FRANCHISE·WATCH·DESK

Loan record only — SBA data verified, FDD not yet in our corpus

Amerihost Inn

Hotels & Hospitality · independent · est. —

AmeriHost Inn is a midscale, limited-service hotel brand historically focused on smaller and secondary markets. A franchisee owns and operates a hotel property under the brand's flag and reservation system, serving highway and small-town travelers.

New to franchising? Start here

A franchise is a business where you (the franchisee) pay a company (the franchisor) for the right to open and run a location using their brand and system — think a local Anytime Fitness or Taco John's owned by a small-business owner, not the corporation.

Before you can buy in, U.S. law requires the franchisor to give you a Franchise Disclosure Document (FDD) — a long legal filing covering its fees, finances, and history. The numbers on this page come straight from that document:

  • Franchise fee — the one-time cost to buy in.
  • Royalty — the ongoing cut of your sales you pay the franchisor.
  • Item 20 — how many locations opened and closed, the basis for our verdict (from Proven & strong down to Distressed — or Too new to judge).

The verdict

Not enough disclosure

Distress

0
STABLE

No verified FDD extraction to judge from. Any figures shown are labelled sample data or independent federal records.

SBA loan defaults

37.1%

vs 14.8% avg across rated brands

Behind the verdict

the record, factor by factor · Item 20

No score available.

Systemwide units

Insufficient trend data.

What this page is — and isn'tno FDD on file

We hold no Franchise Disclosure Document for Amerihost Inn, so this page carries no exit rate, fees, investment range, or Item 19 earnings claim. What it does carry is the federal loan record: every SBA 7(a) and 504 loan made to a Amerihost Inn franchisee since 1991 and how each one ended. That is an independent, sourced measure of how the brand's owner-operators actually fared — and for most brands it is the only outcome data that exists publicly.

Brands enter the index this way when they don't register in the states we crawl. We add the filing when we obtain it — see methodology for how coverage is built and what each evidence level means.

The lender's view

SBA 7(a)/504 loan performance · FY1991–present

Banks have made 39 SBA-backed loans to Amerihost Inn franchisees since 2001. Of the 35 that have resolved, 37.1% were charged off (defaulted) rather than paid in full, versus 14.8% across 570 rated brands.

Charge-off rate

37.1%

13 of 35 resolved defaulted

Loss given default

60.1%

avg. charged-off $ ÷ approved $

Expected loss

22.3%

default rate × loss severity

Avg. loan · FY2020+

$1,188,256

what recent franchisees borrowed

Median time to default

84 mo

approval → charge-off, defaulted loans

Lenders · FY21+ vs FY16–20

distinct banks lending

Charge-off rate by loan approval year (%)

20'012280'0650'07

Loan performance by state

SOURCE: SBA 7(a)/504 FOIA LOAN DATA (DATA.SBA.GOV), FY1991–PRESENT · MATCHED TO AMERIHOST INN BY FRANCHISE NAME · RESOLVED = CHARGED-OFF + PAID-IN-FULL

Labor record

US Dept. of Labor enforcement · franchisee-level · FY2005–present

Federal investigators have concluded 1 wage case against operators of this system, recovering $258 in back wages for 1 worker. These cases name franchisee-owned locations, not the franchisor itself.

Concluded cases

1

Back wages owed

$258

Employees affected

1

Since 2020

0

Read this carefully. The employers in these cases are individual Amerihost Inn franchisees — separately owned businesses operating under the brand name — not Amerihost Inn itself. The franchisor is not the respondent and in most cases is not a party. What the record shows is how this system's operators run their payrolls, which is worth knowing before you become one of them. Counts rise with system size and with age: a 20-year-old, 10,000-unit system will out-count a young one regardless of conduct. Source: DOL Wage and Hour Division concluded compliance actions, FY2005–present, most recent finding 2007.

Distress signals

news-sourced · bankruptcies, closures, lawsuits

No recent closures, bankruptcies, or major lawsuits found in the news for Amerihost Inn. That's a good sign — but it reflects news coverage, not a guarantee.

6 questions to ask a Amerihost Inn franchisee

Built from this brand's own disclosures · take it to your validation calls

The franchisor will give you a list of owners to call. Most buyers ask whether they like it. These are the questions built from what Amerihost Inn has actually disclosed — each one carries the number it came from, so you can tell whether the answer squares with the record.

  1. 01

    Of 35 SBA loans to Amerihost Inn franchisees that have finished, 37.1% were charged off — the borrower didn't repay. Did you finance with an SBA loan, and how close did your first two years come to trouble?

    This is the lender's view of failure, from public federal records, and it is independent of anything the franchisor discloses.

    SBA 7(a)/504 loan record, FY1991–present

  2. 02

    Amerihost Inn’s FDD makes no financial performance representation at all — legally, they've told buyers nothing about earnings. What did your first 24 months actually look like, month by month?

    When a franchisor won't publish numbers, existing owners are the only source. Silence in Item 19 is a choice, not a requirement.

    FDD Item 19 · latest filing

  3. 03

    How many months did it take to cover your own costs, and how much cash did you burn getting there?

    Ramp-to-breakeven working capital is the most underestimated line in any franchise purchase, and the most common reason otherwise-good units fail.

    Not disclosed in any FDD — ask an owner

  4. 04

    What does the franchisor charge for that you didn't expect — required tech fees, mandatory remodels, approved-supplier pricing?

    Required spending appears across Items 6, 8 and 11 rather than in one place, so buyers routinely miss the total.

    FDD Items 6, 8, 11

  5. 05

    If your agreement came up for renewal tomorrow at current terms, would you sign again?

    The single most predictive question you can ask. A hesitation is the answer.

    Ask every owner you speak to

  6. 06

    Who else should I call — including someone who left?

    The franchisor's list is curated by definition. Former franchisees are where the unflattering truth lives, and current owners usually know how to reach them.

    Ask every owner you speak to

Want this as a checklist you can take to the calls?

I'll email you the printable version, and tell you if Amerihost Inn’s numbers move — a new filing, a rising exit rate, a distress signal. Unsubscribe in one click.

Before you sign anythingfree · 30 min · no commission

A broker is paid by the franchisor to place you. I'm paid by you — and the job is pressure-testing Amerihost Inn's numbers, including talking you out of a bad deal.

Don Drummond, CPA — Virginia #43775 · what I charge

Book a free 30-minute call →
Own or owned a Amerihost Inn?no appointment · read by a person

This page is what buyers see before they call you for validation. If the record above is wrong — or right in a way the numbers can't show — say so. Corrections are checked against the filings; nothing you write is published with your name unless you agree to it.