Boarders Inn & Suites by Cobblestone Franchise Cost, Revenue & Review 2026
- Investment
- $100K – $2.3M
- Disclosed sales
- partial, no system average
- SBA charge-off
- Not SBA-matched
Data from FDD filing
Analysis by FranchiseVerdict Research · Methodology
Boarders Inn & Suites by Cobblestone is a midscale hotel franchise offering value properties in small and underserved markets. Franchisees own and operate the hotels, managing front desk, housekeeping, and revenue.
FranchiseVerdict summary · 2026
A Boarders Inn & Suites by Cobblestone franchise requires a total initial investment of $100K – $2.3M, including a $45K franchise fee. The 2025 FDD on file does not yield a unit-revenue figure we can publish. FranchiseVerdict grade: A (Strongest tier), an editorial assessment, not investment advice. Run a live ROI scan →
Sources, dates and evidence
FDD issued: · Data extracted: · Last cited check: · Staleness risk: medium - issued 12 to 24 months ago; a newer filing is likely on file
Evidence: strong✓ Investment (Item 7)✓ Item 19 status✓ Units and owners (Item 20)✗ SBA loan coverage✓ Litigation (Item 3)✓ Financial statements (Item 21)✓ Franchisor identityhow this is scored3 of 3 headline figures on this page cite a page of the filing.
Overview
- Investment
- $100K – $2.3M
- 3rd pct Lodging
- Avg gross sales
- N/A
- Outlet subsetProjection
- Royalty
- Set by a formula
- Units
- 15
- 25th pct Lodging
- SBA charge-off
- N/A
Quick verdict · Lodging · color = vs category peers
Green = favorable by >10% vs Lodging median · No shading = within ±10% · Red = unfavorable by >10% · Source: FDD filings + SBA 7(a)
Data from public FDD filings and SBA records. Not financial advice. Methodology
Bottom line
- COSTTotal investment $100K – $2.3M including a $45K franchise fee.
- RETURNSItem 19 figures are CRS contribution %, ADR, Occupancy %, and RevPAR for Sample Hotels (12-13 of the 15-18 system hotels with 31+ rooms) - not whole-unit gross sales, and do not reflect operating expenses, debt service, or taxes.
- RISKVerdict A (Strongest tier), verdict score 75/100 (higher is better).
- GROWTHNegative: net -1 franchised outlets in the latest year (1 opened, 2 closed) (Item 20).
- DATAItem 19 reports hotel occupancy metrics rather than annual gross sales, so unit revenue is not directly comparable. Ask franchisees directly for full unit-level revenue.
Item 1 · who you're contracting with
The Franchisor
Corporate structure & franchisor financials
- Legal entity
- Cobblestone Hotels, LLC
- CEO title
- Co-Owner and Chief Financial Officer
- Kim Wogernese
- Incorporated in
- Wisconsin
- HQ
- 980 American Drive, Neenah, Wisconsin 54956
- Auditor
- Baker Tilly US, LLP
- Audited financials
- Franchisor revenue
- $9.5M
- vs $8.3M prior year
Affiliated brands
- Slate Hospitality Group
- BriMark Builders
- BriMark Builders LA
- Cobblestone Hotel Development
- Granite Hospitality Group
- Wissota Franchising
- Cobblestone Hotel Group
- Cobblestone Supply Company
- Neenah Hospitality Group
- BriMark Builders Construction
Other brands the franchisor or its parent operates (Item 1).
Overview
About
- CEO
- Kim Wogernese
- Headquarters
- Wisconsin
- Founded
- 2012
- FDD year
- 2025
- States available
- 9
Can you afford it, and what does the money buy?
Entry cost runs 86% below the typical lodging franchise.
