EDGAR 10-K Filing

Company CIK: 1474098
Filing Year: 2024
Filename: 1474098_10-K_2024_0001474098-24-000040.json

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ITEM 1. BUSINESS
Item 1. Business.
General
Pebblebrook Hotel Trust is an internally managed hotel investment company, formed as a Maryland real estate investment trust in October 2009 to opportunistically acquire and invest in hotel properties located primarily in major United States cities and resort properties located near our primary target urban markets and select destination resort markets, with an emphasis on major gateway coastal markets. As of December 31, 2023, the Company owned interests in 46 hotels with a total of 11,924 guest rooms.
Substantially all of the Company’s assets are held by, and all of the Company's operations are conducted through, Pebblebrook Hotel, L.P. (our “Operating Partnership”). The Company is the sole general partner of the Operating Partnership. At December 31, 2023, the Company owned 99.3% of the common limited partnership units issued by the Operating Partnership ("common units"). The remaining 0.7% of the common units are owned by the other limited partners of the Operating Partnership. For the Company to maintain its qualification as a REIT under the Code, it cannot operate the hotels it owns. Therefore, the Operating Partnership and its subsidiaries lease the hotel properties to subsidiaries of Pebblebrook Hotel Lessee, Inc. (collectively with its subsidiaries, "PHL"), our taxable REIT subsidiary ("TRS"), which in turn engage third-party eligible independent contractors to manage the hotels. PHL is consolidated into the Company’s financial statements.
Business Objectives and Strategies
Acquisitions/Investments
We invest in hotel properties located primarily within major United States cities and resort properties located near our primary target urban markets and select destination resort markets, with an emphasis on major gateway coastal markets and leisure destinations. Our hotel properties are located in Boston, Massachusetts; Chicago, Illinois; Hollywood, Florida; Jekyll Island, Georgia; Key West, Florida; Los Angeles, California (Beverly Hills, Santa Monica, and West Hollywood); Naples, Florida; Newport, Rhode Island; Portland, Oregon; San Diego, California; San Francisco, California; Santa Cruz, California; Stevenson, Washington; and Washington, D.C. We believe these markets have barriers-to-entry and provide diverse sources of meeting and room night demand generators. In addition, we also opportunistically target investments in resort properties located near our primary urban target markets and select destination resort markets such as southern Florida and southern California. We focus on both branded and independent full-service hotels in the “upper-upscale” segment of the lodging industry. The full-service hotels on which we focus our investment activity generally have one or more restaurants, lounges, meeting facilities and other amenities, as well as high levels of customer service. We believe that our target markets, including the major gateway markets and leisure destinations, are characterized by barriers-to-entry and that room-night demand and average daily rate ("ADR") growth of these types of hotels and resorts will outperform the national average over the long-term, as they have in past cyclical recoveries and growth periods.
We perform and utilize extensive research to evaluate any target market and property, including a detailed review of the long-term economic outlook, trends in local demand generators, competitive environment, property systems and physical condition and property financial performance. Specific acquisition criteria may include, but are not limited to, the following:
•premier locations, facilities and other competitive advantages that are not easily replicated;
•barriers-to-entry in the market, such as scarcity of development sites, regulatory hurdles, high per-room development costs and long lead times for new development;
•acquisition prices at a discount to replacement cost;
•properties not subject to long-term management contracts with hotel management companies;
•potential return on investment initiatives, including redevelopment, rebranding, redesign, expansion and change of management;
•opportunities to implement value-added operational improvements; and
•strong demand growth characteristics supported by favorable demographic indicators.
We believe that upper-upscale, full-service hotels and resorts and upscale hotels located in major U.S. urban, convention and drive-to and destination resort markets are likely to generate some of the most favorable risk-adjusted returns in the lodging industry over the long-term. We believe that portfolio diversification will allow us to benefit from growth in various customer segments, including business transient, leisure transient and group and convention room-night demand. We believe that hotel supply growth, following the delivery of current supply construction, will decline from the historical growth rate prior to the pandemic for the foreseeable future.
