Candlewood Suites and Staybridge Suites Extended-Stay Financing in 2026: Cost, Fees, Lenders and What They Need to See

Candlewood Suites and Staybridge Suites are IHG's two extended-stay brands, and they finance differently because they sit in different tiers. Candlewood is midscale, with a new build summarized at about $15.3 million to $23.0 million before land in the 2026 FDD. Staybridge is upscale, at about $19.8 million to $29.9 million. Both carry a 6% royalty and a services contribution of about 3%, and both are on the SBA Franchise Directory (Candlewood S0340, Staybridge S8889). Both are financed with a construction loan sized on stabilized NOI, usually 50% to 65% of cost at brand-average rates, from Bridge, a bank or a hotel debt fund, plus a C-PACE layer and 28% to 40% equity. The worked example below puts a $10.8 million senior loan at 60% on an $18 million Candlewood. IHG does not publish its FDDs, so the cost and fee figures here are labeled as third-party summaries; confirm them with the document your IHG developer provides.

The lender's question is which tier the site supports. Extended-stay hotels ran an occupancy premium of about 12 points over the industry in 2025 and lost the least RevPAR in the downturn, which is why lenders like the segment. What they size against is the ADR, and a Candlewood at $95 and a Staybridge at $135 produce very different loans on similar buildings.

Key takeaways

• Candlewood new build about $15.3M to $23.0M before land (third-party 2026 FDD summary); Staybridge about $19.8M to $29.9M.
• Fees on both: 6% royalty, about 3% services; Candlewood $60,000 to $100,000 application, Staybridge $75,000.
• Candlewood had 427 Americas hotels and 194 in the pipeline at mid-2026; Staybridge 332 and 138.
• SBA: Candlewood S0340, Staybridge S8889 (new code, August 2026), no extended-stay transient test on either.
• Marriott comparables: TownePlace 5.5% plus 3.35% program services; Residence Inn 6% plus a 2.5% fund.

What do Candlewood and Staybridge cost to build, and what are the fees?

IHG provides its franchise disclosure documents through its Americas development team rather than posting them, so the Item 7 and fee figures are third-party summaries; the Marriott figures are from the FDDs dated March 31, 2026.

The Candlewood range rose about 8% from the 2025 to the 2026 FDD, above HVS's 4.8% trailing construction-cost increase, and sits around HVS's $170,000 to $197,000 limited-service and midscale extended-stay median; Staybridge sits around the $265,000 upscale extended-stay median. On fees, the IHG pair's 6% royalty is 50 basis points above TownePlace's 5.5%, but all-in the gap is 15 basis points (6% plus 3% against 5.5% plus 3.35%) before Marriott's fixed charges and loyalty fee, and level with Residence Inn's 6% royalty. Across a $3 million room-revenue hotel the four brands land within about $60,000 a year of each other: about $255,000 for Residence Inn before its fixed charges, $270,000 for the IHG pair, and $316,000 for TownePlace with its 1.0% loyalty fee and fixed charges. The fee is rarely what decides between them.

What are the prototypes?

IHG refreshed both in 2024. Candlewood Suites Beacon 4.2 cut the room bay from 15 feet 3 inches to 12 feet 6 inches, adding up to 12 keys on a similar site. Staybridge Suites' Smart Studio cut the bay from 16 to 13 feet for up to 25% of the room mix, with first openings in 2025. IHG's development site now lists a Candlewood Beacon 4.2B brochure and a Staybridge 7.2 brochure. Recent U.S. openings run 79 to 100 rooms for Candlewood and 102 to 107 for Staybridge. Marriott's comparables are a TownePlace at 80 to 110 suites and a Residence Inn at 80 to 110 suites. Per the Item 19 in Marriott's March 2026 FDDs, Residence Inn was the strongest performer in the group in 2025 at 76.0% occupancy, a $167.78 ADR and $127.44 RevPAR (a 119.7 index), and TownePlace ran 72.9%, $133.65 and $97.38 (109.7). IHG publishes no Item 19 for either brand.

How big are the brands?

