Our RevPAR increased 11.4% compared to the third quarter of 2019, surpassing our prior quarterly RevPAR guidance.
For over 1.5 years, we've maintained significantly higher RevPAR index share gains against the competition compared to 2019.
I will now provide a brief update on our key segments, where 11 out of our 12 brands achieved RevPAR index gains versus their local competitors in the third quarter as compared to 2019.
Our strategic investments in the extended-stay segment allowed us to quadruple the size of the portfolio over the past five years to reach 467 domestic units with a domestic pipeline of nearly 310 hotels.
This segment, a significant growth engine for the company, expanded by over 45 hotels in the third quarter year-over-year and now represents over 10% of our total domestic rooms.
Specifically, when compared to the third quarter of 2019, our extended-stay portfolio grew RevPAR a by over 18%, driven by occupancy levels of 82% and a 9% increase in average daily rate.
And outperformed the industry's RevPAR change by over 20 percentage points.
The brand's pipeline expanded by over 20% year-over-year as of the end of September, reaching nearly 160 domestic hotels which further exemplifies developer demand for this brand, given its cycle resilience.
In the third quarter, we executed two dozen extended-stay domestic franchise agreements, an 85% increase year-over-year and a 20% increase compared to 2019 levels.
In addition, the first hotel for our newest extended-stay brand, Everhome Suites is currently under construction and scheduled to open next summer, with nearly 20 additional projects already in the pipeline.
Our mid-scale brands, which represent over 2/3 of our total domestic room portfolio and approximately half of the total domestic pipeline continued to outperform the segment's RevPAR growth.
Our mid-scale and upper mid-scale portfolio grew RevPAR by nearly 10%, driven by average daily rate growth of over 9% and outpaced the industry's mid-scale and upper mid-scale segment growth by nearly seven percentage points when compared to third quarter 2019.
The Comfort brand's domestic unit growth of over 2% and and RevPAR index outperformance versus local competitors demonstrate the attractiveness of this iconic brand to hotel developers and guests alike.
Our upscale portfolio achieved impressive growth in the third quarter year-over-year as we increased our domestic room count by nearly 22%, driven by both Cambria and the Ascend Hotel Collection.
The Cambria brand continued its positive momentum, growing by over 9% to 58 units year-over-year with 17 projects under active construction at the end of September, and five additional hotels planned to open this year.
Our upscale portfolio increased its RevPAR index relative to its local competitive set and outperformed the industry's RevPAR change by 15 percentage points while increasing the average daily rate by 11% when compared to the third quarter of 2019.
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In the third quarter, we awarded 89 new domestic franchise agreements, a 10% increase over the same period of 2020.
Specifically, we're very pleased to see that demand for our new construction brands in the third quarter increased by over 50% year-over-year.
And we are also excited to announce that our WoodSpring brand expanded internationally at the end of October, entering the Canadian market with a more than 15 unit commitment from a well-known developer and operator.
In addition, a team within our development and franchise service departments that is fully dedicated to driving diverse ownership of Choice franchise hotels among underrepresented and minority owners has awarded 18 franchise contracts year-to-date through September, bringing the total agreements executed to over 280 since the program began over 15 years ago.
I'm proud to say that more than half of the 18 agreements this year were awarded to women entrepreneurs.
For third quarter 2021 as compared to the same period of 2019, total revenues, excluding marketing and reservation system fees, were $166.5 million, an 8% increase.
Adjusted EBITDA rose 18% and to $133.2 million, driven by improving RevPAR performance, revenue intense unit growth and strong effective royalty rate growth, coupled with continued cost discipline.
Our adjusted EBITDA margin expanded to 80%, a rise of seven percentage points.
And as a result, our adjusted earnings per share were $1.51 in for the third quarter, an increase of 10% versus 2019.
The company's domestic effective royalty rate increased by eight basis points year-over-year to approximately 5% compared to the third quarter of 2020.
Our domestic systemwide RevPAR outperformed the overall industry by 16 percentage points for the third quarter, increasing 11.4% over 2019.
Specifically, our average daily rate grew by nearly 9%, and our occupancy levels increased by nearly two percentage points compared to the same quarter of 2019.
Our WoodSpring brand achieved 23% RevPAR growth, reaching an average occupancy rate of nearly 86% and experiencing an 11% increase in average daily rate.
Ascend Hotels saw their growth in average daily rate of over 17% and outperformed the upscale segment's RevPAR growth by over 20 percentage points.
At the same time, the Comfort family grew RevPAR by over 8% on reflecting a 9% increase in average daily rate.
Finally, both our Cambria and MainStay Suites brands captured 12 percentage points in RevPAR index gains versus their local competitors.
Across our more revenue intense brands in the upscale, extended-stay and mid-scale segments, we observed stronger unit growth, increasing the number of hotels by 2% and rooms by 2.6% year-over-year.
In fact, 1/3 of total domestic franchise agreements awarded in the third quarter were for new construction contracts representing an increase of more than 50% versus the same quarter of the prior year.
At the same time, demand for our conversion brands year-to-date through September increased by 25% year-over-year.
The Ascend Hotel Collection leads the industry as the first launch and today, the largest soft brand expanding its domestic room count by 27% year-over-year.
At the same time, Clarion Point has nearly doubled its portfolio year-over-year ending the third quarter with nearly 35 hotels open in the U.S. and 15 additional hotels awaiting conversion this year.
Our MainStay Suites mid-scale extended-stay brand portfolio expanded to nearly 100 domestic hotels open, representing more than 30% unit growth year-over-year.
And finally, our suburban extended stay portfolio of 70 domestic hotels open experienced 13% year-over-year unit growth.
More specifically, at the end of the third quarter of 2021, the company had over $1 billion in cash and available borrowing capacity through its revolving credit facility.
We are also pleased to report cash flow from operations of $142.8 million for the third quarter 2021, a 53% increase versus the third quarter 2019.
Today, our gross debt-to-EBITDA leverage levels remains at the low end of our target range of three to 4 times.
At the end of third quarter 2021, our net debt-to-EBITDA leverage level was at 1.8 times.
Year-to-date through October, we have returned over $35 million back to our shareholders in the form of cash dividends and repurchases of our common stock.
We currently expect full year domestic RevPAR to surpass 2019 levels and grow at approximately 1% as compared to full year 2019.
Assuming the broader RevPAR and economy recovery trends continue, we now expect to see our 2021 adjusted EBITDA exceed 2019 levels and range between $382 million and $387 million, even with planned incremental investments in the fourth quarter.

Summary:
And as a result, our adjusted earnings per share were $1.51 in for the third quarter, an increase of 10% versus 2019.
More specifically, at the end of the third quarter of 2021, the company had over $1 billion in cash and available borrowing capacity through its revolving credit facility.
Today, our gross debt-to-EBITDA leverage levels remains at the low end of our target range of three to 4 times.
We currently expect full year domestic RevPAR to surpass 2019 levels and grow at approximately 1% as compared to full year 2019.
Assuming the broader RevPAR and economy recovery trends continue, we now expect to see our 2021 adjusted EBITDA exceed 2019 levels and range between $382 million and $387 million, even with planned incremental investments in the fourth quarter.