WoodSpring Suites Franchise Cost, Revenue & Review 2026
Data from FDD filing + SBA 7(a) records
Analysis by FranchiseVerdict Research · Methodology
WoodSpring Suites is a Choice Hotels extended-stay franchise offering budget-friendly rooms with kitchens for weekly and monthly guests. Franchisees own and operate individual properties, running rooms, housekeeping, and revenue management.
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]. FranchiseVerdict grade: A (Strongest tier), an editorial assessment, not investment advice. Run a live ROI scan →
Data last verified · figures per the 2026 FDD issuance
Overview
- Investment
- $8.8M – $14.6M
- 41st pct Lodging
- Avg gross sales
- $2.1M
- 1st pct Lodging
- Royalty
- 6.0%
- 52nd pct Lodging
- Units
- 284
- 57th pct Lodging
- SBA charge-off
- 0.0%
- % of SBA 7(a) loans not repaid · median varies by category
Quick verdict · Lodging · color = vs category peers
Green = favorable by >10% vs Lodging avg · 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 $8.8M – $14.6M including a $50K franchise fee, 6.0% ongoing royalty.
- RETURNSAverage unit revenue of $2.1M/year (median $2.1M), with an estimated 6% cash-on-cash return (based on Gross Operating Profit). Note: this is gross profit, not take-home income.
- RISKVerdict A (Strongest tier), verdict score 64/100 (higher is better). SBA loan charge-off rate of 0.0% across 11 loans (well below the franchise average, based on all SBA 7(a) franchise lending, 2010–2025).
- LEGAL138 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
Corporate structure & franchisor financials
- Legal entity
- Choice Hotels International, Inc.
- Parent company
- Choice Hotels International, Inc.
- Predecessor
- WoodSpring Hotels Franchise Services LLC (formerly Value Place, 2004-2015)
- Prior franchisor entity
- CEO title
- Director, President and Chief Executive Officer
- Patrick S. Pacious
- Incorporated in
- Delaware
- 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
- CEO
- Patrick S. Pacious
- Headquarters
- MD
- Founded
- 1939
- FDD year
- 2026
- States available
- 40
Can you afford it, and what does the money buy?
Entry cost runs 19% above the typical lodging franchise.
Source: FDD 2026 · Items 5–7
Full Item 7 breakdown17 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.
Item 7 · what it costs to open + operate
The Vitals
- Total investment
- $8.8M – $14.6M
- Middle of category vs category
- Liquid capital req'd
- $30K – $200K
- Top 40% of category vs category
- Franchise fee
- $50K – $50K
- Top 40% of category 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
- 18.3 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.
What do units actually make?
Average unit sales run 53% above the lodging norm.
Source: FDD 2026 · Item 19
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
ROI & LBO modelsSingle-unit · 25-unit portfolio · editable
FDD-reported earnings vs. model
The FDD reports $1.2M as Gross Operating Profit. Our model estimates $247K SLEBITDA from the same revenue using category-average cost assumptions. These numbers differ because Gross Operating Profit deducts different expense categories than our model.
What one unit earns on your invested capital
Model A · Single-Unit Return
Computes unlevered return on invested capital (ROIC) for a single franchise unit. The target band for an attractive franchise is 30–60% ROIC. Below that and a passive index fund likely outperforms; above that and the franchisor has pricing power you're subsidizing.
Note: Item 19 revenue is what the franchisor discloses. It's the top line only. Operating costs below are category estimates. Override them to match your real lease quote, labor market, and build-out budget.
Returns model · single-unit ROIC
What would one WoodSpring Suites unit return on the cash you put in?
Unlevered ROIC · per unit
Estimated return on your total franchise investment, before any debt financing.
2%
Below the 30–60% attractive-franchise band
What 25 units return when you use SBA financing
Model B · Return on Equity: Debt-Financed Acquisition
Models a 25-unit portfolio acquisition financed with an SBA 7(a) loan. Shows equity IRR (your return on cash invested), DSCR (how safely the cash flow covers debt service), and the capital stack (SBA + seller + equity breakdown).
