Buying a Best Western franchise: SBA acquisition loan data

What this tells a buyer

• Price range to expect. Loan size tracks purchase price. Half of Best Western resale loans landed between $2,567,000 and $4,449,000.
• Lender experience exists. GBank alone has financed 21 Best Western resales.
• Guaranty. The SBA guaranteed 76% of the dollars lent here.
• What the file leaves out. The SBA file does not record franchisor transfer terms or fees.

How Best Western compares

The median for Best Western resale loans is $3,489,500, above the $2,621,250 median for hotels and motels and well above the $645,250 median for all SBA-financed acquisitions nationally.

The middle half runs $2,567,000 to $4,449,000, against $283,000 to $1,465,000 nationally; the median term is 25 years, longer than the national median of 10 years; the average initial rate is 6.83%, below the 7.76% national average.

None of the seasoned loans were charged off, against 0.8% for hotels and motels and 3.5% for all acquisition loans.

Loan size distribution

Most Best Western resale loans (99%) were $1M or more, and the largest single band is $2M and over at 88%, against 17% of all acquisition loans.

Bands are fixed dollar ranges chosen for comparison. They are not SBA program limits.

Lender concentration

GBank made 19% of Best Western resale loans, and the top three lenders together made 37%. 7 of the 47 lenders involved made three or more. Repeat experience is spread across many banks. That is a rough guide to how many banks have seen this kind of deal before.

Recent activity

In FY2025 and FY2026 combined, 20 Best Western resale loans were approved. That is 18% more than the 17 approved in FY2023 and FY2024. The median was $3,995,000, slightly above the $3,489,500 median across all years.

Financing a Best Western resale: what lenders financed

The median SBA 7(a) loan for a Best Western resale was $3,489,500 across 109 loans (FY2018 to FY2026). GBank, First Western SBLC, LLC d/b/a Peachtree Group and Open Bank have financed the most Best Western resales. Of 56 seasoned loans (FY2018 to FY2021), none were charged off, against the 3.5% average for all SBA acquisition loans.

Best Western acquisition loans by year

How often do these acquisition loans fail?

Of the 56 Best Western acquisition loans approved from FY2018 to FY2021 (the seasoned cohort, every loan at least about five years old), none have been charged off by the SBA. 29 have already been paid in full.

For comparison, Best Western has none charged off, against the 3.5% average across all SBA 7(a) acquisition loans in the same cohort. Non-acquisition 7(a) loans (every other stated purpose) approved FY2018 to FY2021 charged off at 6.2%.

"Charged off" is the SBA's final loss action on a defaulted loan after collection efforts. It lags default by a year or more, which is why only older cohorts are measured. It is not the same as a delinquency rate, and loans still outstanding can still fail. See charge-off in the glossary.

Related

• All Hotels (except Casino Hotels) and Motels acquisitions
• Texas acquisitions
• California acquisitions
• Michigan acquisitions
• GBank
• First Western SBLC, LLC d/b/a Peachtree Group
• Open Bank
• All franchise brands

Brand name as recorded by lenders in the SBA file: "Best Western - Best Western Plus - Best Western Premier- Executive Residency by Best Western- @Home by Best Western - GLo - Aiden - Membership Agreement" (franchise code S2125). Figures are aggregates of public SBA data and are not provided or endorsed by the franchisor.