WoodSpring SuitesFranchise Cost, Revenue & Review 2026
Data from FDD filing + SBA 7(a) records
FranchiseVerdict summary · 2026
A WoodSpring Suites franchise requires a total initial investment of $8.8M – $14.6M, including a $50K franchise fee and an ongoing 6.0% royalty[2]. Per the 2026 FDD, average unit revenue was $2.1M[2]. SBA 7(a) loans show a 0.0% charge-off rate across 11 loans[1]. Verdict grade: A. Run a live ROI scan →
Data last verified June 18, 2026 · figures per the 2026 FDD issuance
Overview
- Investment
- $8.8M – $14.6M
- 38th pct Lodging
- Avg gross sales
- $2.1M
- 2nd pct Lodging
- Royalty
- 6.0%
- 39th pct Lodging
- Units
- 284
- 43rd pct Lodging
- SBA default
- 0.0%
- system-wide median varies by category
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
At 0.2x revenue per dollar invested, this system underperforms the typical 1.5-2.5x range.
Only 0.0% of 11 SBA loans charged off, well below the 16% franchise average.
Franchising since 1968. Systems this mature have refined operations and brand recognition.
Franchised units fell from 302 to 235 over 3 years. Investigate why operators are leaving.
Bottom line
- Total investment $8.8M – $14.6M including a $50K franchise fee, 6.0% ongoing royalty.
- Average unit revenue of $2.1M/year (median $2.1M), with an estimated 10% cash-on-cash return (based on P&L Bottom Line).
- Verdict A (Top Quintile) with a risk score of 50/100. SBA loan charge-off rate of 0.0% across 11 loans (well below the franchise average, based on all SBA 7(a) franchise lending, 2010–2024).
- 138 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 $1.6B prior year
Independent franchisee associations
- Franchise Advisory Council (FAC)
Franchisee-led councils or alliances disclosed in Item 20. Indicates operator voice.
Overview
About
WoodSpring Suites franchisees operate extended-stay hotel properties targeting budget-conscious travelers. Day-to-day operations include housekeeping, front desk management, maintenance, marketing, and revenue optimization of typically 120-150 room units, with responsibility for all local P&L management while paying 6% of gross room revenues in royalties.
- CEO
- Patrick S. Pacious
- Headquarters
- MD
- Founded
- 1939
- FDD year
- 2026
- States available
- 40
FDD Item 7 · 2026 filing · 17 line items
Initial investment breakdown
| Line item | Low | High | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Affiliation Feenot refundable | $50K | $50K | |
| Real Estate | — | — | |
| Construction (excluding soft costs) | $7.7M | $12.6M | |
| Furniture, Fixtures, and Equipment (FF&E) | $715K | $822K | |
| Feasibility/Market/Environmental Impact Studies | $3K | $35K | |
| Professional Design Services | $200K | $450K | |
| Mandatory On-Premises Signs | $20K | $100K | |
| Insurance | $45K | $165K | |
| Brand in a Box | $12K | $30K | |
| Training (Travel and Living Expenses While Training) | $3K | $10K | |
| Sales and Marketing Materials and other Pre-Opening Costs - 3 months | $35K | $60K | |
| Permits, Licenses and Government Fees | — | — | |
| Interior Design Waiver Fee | $0 | $20K | |
| Architectural Design Review & Construction Services | $0 | $20K | |
| Construction Advisory Services Agreement | $0 | $20K | |
| Additional Funds - 6 month period | $30K | $200K | |
| Revenue Management Setup and Training Fee | $3K | $5K | |
| Total initial investment | $8.8M | $14.6M |
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.
Single-unit · estimated
Returns at a glance
Indicative numbers using FDD Item 7 / Item 19 inputs and category-benchmarked cost ratios. Full single-unit, 25-unit portfolio, and LBO models (with every input editable to stress-test your own scenario) live on the financials page.
Store EBITDA · annual
$247K
11.5% margin
Unlevered ROIC
2%
EBITDA / total invested capital
Payback
47.9 yrs
cash-on-cash, unlevered
Item 7 · what it costs to open + operate
The Vitals
- Total investment
- $8.8M – $14.6M
- Better than avg vs category
- Liquid capital req'd
- $30K – $200K
- Better than avg vs category
- Franchise fee
- $50K – $50K
- Better than avg vs category
- Royalty
- 6.0%
- Gross Room Revenues · typical 6–8%
- Ad fund
- 2.5%
- typical 3–5%
- Total fee load
- 14.6%
- vs 9–13% typical
- Payback period
- 10.1 yrs
- From FDD / Item 19
Ongoing fees · Item 6
| Fee | Amount |
|---|---|
| Royalty | 6.0% of gross sales |
| Marketing / ad fund | 2.5% of gross sales |
| Technology fee | $6 |
| Transfer fee | $60K |
| Renewal fee | $60K |
| Total fee load | 14.6% of rev |
At 14.6% total fee load, roughly $313K per year goes to the franchisor before you pay a single operating expense.