This is the “search fund” or “entrepreneurship through acquisition” scenario: you buy an existing multi-unit operator, use leverage to amplify returns, and either operate or hire management. The 25-unit size is the typical minimum for an SBA-backed franchise portfolio acquisition to pencil as a full-time income.
What “return on equity” means here: if you put in $500K of your own cash and the business generates enough EBITDA to pay down debt and grow, your equity IRR is the annual return on that $500K, including the value created when you eventually sell. Target IRR for a search fund is typically 25–35%.
Levered LBO scenario · Yale Crease Capital framing
What would 25 WoodSpring Suites units return on equity?
Equity IRR · 5-yr
49.9%
7.57× MOIC
Year-1 DSCR
1.88×
EBITDA ÷ debt service
Equity required
$1.9M
on $9.6M purchase
Total debt
$7.7M
SBA $4.8M + senior + seller note
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: 2026 FDD
Financial Performance
- Avg gross sales
- $2.1M
- Per unit, per year
- Median gross sales
- $2.1M
- Avg gross operating profit
- $1.2M
- Reported as Gross Operating Profit in FDD Item 19
- Cash-on-cash
- 5.5%
- Based on Gross Operating Profit / investment midpoint
Gross sales are revenue before expenses — not profit. Actual owner earnings depend on rent, labor, royalties, marketing fees, and debt service.
- Item 19 type
- gross sales
- Sample size
- 176 outlets
- vs category median 99
- 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
- Source filing
- FDD 2026
- Disclosed in the 2026 filing, covering 2025
- Transparency
- 9 / 10
- vs category median 0 / 10 · above
Compared against 174 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.
Operator outlook
What the numbers say
Data-driven interpretation of this brand's financial disclosures, fee structure, and system trajectory.
Unit economics
Average unit generates $2.1M/year in gross sales. Revenue-to-investment ratio: 0.2x.
Fee burden
Total ongoing fee load of 14.6% — above the Lodging average of 10.4%.
Disclosure
Transparency score 9/10 — this franchisor discloses detailed breakdowns (quartiles, segments, or cohort data). Buyers can model unit economics with higher confidence.
Operator retention
System expanding at 34.0% CAGR over 3 years across 284 units — operators are staying and new ones are joining.
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 averages
How WoodSpring Suites Compares
Is the system healthy?
Source: FDD 2026 · Item 20
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 (3-yr)
- +34.0%
- Net unit change over 3 years
- 3-yr CAGR
- +34.0%
- Compounded over last 3 years
3-year detail · Item 20
- Opened (3yr)
- 28
- Closed (3yr)
- 2
- Terminated (3yr)
- 0
- 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.
What could kill this investment?
SBA loans charge off at 0.0% — 100% below the 16.0% national norm, i.e. lower lender-observed risk.
Source: SBA 7(a) FOIA · FDD Items 3, 21
Risk analysis
FranchiseVerdict rating + FDD Items 3, 4, 8, 16, 21
Risk & Legal
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)
ⓘ These are the parent company's consolidated financials (the parent guarantees the franchisor), not this brand's standalone results — the figure reflects the whole corporate group, not this brand alone.
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 64 / 100 verdict
- 01MINORSix pending suits including $403M class action and franchisee RICO/antitrust
- 02HIGHLitigation count normal relative to large parent system
Severity inferred from the FDD text · not a regulatory classification
What are you signing up for?
Ongoing fees run about 14.6% of sales (royalty + ad fund), before rent and labor.
Source: FDD 2026 · Items 11, 12, 17
FDD Items 12, 15, 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
31 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 Item 19 in the WoodSpring Suites 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 WoodSpring Suites FDD and qualifies whose outlets they describe.
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 284 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 verdict score of 64 out of 100 (higher is better), 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.