FranchiseVerdict
Hawthorn Extended Stay by Wyndham logo
FV-01168·MODERATEExcellent81

Hawthorn Extended Stay by Wyndham

Formerly known as Hotel Group

Lodging - Hotels & MotelsFranchising since 1996Website
Investment
$12.6M – $15.3M
71st pct Hotels & Mote…
Avg revenue
7th pct Hotels & Mote…
Royalty
5.5%
59th pct Hotels & Mote…
Units
82
64th pct Hotels & Mote…
SBA default

Bottom line

  • Total investment $12.6M – $15.3M including a $40K franchise fee, 5.5% ongoing royalty.
  • No Item 19 financial performance data disclosed — the franchisor chose not to publish revenue figures.
  • Rated MODERATE with a risk score of 62/100.
  • 13 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
Hawthorn Suites Franchising, Inc.
Parent company
Wyndham Hotels & Resorts, Inc.
Incorporated in
Georgia
HQ
22 Sylvan Way, Parsippany, New Jersey 07054
Auditor
Deloitte & Touche LLP
Audited financials
Franchisor revenue
$1.4B
vs $1.4B prior year

Yale framework · single-unit ROIC

Returns Analysis

Pulls Item 7 (investment) and Item 19 (revenue) from this brand's FDD into the Yale unlevered-ROIC formula. Override any input to stress-test it against your own assumptions.

The model · Yale framework

What would one Hawthorn Extended Stay by Wyndham unit return on the cash you put in?

Revenue · per unit, per year
$
Item 19 not disclosed — typing your own estimate
Franchisor take · royalty + ad fund
Royaltytyp 68%
%
Ad fundtyp 35%
%
Operating costs · category default: hospitality
COGS
%
Labor
%
Rent / occupancy
%
Other operating
%
Total invested capital · what you actually put in
Initial investment
$
FDD Item 7: $12.6M–$15.3M
Working capital
$
FDD reports $135K–$201K

Unlevered ROIC · per unit

1%

Below typical band (30–60%)

0%30–60% Yale band80%

Store EBITDA · annual
$90K
EBITDA margin
12.0%
Total invested
$14.1M
Payback
1883 mo
Unit-level only. A multi-unit portfolio gives up roughly 5–15% of this to shared services (corporate G&A) before reaching the ~10-unit break-even Yale describes.

Overview

About

Franchisees develop, construct, and operate extended-stay hotel properties under the Hawthorn brand within Wyndham's loyalty ecosystem. Day-to-day responsibilities include property management, guest services, housekeeping coordination, front-desk operations, revenue management, and compliance with Wyndham brand standards while paying 5.5% royalties on gross room revenue.

CEO
Geoff Ballotti
Founded
1996
FDD year
2026
States available
27

Item 7 · what it costs

The Vitals

Total investment
$12.6M – $15.3M
All-in to open one unit
Liquid capital
$135K – $201K
Cash you must have on hand
Franchise fee
$40K
Royalty
5.5%
Gross Room Revenue (GRR) · typical 6–8%
Ad fund
2.5%
typical 3–5%
Total fee load
8.0%
vs 9–13% typical

Item 19

Financial Performance

This franchisor did not disclose financial performance representations in Item 19, or our extractor could not parse them.

Item 20 · unit dynamics

The Growth Chart

Total units
82
Opened
13
Last reporting year
Closed
2
Turnover rate
2.4%
Company-owned
0
Corporate units in the system
% franchised
100%
vs corporate-owned
Net growth (yr3)
+15.5%
Net unit change last year
3-yr CAGR
+20.6%
Compounded over last 3 years
2024
82+11
Franchised units
2025
71
Franchised units
2026
68
Franchised units

Year-over-year franchised unit counts and net change. Source: FDD Item 20.

Item 20 · 27 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).

AK
ME
VT
NH
MA
RI
CT
NY
NJ
PA
DE
MD
DC
WA
OR
CA
NV
ID
MT
WY
UT
CO
AZ
NM
ND
SD
NE
KS
OK
TX
MN
IA
MO
AR
LA
WI
IL
MS
TN
MI
IN
KY
AL
OH
WV
GA
VA
NC
SC
FL
HI
Registered · 27 states
Not registered

States derived from franchisee phone area codes (Item 20). Approximate — ported numbers may show the original state, not the franchisee's current location.

Government records

SBA Loan Data

Aggregated from SBA 7(a) loan disclosures, public data unique to FranchiseVerdict.

No SBA loan data available for this brand.

FranchiseVerdict rating + FDD Items 3, 5, 6, 12, 17

Risk & Legal

62
Risk · 0-100
MODERATE62 / 100

Material litigation risk, missing financial transparency (Item 19), and high capital requirements for a small/growing franchise system warrant cautious due diligence before committing $12M+.

Score breakdown · what drove the 62 / 100 rating

  1. 01MINORNo Item 19 financial performance disclosure (avg revenue/net income) prevents ROI validation on $12.6M-$15.3M investment
  2. 02HIGHActive class action litigation against parent Wyndham for price fixing, antitrust, misleading fees, and data security breaches creates brand/operational risk
  3. 03MEDModest unit growth of 15.5% YoY with only 82 total franchises suggests limited scale and market validation for the extended-stay segment
  4. 04MEDHigh capital requirement ($12.6M-$15.3M) combined with undisclosed profitability creates asymmetric risk for franchisees
  5. 05MINORFTC settlement history on cybersecurity indicates prior data breach exposure affecting customer trust and operational compliance

Severity inferred from the FDD text · not a regulatory classification

FDD Items 5, 6, 12, 17 · continued from Risk & Legal

Contract & Territory Detail

Territory
Negotiated
Protected territory
Yes
Initial term
20 years
Online sales rights
Restricted
Franchisor can compete
Yes
Hire a manager?
Allowed
Litigation count
13
Right of first refusal
No
Franchisor can buy back on resale
Mandatory arbitration
No
Jury trial waiver
Yes
Owner-operator
Optional
Governing law
New Jersey

Item 11

Training & Operations

Classroom training
61 hrs
On-the-job training
30 hrs
POS system
OPERA Cloud Standard PMS
Operating tech stack

Item 20

Franchisee Contacts

Phone numbers extracted directly from this brand's FDD Item 20. After purchase, you'll also receive a list of validation questions tailored to this brand.

Franchisee contacts

92 numbers

Locked
(847) 361-••••
IL
(337) 353-••••
LA
(707) 293-••••
CA

One-time purchase · CSV download · Validation questions included

FDD download

Hawthorn Extended Stay by Wyndham · FDD (2026) PDF

Single-page checkout · instant download · CSV export of contacts available separately above