WaterWalk franchise
2026 filing · October 1, 2026GrowingShares sales figures
WaterWalk at a glance
An extended-stay apartment hotel offering furnished studio and one-bedroom units with hotel-like services for longer stays. At the end of 2025 there were 11 WaterWalk locations in the US, all franchised.
The business
- Industry
- Hotel
- Franchisor
- WHG Franchisor, LLC
- The company that sells the franchises
- Franchising since
- 2014
- 12 years of selling franchises
- Franchisor based in
- Parsippany, New Jersey
What you pay
- Cost to open
- $19.9M–$27.1M
- A 126-unit new-construction hotel
- Franchise fee
- $75,000
- Or $500 a unit if greater; the $10,000 application fee counts toward it
- Royalty
- 6%
- 6% of gross revenue, paid monthly, with a 0.5% credit in years the hotel meets the minimum average stay, plus a 3% system assessment
- Agreement length
- 20 years
- Territory
- Limited
- Limited protection
- Franchisor financing
- Some financing offered
Where it is
- US locations, 2025
- 11
- Franchised and company-owned
- Franchised
- 11
- Company-owned
- 0
- Change in 3 years
- +7
- Franchised locations, 2023–2025
- States
- 8
- Most in Arizona, Kansas and North Carolina
Support and records
- Initial training
- 2 programs
- General manager certification: 34 hours in class; Human trafficking prevention: 1 hours in class
- Lawsuits disclosed
- Yes
- Bankruptcy disclosed
- None
- Latest filing
- Oct 1, 2026
- 2026 filing
From WHG Franchisor, LLC’s 2026 filing; SBA status from the SBA Franchise Directory, October 28, 2026.
Where it ranks
WaterWalk among all franchises with the same figure.
| Figure | WaterWalk | Among all franchises |
|---|---|---|
| Cost to open, midpointHalfway between the low and high estimate | $23,483,620 | Costs more than 99% of franchises |
| Franchise feePaid once, when you sign | $75,000 | Higher than 95% of franchises |
| RoyaltyShare of sales paid to the franchisor | 6% | Higher than 35% of brands with a set rate |
| US locationsFranchised and company-owned | 11 | Fewer than 60% of franchises |
How much a WaterWalk franchise costs
Opening a 126-unit new-construction hotel costs an estimated $19,895,233 to $27,072,007. That covers the franchise fee and everything else needed to open, through the first months of working capital.
The biggest costs are facility construction ($16,000,000 to $20,000,000) and furniture, fixtures and equipment ($1,537,500 to $2,050,000). Here is every line of the estimate as filed:
| What it pays for | Range | Low | High |
|---|---|---|---|
| Initial Fee (inclusive of Application Fee) | $75,000 | ||
| Photos | $2,970 | $5,895 | |
| Training Tuition | $5,700 | $7,200 | |
| Training Expenses | $3,200 | $5,500 | |
| Market Study | $5,000 | $20,000 | |
| Real Estate and Site Preparation | $0 | ||
| Architecture, Design and Engineering, Phase I Environmental, Permits, Licenses, Deposits and Related Fees | $500,000 | $2,000,000 | |
| Facility Construction | $16,000,000 | $20,000,000 | |
| Construction Contingency | $800,000 | $1,000,000 | |
| Technology Systems | $137,800 | $161,670 | |
| Property Management Set-Up and Installation | $15,550 | $29,300 | |
| Residential System Set-Up and Installation | $2,000 | $6,000 | |
| Furniture, Fixtures and Equipment | $1,537,500 | $2,050,000 | |
| Signage | $50,000 | $100,000 | |
| Opening Inventory | $494,947 | $500,958 | |
| Insurance | $62,500 | $95,000 | |
| Grand Opening Advertising | $3,000 | $6,000 | |
| Liquor License | $3,500 | $450,000 | |
| Pre-Opening Wages | $19,574 | $50,265 | |
| Miscellaneous Non–Tangible Asset Costs | $19,196 | $37,035 | |
| Additional Funds for 3 Month Initial Period | $157,796 | $472,184 | |
| Total | $19,895,233 | $27,072,007 | |
Source: WHG Franchisor, LLC, 2026 filing, page 40
WaterWalk franchise fee
The franchise fee is $75,000, or $500 a unit if greater; the $10,000 application fee counts toward it. You pay it when you sign the franchise agreement.
Source: WHG Franchisor, LLC, 2026 filing, page 25
Royalty and ongoing fees
| Royalty | 6% of gross revenue, paid monthly, with a 0.5% credit in years the hotel meets the minimum average stay, plus a 3% system assessment. |
|---|
The typical franchise royalty is 6% of sales, plus 2% for marketing. See franchise fees and royalties to compare.
