Highlights
- Opening one unit is estimated at $6,130,275 to $12,658,075, including a None initial fee.p.43
- Best Western makes no financial performance representation: the filing gives no unit revenue, cost or profit figures, and no one selling the franchise may quote any.p.96
- The system went from 1,857 outlets at the start of 2023 to 1,750 at the end of 2025, a net loss of 107.p.97
- In 2025, closures of all kinds equalled 2.9% of the outlets open at the start of the year.
- Item 3 discloses 0 matters.p.15
Tools, from this filing's numbers
Cash you would need to open
The filing's Item 7 range, $6,130,275 to $12,658,075, is an estimate for one unit including only its first months. Slide between the low and high cases and add the months of runway you want beyond that.
Monthly operating cash is taken as one-twelfth of your weekly-sales figure above times 52 (set to $15,000 a week here), a placeholder for rent, labor and food until you have your own budget.
Where the units went in 2025
Every outlet that opened, and every one that left, drawn from Item 20 Table 3 to scale.p.107
Total outlets, 2022 to 2025
Compare Best Western with another brand
Side by side, every figure cited.
Fees (Items 5 and 6)
| Initial franchise fee, standard | None | |
| Royalty | not stated | |
| Advertising fund | $16.86 per room per month | p.25 |
| Technology fee | 2.10% of PRR | p.26 |
The filing lists every recurring and conditional fee in Item 6. The report carries all of them.
Estimated initial investment (Item 7)
| Expenditure | Low | High | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Impact Study Fee | $0 | $4,000 | p.42 |
| Entrance Fee | $54,000 | $54,000 | p.42 |
| Proposed Construction Extension Fee | $0 | $35,000 | p.42 |
| Opening Date Extension Fee | $0 | $13,500 | p.42 |
| Distribution Photography Package Fee | $1,200 | $8,000 | p.42 |
| Construction Work | $4,830,000 | $10,500,000 | p.42 |
| Furniture, Fixtures and Equipment | $693,000 | $1,155,000 | p.42 |
| Inventory and Operating Equipment | $105,000 | $241,500 | p.42 |
| Signage | $21,000 | $47,250 | p.42 |
| Computer System | $117,250 | $118,650 | p.42 |
| Insurance | $7,500 | $12,500 | p.42 |
| Organizational Expense | $1,050 | $2,100 | p.42 |
| Permits and Licenses | $26,250 | $89,250 | p.42 |
| Initial Training Fees | $3,350 | $6,000 | p.42 |
| Miscellaneous Preopening and Project Management Expenses | $0 | $78,750 | p.43 |
| Green Key Global Certification | $675 | $675 | p.60 |
| Additional Funds (3 months) | $357,000 | $387,450 | p.60 |
| Total | $6,130,275 | $12,658,075 | p.43 |
Revenue (Item 19)
Best Western makes no financial performance representation in this filing. The franchisor publishes no unit sales, costs or profits in the document, and no one selling you the franchise may quote numbers outside it.p.96
Units (Item 20)
| Type | Year | Start | End | Net | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| franchised | 2023 | 1,855 | 1,801 | -54 | p.96 |
| company owned | 2023 | 2 | 2 | 0 | p.97 |
| total | 2023 | 1,857 | 1,803 | -54 | p.97 |
| franchised | 2024 | 1,801 | 1,768 | -33 | p.96 |
| company owned | 2024 | 2 | 2 | 0 | p.97 |
| total | 2024 | 1,803 | 1,770 | -33 | p.97 |
| franchised | 2025 | 1,768 | 1,748 | -20 | p.96 |
| company owned | 2025 | 2 | 2 | 0 | p.97 |
| total | 2025 | 1,770 | 1,750 | -20 | p.97 |
Openings and closures, system totals (Table 3)
| Year | Start | Opened | Terminated | Non-renewed | Reacquired | Ceased, other | End | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2023 | 1,855 | 32 | 26 | 54 | 0 | 6 | 1,801 | p.107 |
| 2024 | 1,801 | 31 | 5 | 50 | 0 | 9 | 1,768 | p.107 |
| 2025 | 1,768 | 32 | 11 | 39 | 0 | 2 | 1,748 | p.107 |
Arithmetic checks flagged: item7: low lines sum to 6217275, total says 6130275. The figures shown are as filed.
Litigation (Item 3)
0 pending cases described.p.15 1 case brought by franchisees or former franchisees.p.17 Counts are of distinct matters as the filing describes them; the report carries each one in plain words.
Scorecard
Rank among the brands on this site that report the figure, on each list's own direction. No blended grade. How the lists work.
| Cost to open | $6,130,275 | 60 of 61 |
| Royalty plus ad fund | held | held |
| Three-year unit growth | -5.8% | 52 of 61 |
| Closure rate, 2025 | 2.9% | 26 of 58, 1 = most |
| Discloses unit revenue | no | |
| Litigation disclosed | 0 | 55 of 55, 1 = most |
Source
Wisconsin Department of Financial Institutions franchise filing 640279, effective 2/27/2026, expires 2/27/2027. Extracted 2026-09-04 by two independent readers; only figures both agreed on, whose quoted words appear on the cited page, are shown. 2 fields held for review. How this works.