ComfortFranchise Cost, Revenue & Review 2026
Data from FDD filing + SBA 7(a) records
FranchiseVerdict summary · 2026
A Comfort franchise requires a total initial investment of $319K – $12.1M, including a $50K franchise fee and an ongoing 6.0% royalty[2]. The 2024 FDD does not disclose unit-level revenue (no Item 19). Verdict grade: A. Run a live ROI scan →
Data last verified June 18, 2026 · figures per the 2024 FDD issuance
Overview
- Investment
- $319K – $12.1M
- 20th pct Lodging
- Avg gross sales
- N/A
- 2nd pct Lodging
- Royalty
- 6.0%
- 39th pct Lodging
- Units
- 1,664
- 53rd pct Lodging
- SBA default
- N/A
Quick verdict · Lodging · color = vs category peers
Green = >15% above Lodging avg · No shading = within ±15% · Red = >15% below avg · Source: FDD filings + SBA 7(a)
Data from public FDD filings and SBA records. Not financial advice. Methodology
Franchising since 1981. Systems this mature have refined operations and brand recognition.
83 legal cases disclosed in the FDD. Read Item 3 before signing.
Large franchise systems benefit from brand recognition, supply chain leverage, and proven operations.
Bottom line
- Total investment $319K – $12.1M including a $50K franchise fee, 6.0% ongoing royalty.
- Item 19 discloses "Historical" rather than annual gross sales, so unit revenue is not directly comparable.
- Verdict A (Top Quintile) with a risk score of 48/100.
- 83 litigation matters disclosed in Item 3, higher than typical. Review the summary for patterns (franchisor-initiated vs. franchisee-initiated).
Item 1 · who you're contracting with
The Franchisor
- Legal entity
- Choice Hotels International, Inc.
- Parent company
- Choice Hotels International, Inc.
- Incorporated in
- DE
- HQ
- 915 Meeting Street, Suite 600, North Bethesda, Maryland 20852
- Auditor
- Ernst & Young LLP
- Audited financials
- Franchisor revenue
- $1.5B
- vs $1.4B prior year
Independent franchisee associations
- Franchise Advisory Council (FAC)
Franchisee-led councils or alliances disclosed in Item 20. Indicates operator voice.
Overview
About
Franchisees operate limited-service hotel properties (typically 60–150 rooms) under the Comfort Inn brand, handling day-to-day management including front desk operations, housekeeping, maintenance, guest services, and revenue management. Franchisees pay 6% of gross room revenue to Choice Hotels and must maintain brand standards, participate in the loyalty program, and use the franchisor's reservation and property management systems.
- CEO
- Patrick S. Pacious
- Headquarters
- MD
- Founded
- 1963
- FDD year
- 2024
- States available
- 49
FDD Item 7 · 2024 filing · 15 line items
Initial investment breakdown
| Line item | Low | High | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Affiliation Fee | $50K | $65K | |
| Property Improvements | $160K | $1.7M | |
| Insurance | $3K | $88K | |
| Advertising | $3K | $40K | |
| Pre-Opening Photography | $1K | $3K | |
| Hardware to operate choiceADVANTAGE Property Management System | $4K | $11K | |
| choiceADVANTAGE Software License and Systems Training | $9K | $11K | |
| Opening Inventory of Supplies | $24K | $136K | |
| Orientation and Hospitality Operations Training Fees | $1K | $3K | |
| Mandatory On-Premises Signs | $15K | $100K | |
| Interior Design Waiver Fee | $0 | $15K | |
| Architectural Design Review & Construction Services | $0 | $15K | |
| Design and Engineering Costs and Inspections | $10K | $90K | |
| Working Capital Required Before Operations Begin | $15K | $40K | |
| Additional Funds for 3-Month Initial Period | $25K | $50K | |
| Total initial investment | $319K | $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
- $319K – $12.1M
- Better than avg vs category
- Liquid capital req'd
- $15K – $285K
- Better than avg vs category
- Franchise fee
- $5K – $70K
- Better than avg vs category
- Royalty
- 6.0%
- Gross Room Revenues · typical 6–8%
- Ad fund
- 3.5%
- typical 3–5%
- Total fee load
- 9.5%
- vs 9–13% typical
Ongoing fees · Item 6
| Fee | Amount |
|---|---|
| Royalty | 6.0% of gross sales |
| Marketing / ad fund | 3.5% of gross sales |
| Technology fee | $472 |
| Transfer fee | $65K |
| Inventory (initial) | $24K – $136K |
| Total fee load | 9.5% of rev |
Financial Performance
This brand's FDD disclosed "Historical" in Item 19 rather than annual gross sales. This metric cannot be directly compared across brands, so we omit it from rankings.
vs Lodging averages
How Comfort Compares
Unit growth
Item 20 · unit dynamics
The Growth Chart
- Total units
- 1,664
- Opened
- 45
- Last reporting year
- Closed
- 36
- Turnover rate
- 2.2%
- Company-owned
- 0
- Corporate units in the system
- % franchised
- 100%
- vs corporate-owned
- Net growth (yr3)
- +0.5%
- Net unit change last year
- 3-yr CAGR
- +1.2%
- Compounded over last 3 years
3-year detail · Item 20
- Opened (3yr)
- 45
- Closed (3yr)
- 36
- Terminated (3yr)
- 0
- Non-renewed (3yr)
- 0
- Transfers (3yr)
- 107
- Reacquired (3yr)
- 0
- Franchisor bought back
- Projected new
- 38
- Franchisor's next-year forecast
- Transfer rate
- 6.4%
- Owners selling to other franchisees
- Ceased ops
- 2.2%
- Units that stopped operating
Year-over-year franchised unit counts and net change. Source: FDD Item 20.