Source: WHG Franchisor, LLC, 2026 filing, page 28
Sales and earnings
Shares figures WaterWalk publishes sales or earnings figures for its locations: it reports the share of 2025 room revenue booked through the reservation system and loyalty program, not sales. The full tables, with notes on which locations are counted, are in its filing.
Source: WHG Franchisor, LLC, 2026 filing, page 84
Growth and closures
Share of franchised locations, 2025 / 2023–2025. Typical means the median: half of brands are above it, half below.
| Measure | WaterWalk | Typical hotel brand | Typical franchise |
|---|---|---|---|
| GrowthNet change in franchised locations | 0% / +175% | +2.1% / +9.7% | +1.2% / +10% |
| ClosuresTerminated, not renewed or stopped operating | 0% / 75% | 3.1% / 14% | 3.9% / 16% |
| Bought backLocations the franchisor took back | 0% / 0% | 0% / 0% | 0% / 0% |
Typical hotel brand is the median of the 47 brands in hotel franchises with three years of counts.
How WaterWalk compares
Of the 116 hotel franchises on this site, WaterWalk is the 89th cheapest to open and the 76th largest by number of locations.
| Figure | WaterWalk | Typical hotel brand | Typical franchise |
|---|---|---|---|
| Cost to open, low end | $19.9M | $9.44M | $222K |
| Cost to open, high end | $27.1M | $21.3M | $477K |
| Franchise fee | $75K | $54K | $40K |
| Royalty | 6% | 5% | 6% |
| US locations | 11 | 37 | 21 |
| Shares earnings figures | Yes | 71 of 116 | 2,147 of 3,352 |
Typical is the median across the 116 brands in hotel franchises; typical franchise, across every brand here.
Locations opened and closed
| Year | Franchised | Company-owned | Opened | Closed |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2021 | 5 (0) | 4 | – | – |
| 2022 | 4 (−1) | 4 | – | – |
| 2023 | 2 (−2) | 9 | 0 | −2 |
| 2024 | 11 (+9) | 0 | +10 | −1 |
| 2025 | 11 (0) | 0 | 0 | 0 |
Closed or left counts terminations, non-renewals, locations bought back by the franchisor and locations that stopped operating. Wyndham took over WaterWalk's franchising in March 2024. The 2023 counts are the previous franchisor's, and its own hotels became franchised in 2024.
See which brands grew most in the fastest-growing franchises rankings.
More in the guides: hotel franchise costs and franchise failure rates.
Over 5 years, from the start of 2021 to the end of 2025, franchised locations went from 5 to 11 (+6, +120%). The earlier years come from the brand's 2024 filing.
Source: WHG Franchisor, LLC, 2026 filing, page 86
2021–2022: WHG Franchisor, LLC, 2024 filing, page 91
Where WaterWalk locations are
At the end of 2025, WaterWalk had franchised locations in 8 states. The most are in Arizona, Kansas and North Carolina.
- Arizona2
- Kansas2
- North Carolina2
- Alabama1
- Florida1
- Georgia1
Source: WHG Franchisor, LLC, 2026 filing, page 87
Who owns WaterWalk?
WaterWalk franchises are sold by WHG Franchisor, LLC. It is a subsidiary of Wyndham Hotel Group, LLC.
WaterWalk is one of the 21 Wyndham Hotels & Resorts brands here. Wyndham Hotels & Resorts is a public company based in Parsippany, New Jersey. Its shares trade on the New York Stock Exchange as WH.
From WHG Franchisor, LLC’s 2026 filing, page 9; Wyndham Hotels & Resorts.
Lawsuits and bankruptcy
| Lawsuits and regulatory actions | Yes. The filing describes past or pending cases involving the franchisor, its affiliates or its executives on pages 20–25. |
|---|---|
| Bankruptcy | None. The filing says no bankruptcy has to be disclosed. |
Franchisors must disclose lawsuits and bankruptcies involving the company, its parents and affiliates, and its executives. Many cases are routine disputes with franchisees over fees or contracts; read the descriptions in the filing and ask current owners about anything that worries you.
Source: WHG Franchisor, LLC, 2026 filing, litigation on pages 20–25, bankruptcy on page 25
WaterWalk filings
A franchisor files a new disclosure each year it sells franchises. The figures on this page come from WHG Franchisor, LLC’s 2026 filing, issued October 1, 2026; the earlier ones below are on record with the NASAA Electronic Filing Depository and the Minnesota Department of Commerce and fill in older location counts.
| Filing | Issued | Registry | On this page |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2026 filing | October 1, 2026 | NASAA depository | Costs, fees and locations, 2023–2025 |
| 2024 filing | – | Minnesota | Locations, 2021–2022 |
Each link opens the filing as a PDF. See the newest filings across all brands.
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