KOA - Virginia vs Staybridge Suites

KOA - Virginia gives you a bigger installed base right now—484 total units, 443 franchised, so your total addressable market is meaningfully larger. But that base is shrinking at nearly 2% year-over-year, and the FDD is dormant with a 2022 fiscal year. That signals a brand that’s not actively recruiting new franchisees, which means your pipeline isn’t refilling. The investment range is wide and bottoms out under $440K, so some operators are running lean, single-location shops with tight tech budgets. You’d be selling into a contracting pool where replacement cycles and churn dominate, not net-new openings.

Staybridge Suites is the opposite trade. Only 297 units, all franchised, but growing at 3.8% and backed by a current 2026 FDD—active development, fresh franchisee inflow, and a corporate engine that’s still pushing unit growth. The investment range starts at $21M and runs past $31M. That’s serious per-property capital, and operators at that level don’t nickel-and-dime back-office software; they buy systems that scale across multiple properties and integrate with their PMS and procurement stack. The royalty is a lean 2%, which leaves more operating budget for tech, and the approved-supplier procurement model means if you get designated, you’re inside a walled garden with less churn risk.

The meaningful tradeoff is TAM versus timing. KOA gives you more doors today, but they’re closing. Staybridge gives you fewer doors today, but they’re opening, and each one carries a budget that can actually fund a serious software deployment. For a vendor selling POS, marketing automation, and back-office tools, the richer per-unit economics and positive unit trajectory make Staybridge the higher-probability, higher-ACV play.

Verdict: Staybridge Suites is the stronger software-sales opportunity right now because active unit growth and high per-property investment unlock budget and net-new logo velocity that a shrinking, dormant brand can’t match.