted in an easier experience for guests, and processing savings for the property.
- A smooth, low-disruption implementation that staff adapted to quickly.
The challenge before FreedomPay
Red Roof’s previous payment solution required incidental deposits to be charged and then refunded at checkout. Each of these transactions incurs processing fees, which adds unnecessary costs on each guest stay.
Those deposit mechanics weren’t the only source of friction. Overall processing rates were higher under the previous provider, and a number of additional fees pushed the property’s monthly processing expenses up further.
The switch to FreedomPay
Because Red Roof operates as a franchise network, it needed a payment provider that would be easy for operators to implement, dependable enough to support day-to-day hotel operations, and scalable enough for the business to grow with. For franchisees like Monil Patel, the selection of FreedomPay was a welcome one. “I appreciated that Red Roof selected a payment platform focused on improving both operational efficiency and cost savings for franchisees,” he said. Knowing the solution was backed by the brand gave him confidence that it would integrate well with existing systems and provide long-term value.
A smooth implementation
Going from one payment platform to another can be an undertaking, especially when switching from a single-vendor solution that had control over processing, POS, hardware, and all other payment components.
This implementation, however, was smooth and well organized, with the FreedomPay team communicating clearly throughout without causing disruption to day-to-day operations. For added implementation support, FreedomPay's dedicated professional services team is available to any merchant looking to speed up integration by providing onsite technical deployment and end-to-end project management.
Once implementation was complete, the property began using the system almost immediately, and staff adapted quickly.
Streamlined day-to-day operations
The switch to FreedomPay prompted a significant change in payment operations for this Red Roof property. The front desk staff spends less time handling payment-related issues, and authorizing incidental deposits is far simpler than charging and refunding them. By replacing deposit charges with authorization holds, FreedomPay's integrated solution has reduced manual payment handling and eliminated unnecessary deposit refunds.
Reliability has improved alongside efficiency. Transactions are processed quickly and consistently, and the dependable performance helps the front desk deliver faster service at both check-in and checkout.
Meaningful cost savings
Additionally, this Red Roof proprietor was able to get lower processing rates since the transition to FreedomPay. How? FreedomPay’s open platform isn’t tied to any particular processor, offering acquiring flexibility that can translate to a stronger negotiating position, and therefore better cost savings.
This change in processor has already resulted in significant savings. Comparing credit card processing fees from January through June 2026 with the same period in 2025, the property realized $5,185.52 in total savings, which averages approximately $864 per month and a 23% decrease in processing costs year-over-year. Two factors drove the result: using authorization holds for the $50 incidental deposits instead of charging and refunding eliminated unnecessary fees, and overall processing rates are lower than the previous provider’s. These savings have made a meaningful difference to the property’s bottom line.
This is the impact at a single property. Applied across all 700+ locations in the Red Roof franchise network, that same level of savings scales to a processing savings opportunity of more than $7.2 million a year.
A model that can be replicated
Overall, the experience of this Red Roof franchise shows what a hotel can expect in their implementation of FreedomPay.
The same challenges that this Red Roof franchise saw prior to FreedomPay exist all across the hospitality industry. The franchisee satisfaction seen here can be replicated across the Red Roof network and across other hotel chains looking to give their franchisees the best of both worlds: modernized payment operations and cost savings.