Verified — real FDD extraction
Not found in the SBA Franchise Directory under this name — though SBA loans to its franchisees exist; verify eligibility with your lender
HOTEL & SUITES, COBBLESTONE INN & SUITES
Other · independent · est. —
Cobblestone Inn & Suites is a mid-market hotel brand focused on smaller and rural communities, offering modern guest rooms and amenities at reasonable rates. A franchisee owns and operates a hotel property, managing front desk, housekeeping, and guest services.
HOTEL & SUITES, COBBLESTONE INN & SUITES net unit count grew +5.6% from 2020–2022 per its FDD Item 20.
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
Proven & steady
Distress
A real track record with an unremarkable region of the ledger: neither the growth nor the exits stand out, for better or worse. The standout in the record: owner turnover is low.
Exit rate · latest year
0.0%
fiscal 2022, per Item 20
Cost to open
$65K–$12.4M
Item 7 total investment range
SBA loan defaults
Too few resolved
1 loans exist; too few resolved to rate
Behind the verdict
the record, factor by factor · Item 20
3-yr trend · Item 20 Table 1
terminations + ceased-ops vs. all exits · Table 3
transfers vs. base · Table 3
actual vs. projected openings · Table 5
Item 19 disclosure + completeness
Systemwide units
2020–2022
Survival record
FDD Item 20 · outlet status by year
In fiscal 2022, 0 of 109 franchised outlets left the system — a 0.0% annualized exit rate. Not every exit is a failure — but this is the measurable floor.
Show the outlet tables ↓Hide the evidence ↑
| Status (FTC) | 2020 | 2021 | 2022 |
|---|---|---|---|
| Outlets at start | 94 | 107 | 109 |
| Opened | 13 | 4 | 4 |
| Transfers | 2 | 5 | 2 |
| Terminations | 0 | 2 | 0 |
| Non-renewals | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| Reacquired by franchisor | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| Ceased — other reasons | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| Outlets at end | 107 | 109 | 113 |
| Net change | +13 | +2 | +4 |
The lender's view
SBA 7(a)/504 loan performance · FY1991–present
Banks have made 1 SBA-backed loans to HOTEL & SUITES, COBBLESTONE INN & SUITES franchisees since 2000. Most are still open, so there is not yet a resolved cohort large enough to rate.
—
1 resolved · too thin to rate
—
avg. charged-off $ ÷ approved $
—
default rate × loss severity
$75,000
what recent franchisees borrowed
—
approval → charge-off, defaulted loans
—
distinct banks lending
Charge-off rate by loan approval year (%)
SOURCE: SBA 7(a)/504 FOIA LOAN DATA (DATA.SBA.GOV), FY1991–PRESENT · MATCHED TO HOTEL & SUITES, COBBLESTONE INN & SUITES BY FRANCHISE NAME · RESOLVED = CHARGED-OFF + PAID-IN-FULL
What it costs — and what it drags
FDD Items 5–7 · fees, investment, royalty
Buying in means a $40K franchise fee (Item 5) and a total investment of $65K–$12.4M (Item 7). The franchisor publishes an earnings claim (Item 19) — read its methodology closely.
To open (Item 7)
$65K–$12.4M
all-in investment range
Franchise fee (Item 5)
$40K
upfront, one-time
Royalty (Item 6)
—
of sales, ongoing
Your figure — cross-check against this brand's Item 19 and current-owner validation.
Royalty you'd pay / yr
$0
0% of sales, before profit
Over a 10-yr term
$0
royalties alone, excl. ad fund
This is not profit. It's the only money the FDD actually pins down — what you put in, and the royalty you owe on every dollar of sales. Your real take-home depends on labor, rent, food cost, and ramp-to-breakeven, none of which any FDD discloses.
Build a real pro-forma for HOTEL & SUITES, COBBLESTONE INN & SUITES with an independent CPAModeled risk
FDD Risk Score · modeled from the public record
The public record puts this brand toward the safer end of the systems we score — but the evidence is thin, so treat it as a range, not a number.
Risk percentile (range)
5–29 / 100
Directional
Modeled SBA charge-off
8.3%
Observed SBA charge-off
no resolved cohort
Top drivers: Investment ceiling (log) (lowers) · Item 20 exit rate (lowers) · System size (log units) (raises) · Net unit growth (raises). Thin loan history — treat this as a range, not a number. A linear scorecard built from this brand's own disclosure figures plus the federal loan record behind its franchisees; full spec and cross-validated accuracy on the methodology page. A score is context, not a verdict.
Distress signals
news-sourced · bankruptcies, closures, lawsuits
No recent closures, bankruptcies, or major lawsuits found in the news for HOTEL & SUITES, COBBLESTONE INN & SUITES. That's a good sign — but it reflects news coverage, not a guarantee.
6 questions to ask a HOTEL & SUITES, COBBLESTONE INN & SUITES 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 HOTEL & SUITES, COBBLESTONE INN & SUITES has actually disclosed — each one carries the number it came from, so you can tell whether the answer squares with the record.
- 01
2 units transferred to new owners in fiscal 2022. When you look at those, were they people cashing out a good business — or getting out of a bad one?
Transfers count as neutral in every ranking. They are the single easiest place to hide distress.
FDD Item 20 · FY2022
- 02
HOTEL & SUITES, COBBLESTONE INN & SUITES makes an earnings claim in Item 19. Does your unit look like that number — and do you know which units they included to build it?
Item 19 is legal to build from a flattering subset. Ask whether they excluded new units, closed units, or company stores.
FDD Item 19 · 2023
- 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
- 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
- 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
- 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 HOTEL & SUITES, COBBLESTONE INN & SUITES’ numbers move — a new filing, a rising exit rate, a distress signal. Unsubscribe in one click.
A broker is paid by the franchisor to place you. I'm paid by you — and the job is pressure-testing HOTEL & SUITES, COBBLESTONE INN & SUITES's numbers, including talking you out of a bad deal.
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.
HOTEL & SUITES, COBBLESTONE INN & SUITES franchise questions, answered from the filings
What percentage of HOTEL & SUITES, COBBLESTONE INN & SUITES franchises closed last year?
In HOTEL & SUITES, COBBLESTONE INN & SUITES's latest FDD Item 20 (fiscal 2022), 0 of 109 franchised outlets left the system — an annualized exit rate of 0.0%. That counts terminations, non-renewals, and "ceased operations — other reasons." There is no official failure rate, and not every exit is a failure, but this is the measurable floor.
How much does a HOTEL & SUITES, COBBLESTONE INN & SUITES franchise cost?
Per HOTEL & SUITES, COBBLESTONE INN & SUITES's 2023 FDD, buying in requires an initial franchise fee of $40K (Item 5) and a total initial investment of $65K–$12.4M (Item 7).
Does HOTEL & SUITES, COBBLESTONE INN & SUITES disclose earnings (Item 19)?
Yes — HOTEL & SUITES, COBBLESTONE INN & SUITES makes a financial performance representation in Item 19 of its 2023 FDD. Read it closely: franchisors choose which units and which metrics to include.