FranchiseVerdict
Margaritaville Hotels & Resorts logo
FV-01572·MODERATEExcellent81

Margaritaville Hotels & Resorts

Lodging - Hotels & MotelsFranchising since 2019Website
Investment
$22.1M
88th pct Hotels & Mote…
Avg revenue
7th pct Hotels & Mote…
Royalty
5.0%
7th pct Hotels & Mote…
Units
18
40th pct Hotels & Mote…
SBA default

Bottom line

  • Total investment $22.1M including a $105K franchise fee, 5.0% ongoing royalty.
  • No Item 19 financial performance data disclosed — the franchisor chose not to publish revenue figures.
  • Rated MODERATE with a risk score of 64/100.

Item 1 · who you're contracting with

The Franchisor

Legal entity
Margaritaville Hotels & Resorts, LLC
Parent company
Margaritaville Holdings LLC
Incorporated in
Delaware
HQ
6900 Turkey Lake Road, Suite 200, Orlando, Florida 32819
Auditor
Ernst & Young LLP
Audited financials
Franchisor revenue
$92.5M
vs $104.6M 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 Margaritaville Hotels & Resorts 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
$
Working capital
$
FDD reports $300K–$500K

Unlevered ROIC · per unit

0%

Below typical band (30–60%)

0%30–60% Yale band80%

Store EBITDA · annual
$101K
EBITDA margin
13.5%
Total invested
$22.5M
Payback
2670 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 operate upscale resort and hotel properties branded under the Margaritaville name, managing daily operations including hospitality services, guest experiences, food and beverage offerings, and resort amenities. Franchisees handle marketing, staffing, maintenance, and customer relations while paying 5% royalties on gross revenue to the franchisor.

CEO
John Cohlan
Founded
1997
FDD year
2025
States available
9

Item 7 · what it costs

The Vitals

Total investment
$22.1M
All-in to open one unit
Liquid capital
$300K – $500K
Cash you must have on hand
Franchise fee
$105K
Royalty
5.0%
Gross Revenue · typical 6–8%
Ad fund
1.5%
typical 3–5%
Total fee load
6.5%
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
18
Opened
1
Last reporting year
Closed
1
Turnover rate
5.6%
Company-owned
0
Corporate units in the system
% franchised
100%
vs corporate-owned
Net growth (yr3)
+0.0%
Net unit change last year
3-yr CAGR
+20.0%
Compounded over last 3 years
2023
18±0
Franchised units
2024
18
Franchised units
2025
15
Franchised units

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

Item 20 · 16 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 · 16 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

64
Risk · 0-100
MODERATE64 / 100

Margaritaville Hotels presents substantial due diligence concerns: extreme capital requirements without financial transparency, a stagnant 18-unit system with unresolved litigation, and a franchisor of questionable financial stability seeking two-decade commitments.

Score breakdown · what drove the 64 / 100 rating

  1. 01MINORExtremely high capital requirement ($22.1M+) with no Item 19 financial performance disclosure, making ROI validation impossible
  2. 02MINOROnly 18 units system-wide with unknown growth trajectory suggests stagnant or contracting franchise network
  3. 03HIGHMultiple litigation events including trademark disputes, conspiracy lawsuits, and regulatory violations indicate operational and legal instability
  4. 04HIGHGoing Concern status is False, creating questions about franchisor financial viability and long-term support
  5. 05MED5% royalty on undisclosed average revenues combined with massive upfront costs creates opacity around profitability thresholds
  6. 06MED20-year term locks franchisees into a relationship with a small, legally troubled franchisor with limited disclosure

Severity inferred from the FDD text · not a regulatory classification

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

Contract & Territory Detail

Territory
Area of Protection
Protected territory
Yes
Initial term
20 years
Renewal term
10 years
Online sales rights
Restricted
Franchisor can compete
Yes
Hire a manager?
Allowed
Litigation count
3
Right of first refusal
Yes
Franchisor can buy back on resale
Mandatory arbitration
Yes
Jury trial waiver
Yes
Owner-operator
Optional
Governing law
Delaware

Item 11

Training & Operations

Classroom training
7 hrs
On-the-job training
33 hrs
POS system
InfoGenesis
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

19 numbers

Locked
(804) 371-••••
VA
(470) 698-••••
GA
(401) 462-••••
RI

One-time purchase · CSV download · Validation questions included

FDD download

Margaritaville Hotels & Resorts · FDD (2025) PDF

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