Source: FDD 2025 · Items 5–7
Full Item 7 breakdown17 line items
Initial investment breakdown
| Line item | Low | High | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Initial Fee | $45K | $45K | |
| Initial Training Fee | $2K | $11K | |
| Travel and Living Expenses while Training | $1K | $5K | |
| Furniture, Fixtures and Equipment | $0 | $1.8M | |
| Opening Inventory | $20K | $60K | |
| Interior Design Review Fee | $0 | $5K | |
| Exterior Signage | $10K | $50K | |
| Hardware, Software, and Installation | $0 | $20K | |
| Property Management System Set-Up and Installation | $15K | $15K | |
| Reservation System Set-Up and Integration | $2K | $2K | |
| Call Center System Initial Set Up and Installation | $1K | $1K | |
| Insurance | $2K | $150K | |
| High-Speed Internet Access Hardware, Software, and Installation | $0 | $15K | |
| Cobblestone Rewards Initial Fee | $2K | $2K | |
| Signage Review Fee | $0 | $5K | |
| Contactless Check-In and Digital Authorizations | $0 | $1K | |
| Additional Funds - Pre-Opening and 3 Months | $0 | $150K | |
| Total initial investment | $100K | $2.3M |
Line items extracted from FDD Item 7. Ranges reflect the franchisor's stated low and high per line. Total is the sum of line-item lows / highs — actual costs may fall outside this range depending on market and build-out scope.
Item 7 · what it costs to open + operate
The Vitals
- Total investment
- $100K – $2.3M
- Top 40% of category vs category
- Liquid capital req'd
- $0 – $150K
- Top 40% of category vs category
- Franchise fee
- $45K – $45K
- Top 40% of category vs category
- Royalty
- Franchisee chooses at signing between (i) $2.25/day per g…
- Ad fund
- $0.75 per day multiplied by number of guest rooms, calcul…
- Total fee load
- 5.0%
- vs 9–13% typical
Ongoing fees · Item 6
| Fee | Amount |
|---|---|
| Royalty (flat) | Monthly Fee: franchisee's choice at signing of (i) $2.25 per guest room per day (30-day month basis, e.g. $3,375/month for a 50-room hotel) or (ii) 5% of monthly Gross Room Revenues |
| Technology fee | $15K |
| Training fee | $1K |
| Transfer fee | $5K |
| Renewal fee | $45K |
| Inventory (initial) | $20K – $60K |
| Total fee load | 5.0% of rev |
What do units actually make?
Source: FDD 2025 · Item 19
ROI & LBO modelsSingle-unit · 25-unit portfolio · editable
No Item 19 revenue figure for Boarders Inn & Suites by Cobblestone is on file. The return models need a revenue figure to start from, and the operating costs that turn gross sales into a profit are in no FDD. Enter your own and the calculator runs on your assumptions — nothing here is modelled until you do.
Returns model · single-unit ROIC
What would one Boarders Inn & Suites by Cobblestone unit return on the cash you put in?
Illustrative category typicals — not sourced to any filing, survey or sample. Replace them with figures from franchisee validation calls before you rely on the output.
Unlevered ROIC · per unit
Your modelled return on total invested capital, before any debt financing.
—
An FDD discloses gross sales, not profit. We hold no sourced figure for annual revenue, royalty rate, ad fund rate, COGS, labour, rent / occupancy and other operating costs, and will not substitute an assumed one. Enter your own and the model runs on your assumptions.
These models are for research and scenario planning only. Not investment advice. Actual results depend on your specific location, management, and market conditions. Consult a franchise attorney and accountant before signing any franchise agreement.
Item 19 · Source: 2025 FDD
Financial Performance
Item 19 figures are CRS contribution %, ADR, Occupancy %, and RevPAR for Sample Hotels (12-13 of the 15-18 system hotels with 31+ rooms) - not whole-unit gross sales, and do not reflect operating expenses, debt service, or taxes.
Reported for a subset of outlets rather than the whole system
An occupancy metric, not unit revenue
- Item 19 type
- non-sales performance metrics (CRS contribution %, ADR, Occupancy %, RevPAR) - not whole-unit gross sales or net income
- Sample size
- 12
- vs category median 98 · small
- Reporting year
- 2024
- Fiscal year the figures cover
- Source filing
- FDD 2025
- Disclosed in the 2025 filing, covering 2024
Compared against 175 Lodging brands
Operator outlook
What the numbers say
Data-driven interpretation of this brand's financial disclosures, fee structure, and system trajectory.
Fee burden
Total ongoing fee load of 5.0% — below the Lodging median of 8.5%.
Disclosure
Item 19 reports hotel occupancy metrics rather than annual gross sales, so unit revenue is not directly comparable.
Operator retention
System contracting at -16.7% CAGR over 3 years. Investigate whether closures are franchisor-driven consolidation or franchisee exits.