Financial Performance
- Avg gross sales
- $2.1M
- Per unit, per year
- Median gross sales
- $2.1M
- Avg p&l bottom line
- $1.2M
- Reported as P&L Bottom Line in FDD Item 19
- Cash-on-cash
- 9.9%
- Based on P&L Bottom Line / investment midpoint
- Item 19 type
- Averages and Medians for Stabilized Franchised Properties
- Sample size
- 176 units
- vs category median 100
- Range (low → high)
- $901K→$3.7M
- Cohort dispersion (min → max)
- Transparency tier
- limited
- Categorical assessment of disclosure depth
- Reporting year
- 2025
- Fiscal year the figures cover
- Transparency
- 10 / 5
- vs category median 0 / 5 · above
Compared against 245 Lodging brands
Revenue is only 0.2x the investment. This means each unit may take 5+ years to recoup the initial outlay at typical margins.
vs Lodging averages
How WoodSpring Suites Compares
Unit growth
Item 20 · unit dynamics
The Growth Chart
- Total units
- 284
- Opened
- 28
- Last reporting year
- Closed
- 0
- Turnover rate
- 0.0%
- Company-owned
- 0
- Corporate units in the system
- % franchised
- 100%
- vs corporate-owned
- Net growth (yr3)
- +10.9%
- Net unit change last year
- 3-yr CAGR
- +20.9%
- Compounded over last 3 years
3-year detail · Item 20
- Opened (3yr)
- 28
- Closed (3yr)
- 2
- Terminated (3yr)
- 2
- Non-renewed (3yr)
- 0
- Transfers (3yr)
- 20
- Reacquired (3yr)
- 0
- Franchisor bought back
- Termination rate
- 0.9%
- Franchisor-initiated terminations
- Ceased ops
- 0.9%
- Units that stopped operating
Year-over-year franchised unit counts and net change. Source: FDD Item 20.
Item 20 · 19 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.
Available to sell in · Item 12
- California
- Washington
States where the franchisor is registered to sell new franchises (FDD registration filings).
SBA loan performance
Government records
SBA Loan Data
Aggregated from SBA 7(a) and 504 loan disclosures, public data unique to FranchiseVerdict.
- Total loans
- 11
- Loan volume
- $33.3M
- Median loan
- $3.0M
- average
- Charge-off rate
- 0.0%
- rates vary by category · see methodology
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
- 0.0%
- Loans approved 2021+
- Active lenders
- 3
- Defaults
- 0
Explore lender portfolios on Bank Reports or regional data on State Reports.
With a 0.0% charge-off rate across 11 loans, banks have historically viewed this brand favorably for lending.
Risk analysis
FranchiseVerdict rating + FDD Items 3, 5, 6, 12, 17
Risk & Legal
WoodSpring Suites presents high-risk profile due to extensive franchisor-franchisee litigation, unprotected territory, marginal returns on massive capital requirement, and evidence of systemic franchisee financial distress.
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 50 / 100 rating
- 01HIGHAggressive litigation portfolio including class actions, breach of contract suits, and 124 royalty collection actions in one year indicating systemic franchisor-franchisee conflict
- 02MINORUnprotected territory with no exclusivity despite $8.8M-$14.6M investment, creating direct competition risk from same-brand properties
- 03MINORHigh capital requirement ($8.8M-$14.6M) against modest average net income ($1.16M) yields marginal ROI of ~13% before debt service, taxes, and contingencies
- 04HIGHLitigation disclosure reveals pattern of discriminatory practice allegations and destination marketing fee disputes suggesting franchisor governance issues
- 05MINOR124 collection actions by franchisor in single fiscal year signals widespread franchisee financial distress and payment default problems
- 06HIGH10.9% YoY unit growth masks potential underlying profitability issues given litigation severity and collection action volume
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 |
|---|---|
| Allowed renewalsℹ | 0 |
| Territory type | site-specific |
| Protected territory | No |
| Online sales rights | Granted |
| Franchisor can compete | Yes |
| Hire a manager? | Allowed |
| Owner-operator | Optional |
| Right of first refusalℹ | No |
| Termination notice | 10 days |
| Mandatory arbitration | Yes |
| Jury trial waiver | Yes |
| Governing law | Maryland |
| Litigation count | 138 |
View Item 3 litigation summary
0 case reference(s): 0 pending, 0 settled.
Items 10, 11
Training & Operations
- Classroom training
- 51 hrs
- On-the-job training
- 0 hrs
- Training location
- On-site and off-site
- 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
32 owners to call
Name · phone · city · state. Extracted from FDD Item 20
FDD download
WoodSpring Suites · FDD (2026) PDF
Frequently asked questions
Frequently Asked Questions
How much does it cost to open a WoodSpring Suites franchise?
The total investment to open a WoodSpring Suites franchise ranges from $8.8M – $14.6M, 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 WoodSpring Suites franchise owners earn?
According to Item 19 of the WoodSpring Suites FDD, the average gross sales per unit is $2.1M. The median is $2.1M. Note: this is gross revenue, not profit. Actual owner earnings vary based on location, operating costs, and management.
What is WoodSpring Suites's franchise failure rate?
Based on SBA 7(a) loan data, WoodSpring Suites has a charge-off rate of 0.0% across 11 loans, meaning 0.0% of franchise loans were charged off. Charge-off rates are one proxy for franchise risk, though they do not capture all closures. This data comes from FOIA-sourced SBA lending records.
How many WoodSpring Suites franchise locations are there?
As of their most recent FDD filing, WoodSpring Suites has 284 total units in the United States, including 302 franchised units and 0 company-owned units. 28 new units were opened in the latest reporting year.
Is WoodSpring Suites a good franchise to buy?
FranchiseVerdict rates WoodSpring Suites as a A-grade franchise with a risk score of 50 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.
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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.