We generally seek to enter into flexible management contracts, when possible, with third-party hotel management companies for the operation of our hotels and resorts that provide us with the ability to replace operators and/or reposition properties, to the extent that we determine to do so and align our operators with our objective of maximizing our return on investment. In addition, we believe that flexible management contracts facilitate the sale of hotels, and we may seek to sell hotels opportunistically if we believe sales proceeds may be used to repay debt, repurchase our shares or invest in other hotel properties that offer more attractive risk-adjusted returns.
We may engage in full or partial redevelopment, renovation and repositioning of certain properties, as we seek to maximize the financial performance of our hotels and resorts. In addition, we may acquire properties that require significant capital improvement, renovation or refurbishment. We also may acquire hotel and resort properties that we believe would benefit from significant redevelopment or expansion, including, for example, adding guest rooms, meeting facilities or other amenities.
We may consider acquiring outstanding debt secured by a hotel or resort property from lenders and investors if we believe the returns will be attractive or if we can foreclose on or acquire ownership of the property in the near-term. In connection with our acquisitions, generally we do not, but we may choose to opportunistically, originate or purchase any debt financing or preferred equity. Additionally, we have co-invested, and may in the future co-invest, in hotels and debt with third parties through partnerships, joint ventures or other entities, acquiring non-controlling interests in or sharing responsibility for a property, partnership, joint venture or other entity.
Asset Management
While we do not operate our hotel properties, both our asset management team and our executive management team monitor and work cooperatively with our hotel managers by advising and making recommendations in all aspects of our hotels' operations, including property positioning and repositioning, revenue and expense management, operations analysis, physical design, renovation and capital improvements, guest experience and overall strategic direction. We believe we can add significant value to our portfolio through our intensive asset management strategies. Our executives and asset management team have significant experience in hotel operations and creating and implementing innovative asset management initiatives.
We have developed strategic short- and long-term capital investment plans to enhance our hotels' profitability through the strategic use of, among others, expansions, additions, renovations, technology upgrades and modifications, and energy efficiency improvements. We are also focused on revenue and expense management at our properties. We work closely with our hotel operators to evaluate optimal market mix and pricing strategies, ensure quality staffing and appropriate management focus, implement best practices to minimize expenses and aggressively monitor and evaluate our hotels' operations and performance.
Curator
We and four industry-leading hotel operators are founding members of Curator Hotel & Resort Collection, a collection of small brands and independent lifestyle hotels and resorts worldwide. Curator's distinct owner-centric platform offers an alternative for independent lifestyle hotels seeking to strengthen their performance, providing its members with best-in-class agreements, services and technology, while allowing members to retain their unique identities. We own a majority of the equity interests in Curator, which is consolidated in our consolidated financial statements.
Financing Strategies
Over time, we intend to finance our long-term growth with issuances of common and preferred equity securities and debt financings having staggered maturities. Our debt includes senior unsecured credit facilities, term loans, convertible debt, unsecured notes and mortgage debt secured by our hotel properties, and may in the future include other unsecured debt.
We anticipate using net proceeds from equity and debt offerings and property sales to fund future acquisitions as well as for property redevelopments, return-on-investment initiatives, share repurchases and working capital requirements. Subject to market conditions, we intend to repay amounts outstanding under our senior unsecured revolving credit facilities from time to time with proceeds from periodic common and preferred equity issuances, long-term debt financings, cash flows from operations and opportunistic or strategic dispositions.
When purchasing hotel properties, we may issue limited partnership interests in our Operating Partnership as full or partial consideration to sellers who may desire to take advantage of tax deferral on the sale of a hotel or participate in the potential appreciation in value of our common shares of beneficial interest, or common shares.