Source: FDD Item 19 financial performance representations and publicly filed FDD data. Past performance is not indicative of future results. Verify all figures with the franchisor and current franchisees before making any investment decision.
vs Lodging medians
How Boarders Inn & Suites by Cobblestone Compares
Category median of published Lodging brands that report the figure; the middle half spans the 25th to 75th percentile and n counts the brands behind it. Medians are used because a few very large systems pull an average far from the typical brand. Revenue is disclosed gross sales, not profit.
Is the system healthy?
Source: FDD 2025 · Item 20
Unit growth
Item 20 · unit dynamics
The Growth Chart
- Total units
- 15
- Opened
- 1
- Last reporting year
- Closed
- 2
- Terminated
- 2
- Franchisor ended the franchise (per Item 20)
- Non-renewed
- 0
- Term expired, not renewed (per Item 20)
- Turnover rate
- 13.3%
- Company-owned
- 0
- Corporate units in the system
- % franchised
- 100%
- vs corporate-owned
- Net growth (3-yr)
- -16.7%
- Net unit change over 3 years
- 3-yr CAGR
- -16.7%
- Compounded over last 3 years
Last fiscal year · Item 20 exits and transfers
- Terminated
- 2
- Not renewed
- 0
- Transferred
- 5
- Reacquired
- 0
- Franchisor bought back
- Signed, not yet open
- 0
- 0.00 per open outlet · Item 20 Table 5
- Projected new
- 0
- Franchisor's next-year forecast
Year-over-year franchised unit counts and net change. Source: FDD Item 20.
Item 20 · 9 states with active franchisees
The Territory Map
Derived from franchisee contact records. Shows states with at least one current operator. Not where the franchisor is registered to sell new units (that data is re-extracting in a future refresh).
States derived from franchisee contact records (FDD Item 20). Shows states with at least one current operator on file. Full state registration data (Item 12) will appear on a future FDD refresh.
Where the owners are · Item 20 owner list
15 current owners across 9 states.
- WI 4
- IA 3
- NE 2
- CO 1
- KS 1
- MI 1
- MN 1
- MO 1
- TN 1
Counts only, from the list the franchisor prints in Item 20. Names and phone numbers are for your own due diligence and are not shown here.
SBA loan performance
Government records
SBA Loan Data
Aggregated from SBA 7(a) and 504 loan disclosures, public data unique to FranchiseVerdict.
No SBA loan data available for this brand.
What could kill this investment?
Source: SBA 7(a) FOIA · FDD Items 3, 21
Risk analysis
FranchiseVerdict rating + FDD Items 3, 4, 8, 16, 21
Risk & Legal
Shrinking franchise system with undisclosed unit economics, vague financial transparency, and structural royalty ambiguities present meaningful investment risk.
Litigation (Item 3)
Subject: officers or affiliates. The franchisor is not a named party in these cases.
No litigation disclosed.
Bankruptcy (Item 4)
None disclosed
Audited financials (Item 21)
Yes · Baker Tilly US, LLP
Franchisor revenue (Item 21)
Franchisor entity revenue (not unit-level)
Supplier relationship · Items 8 & 16
- Franchisor sells you products: No
- Kickbacks from required suppliers: No
- Must buy proprietary products: No
- Restricted to system-approved products: No
- Can negotiate own supplier terms: Yes
Score breakdown · what drove the 75 / 100 verdict
- 01MINORSystem declining 6.2% YoY with only 15 units suggests weak growth trajectory and potential systemic issues
- 02MINORDual royalty structure ($2.25/room/day OR 5% of GRR) creates ambiguity and potential for franchisor revenue optimization at franchisee expense
- 03MINORModest $45,000 franchise fee relative to $99,999+ startup costs suggests thin margins or high pre-opening capital needs
Severity inferred from the FDD text · not a regulatory classification
What are you signing up for?
Ongoing fees run about 5.0% of sales (royalty + ad fund), before rent and labor.