IHG's first-half 2026 results put Candlewood at 427 hotels and 37,728 rooms open in the Americas with 194 hotels and 13,951 rooms in the pipeline. The same IHG report put Staybridge at 332 hotels and 35,093 rooms open with 138 and 13,910 in the pipeline. IHG's development site counts 439 Candlewood and 359 Staybridge hotels globally at September 30, 2026. Both pipelines are 30% to 45% of the open system, which puts them among the fastest-growing extended-stay flags behind Home2 and WoodSpring, and it means a lender can find a comp set in most metros even without an Item 19. The segment's case is in the data: per Hotel Management's 2025 reporting, extended-stay hotels ran an occupancy premium of about 12 points in 2025 and economy and mid-price extended-stay were the least affected by the downturn.

Are Candlewood and Staybridge SBA eligible?

Yes. The SBA Franchise Directory effective October 15, 2026 lists Candlewood Suites as S0340 (since October 2017) and Staybridge Suites under a new code, S8889, issued August 4, 2026, with the standard condition that any third-party manager be unaffiliated with IHG; unlike Residence Inn, StudioRes and most extended-stay listings, neither carries the transient test requiring more than 50% of revenue from stays of 30 days or less. The rules in 2026: a 7(a) to $5 million at a rate capped at 10.00%, a 504 with a 6.97% fixed debenture capped at $5.5 million and 15% to 20% equity on a hotel, $10 million combined since July, and U.S. citizenship or nationality for every owner since March 1. The debenture cap fits a Candlewood near the low end of its range and almost never a Staybridge. The full table is in the SBA Franchise Directory check for hotel brands.

Who finances a Candlewood or Staybridge build?

Bridge closed more than $500 million of hotel loans in 2025, and on acquisitions and refinances of $10 million or more it structures the loan and runs the process through closing for a 0.50% fee. Market terms for rows 2 and 3 are from the Crittenden 2026 hotel lending survey. The debt fund row is the obvious pick for a Staybridge, but it is the wrong tool when the sponsor has a prior hotel and a deposit relationship: a bank at 6.25% to 7.25% beats SOFR plus 350 to 600 by a wide margin, and the leverage gap closes once the senior is sized on debt yield anyway. IHG's key money, $83 million in the first half of 2026, goes mostly to premium brands, so neither extended-stay flag should budget for it.

How do lenders size the loan?

Off stabilized NOI from the STR comp set. Say your 100-room Candlewood runs 74% occupancy and a $98 ADR ($72.50 of RevPAR). It books about $2.65 million of room revenue and $2.75 million in total; with payroll for a small extended-stay staff, a 9% fee load and a 4% FF&E reserve, NOI at a 42% margin is about $1.15 million. Your 105-room Staybridge at 74% and $135 ($100 of RevPAR) books $3.83 million and about $4.0 million in total, with NOI at 38% of about $1.52 million.

Both brands bind on debt yield at brand-average rates, which is the extended-stay pattern: high occupancy, modest ADR, and a building that costs as much as a select-service hotel. The Staybridge needs a $115-plus ADR to reach 60% leverage; the Candlewood needs about $105. The requirements and draw process are in hotel construction loans in 2026.

Worked example: a 100-room Candlewood Suites

Building cost $16.5 million (inside the summarized 2026 range), land $1.5 million, $18 million all-in, $180,000 per key, in a market supporting a $105 ADR at 75% occupancy ($79 RevPAR, NOI about $1.3 million).

Permanent debt service of about $916,000 on the senior loan and $196,000 on the assessment gives 1.17x combined at $1.3 million of NOI; the lender will hold the senior piece near $10.2 million for 1.25x, pushing equity to $5.6 million. For an owner-operator, a 504 at the low end of the cost range ($15.3 million building, $16.8 million all-in) carries a $5.5 million debenture at the cap, a $8.4 million bank first and $2.9 million of equity. The segment-wide cost and sizing comparison is in the cost per key of an economy extended-stay hotel.

When are Candlewood and Staybridge the wrong builds?

• Avoid a Staybridge on a site under about $115 of ADR. At $250,000 per key the senior loan is half the cost at brand-average rates.
• Avoid a Candlewood where a WoodSpring or ECHO at $100,000 to $140,000 per key would serve the same demand. Candlewood's $142,000 to $213,000 per key buys a midscale rate the market must pay.
• Avoid budgeting from a third-party FDD summary. Candlewood's application fee and royalty are reported two ways; get the 2026 FDD from IHG.
• Avoid SBA 504 on a Staybridge. The $5.5 million debenture cap is barely a quarter of a $19.8 million minimum build before land.
• Avoid counting on key money. IHG sends more than half of its $83 million first-half spend to premium brands.