Item 20 · 29 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.
SBA loan performance
Government records
SBA Loan Data
Aggregated from SBA 7(a) and 504 loan disclosures, public data unique to FranchiseVerdict.
- Total loans
- 624
- Loan volume
- N/A
- Amount data pending
- Median loan
- N/A
- Charge-off rate
- N/A
Historical SBA 7(a) lending data, not predictive of future performance. How SBA charge-off rates are calculated
- Repayment rate (PIF)
- N/A
- 5-yr charge-off
- N/A
- Loans approved 2021+
- Active lenders
- 0
- Defaults
- 0
Explore lender portfolios on Bank Reports or regional data on State Reports.
Risk analysis
FranchiseVerdict rating + FDD Items 3, 5, 6, 12, 17
Risk & Legal
Comfort Inn represents a cautious-to-high-risk opportunity: stagnant growth, aggressive debt collection, pending litigation over hidden fees, and zero financial transparency create meaningful structural concerns despite established brand recognition.
Litigation (Item 3)
0 case reference(s): 0 pending, 0 settled.
Bankruptcy (Item 4)
None disclosed
Audited financials (Item 21)
Yes · Ernst & Young LLP
Franchisor revenue (Item 21)
Franchisor entity revenue (not unit-level)
Supplier relationship · Items 8 & 16
- Franchisor sells you products: No
- Must buy proprietary products: No
- Restricted to system-approved products: No
Score breakdown · what drove the 48 / 100 rating
- 01MINORStagnant unit growth (0.5% YoY) indicates a mature or declining system with minimal expansion momentum
- 02MEDNo Item 19 financial disclosure (Avg Net Income not disclosed) prevents validation of $67,470 average revenue claims and actual profitability
- 03HIGHAggressive litigation history: 75 franchisor-initiated collection actions in 2023 alone, plus pending class action in Canada regarding undisclosed fees—suggests systemic payment issues and franchisor-franchisee tension
- 04MINORWide investment range ($319K–$12.1M) with no protected territory creates unpredictable ROI and cannibalization risk
- 05HIGHPending class action litigation over undisclosed destination marketing fees indicates potential hidden costs beyond stated 6% royalty
- 06MINORChoice Hotels' anti-competitive practice disputes raise concerns about franchisor's operational fairness and legal compliance
- 07MINORHigh royalty rate (6% of gross, not net) combined with no profitability data creates cash flow risk in low-margin hospitality
Severity inferred from the FDD text · not a regulatory classification
FDD Items 5, 6, 12, 17 · continued from Risk & Legal
Contract & Territory Detail
| Initial term | 20 years |
|---|---|
| Protected territory | No |
| Online sales rightsℹ | Granted |
| Franchisor can compete | Yes |
| Hire a manager? | Allowed |
| Owner-operator | Optional |
| Right of first refusalℹ | No |
| Termination notice | 30 days |
| Termination groundsℹ | 4 |
| Curable defaultsℹ | 5 |
| Mandatory arbitration | Yes |
| Jury trial waiver | Yes |
| Governing law | Maryland |
| Litigation count | 83 |
View Item 3 litigation summary
0 case reference(s): 0 pending, 0 settled.
Items 10, 11
Training & Operations
- Classroom training
- 47 hrs
- On-the-job training
- 19 hrs
- Training location
- On-site and corporate
- Site selection
- franchisor
- Franchisor financing
- Offered
- Item 10
- POS system
- choiceADVANTAGE
- Operating tech stack
Items 5 & 11
Franchisor Support
Technology: choiceADVANTAGE
Item 20 · call current owners
Franchisee Contacts
100 owners to call
Name · phone · city · state. Extracted from FDD Item 20
FDD download
Comfort · FDD (2024) PDF
Frequently asked questions
Frequently Asked Questions
How much does it cost to open a Comfort franchise?
The total investment to open a Comfort franchise ranges from $319K – $12.1M, with an initial franchise fee of $50K. This includes real estate, equipment, inventory, and working capital as disclosed in their Franchise Disclosure Document (FDD).
What do Comfort franchise owners earn?
Comfort does not disclose average franchise owner earnings in their FDD Item 19. Not all franchisors are required to make financial performance representations. We recommend asking existing franchisees directly about their financial experience.
What is Comfort's franchise failure rate?
SBA 7(a) loan charge-off data is not available for Comfort (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 Comfort franchise locations are there?
As of their most recent FDD filing, Comfort has 1,664 total units in the United States, including 1,645 franchised units and 0 company-owned units. 45 new units were opened in the latest reporting year.
Is Comfort a good franchise to buy?
FranchiseVerdict rates Comfort as a A-grade franchise with a risk score of 48 out of 100, based on our analysis of investment costs, revenue data, SBA loan performance, and growth trends. 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
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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.