Source: FDD 2025 · Items 11, 12, 17
FDD Items 12, 15, 17 · continued from Risk & Legal
Contract & Territory Detail
| Initial term | 10 years |
|---|---|
| Renewal term | 2 years |
| Territory type | Protected territory |
| Protected territory | Yes |
| Exclusive territoryℹ | No |
| Territory radius | 5 mi |
| Online sales rightsℹ | Restricted |
| Franchisor can compete | Yes |
| Hire a manager? | Allowed |
| Owner-operator | Optional |
| Right of first refusalℹ | Yes |
| Transfer requires consent | Yes |
| Termination notice | 30 days |
| Termination groundsℹ | 26 |
| Curable defaultsℹ | 19 |
| Mandatory arbitration | No |
| Arbitration location | Not applicable - no arbitration; litigation in Winnebago County, WI or Eastern District of WI federal court |
| Jury trial waiver | Yes |
| Governing law | Wisconsin |
| Litigation count | 0 |
View Item 3 litigation summary
No litigation disclosed.
Items 10, 11
Training & Operations
- Classroom training
- 78 hrs
- On-the-job training
- 44 hrs
- Training location
- Corporate headquarters (Neenah, WI) and on-property
- Ongoing training
- Required
- Time to open
- 4 mo
- From signing to launch
- Site selection
- franchisee proposes site; franchisor approves/rejects in its sole discretion
- Franchisor financing
- Not offered
- Item 10
- POS system
- Stayntouch (PMS)
- Operating tech stack
Items 5 & 11
Franchisor Support
Technology: Stayntouch (PMS)
Item 20 · call current owners
Franchisee Contacts
15 owners to call
Name · phone · city · state. Extracted from FDD Item 20
Frequently asked questions
Frequently Asked Questions
How much does it cost to open a Boarders Inn & Suites by Cobblestone franchise?
The total investment to open a Boarders Inn & Suites by Cobblestone franchise ranges from $100K – $2.3M, with an initial franchise fee of $45K. This includes real estate, equipment, inventory, and working capital as disclosed in their Franchise Disclosure Document (FDD).
What do Boarders Inn & Suites by Cobblestone franchise owners earn?
Item 19 of the Boarders Inn & Suites by Cobblestone FDD discloses figures for part of the system but no single average across all outlets. These are gross sales figures, not profit; the Revenue section shows what the filing reports and on what basis. Item 20 of the FDD lists current and former franchisees; asking them directly is the standard way to fill this gap.
Who owns Boarders Inn & Suites by Cobblestone?
Boarders Inn & Suites by Cobblestone is franchised by Cobblestone Hotels, LLC. The FDD names no parent company. Source: FDD Item 1, 2025 filing.
What is Item 19 in the Boarders Inn & Suites by Cobblestone FDD?
The FDD section where a franchisor may disclose financial performance of its outlets. Disclosure is optional and formats vary; figures are typically gross sales, which is revenue before expenses, not profit. FranchiseVerdict extracts these figures directly from the Boarders Inn & Suites by Cobblestone FDD and qualifies whose outlets they describe.
What is Boarders Inn & Suites by Cobblestone's franchise failure rate?
SBA 7(a) loan charge-off data is not available for Boarders Inn & Suites by Cobblestone (fewer than 10 loans on file). Charge-off rates are one way to gauge franchise risk, but not all franchise loans go through the SBA program. We recommend reviewing turnover and closure data in the FDD and speaking with current franchisees.
How many Boarders Inn & Suites by Cobblestone franchise locations are there?
As of their most recent FDD filing, Boarders Inn & Suites by Cobblestone has 15 total units in the United States, including 15 franchised units and 0 company-owned units. 1 new units were opened in the latest reporting year.
Is Boarders Inn & Suites by Cobblestone a good franchise to buy?
FranchiseVerdict rates Boarders Inn & Suites by Cobblestone as a A-grade franchise with a verdict score of 75 out of 100 (higher is better). The grade is a deterministic score built from six weighted dimensions — financial health, unit economics, unit growth, scale, legal, and transparency — then calibrated against SBA loan charge-off rates and FDD age. Transparency is one of the six, so a filing that discloses less scores lower on that dimension than one that discloses more. Our rating is based solely on publicly available FDD and government data; we recommend speaking with current franchisees before making any investment decision. This is not investment advice.
Data sourced from public FDD filings and SBA 7(a) FOIA records. Not financial advice.
For franchisors
Are you the franchisor?
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Data extracted from public FDD filings and SBA 7(a) loan disclosures (FOIA). This information is provided for research purposes only and does not constitute financial, legal, or investment advice. Verify all figures with the franchisor's current Franchise Disclosure Document before making any investment decision.