Competition
We compete for hotel investment opportunities with institutional investors, private equity investors, other REITs and numerous local, regional, national and international owners, including franchisors, in each of our target markets. Some of these entities have substantially greater financial resources than we do and may be able and willing to accept more risk than we can prudently manage. Competition generally may increase the bargaining power of property owners seeking to sell and reduce the number of suitable investment opportunities offered to us or purchased by us.
The hotel industry is highly competitive. Our hotels compete with other hotels and alternative lodging for guests in our markets. Competitive factors include, among others, location, convenience, brand affiliation, room rates, range of services, facilities and guest amenities or accommodations offered and quality of guest service. Competition in our hotels' markets includes competition from existing, newly renovated and newly developed hotels in the relevant segments. Competition can adversely affect our hotels' occupancy, ADR and room revenue per available room ("RevPAR"), and thus our financial results. We may be required to provide additional amenities, incur additional costs or make capital improvements that we otherwise might not choose to make, which may adversely affect our profitability.
Seasonality
Demand in the lodging industry is affected by recurring seasonal patterns which are greatly influenced by overall economic cycles, geographic locations, weather and customer mix at the hotels. Generally, our hotels have lower revenue, operating income and cash flow in the first quarter of each year and higher revenue, operating income and cash flow in the third quarter of each year. The historical trend was disrupted in 2020 and 2021 as a result of COVID-19, which directly adversely impacted demand, revenue and operating income. However, the properties in our portfolio returned to normal historical seasonality trends in 2023.
Regulations
Our hotel properties are subject to various federal, state and local environmental laws. Under these laws, courts and government agencies have the authority to require us, as an owner of a contaminated property, to clean up the property, even if we did not know of or were not responsible for the contamination. These laws also apply to persons who owned a property at the time it became contaminated, and therefore it is possible we could incur these costs even after we sell a property. In addition to the cleanup costs, environmental contamination can affect the value of a property and, therefore, an owner's ability to borrow using the property as collateral or to sell the property. Under environmental laws, courts and government agencies also have the authority to require that a person who sent waste to a waste disposal facility, such as a landfill or an incinerator, pay for the clean-up of that facility if it becomes contaminated and threatens human health or the environment.
Furthermore, various court decisions have established that third parties may recover damages for injury caused by property contamination. For instance, a person exposed to asbestos while staying in a hotel may seek to recover damages if they suffer injury from the asbestos. Lastly, some of these environmental laws restrict the use of a property or place conditions on various activities. An example would be laws requiring a business using chemicals (such as swimming pool chemicals at a hotel property) to manage them carefully and notify local officials that the chemicals are being used.
We could be responsible for any of the costs discussed above. The costs to clean up a contaminated property, to defend against a claim, or to comply with environmental laws could be material and could adversely affect the funds available for distribution to our shareholders. Prior to closing a property acquisition, we obtain Phase I environmental site assessments ("ESAs"), in order to attempt to identify potential environmental concerns at the properties. These assessments are carried out in accordance with an appropriate level of due diligence and generally include a physical site inspection, a review of relevant federal, state and local environmental and health agency database records, one or more interviews with appropriate site-related personnel, review of the property's chain of title and review of historical aerial photographs and other information on past uses of the property. We may also conduct limited subsurface investigations and test for substances of concern where the results of the Phase I ESAs or other information indicates possible contamination or where our consultants recommend such procedures. However, these Phase I ESAs or other investigations may not reveal all environmental costs that might have a material adverse effect on our business, assets, results of operations or liquidity and may not identify all potential environmental liabilities.
We believe that our hotels comply, in all material respects, with all federal, state and local environmental ordinances and regulations regarding hazardous or toxic substances and other environmental matters, the violation of which could have a material adverse effect on us. We have not received written notice from any governmental authority of any material noncompliance, liability or claim relating to hazardous or toxic substances or other environmental matters in connection with any of our properties.
Our properties must comply with Title III of the Americans with Disabilities Act (the "ADA") to the extent that such properties are “public accommodations” as defined by the ADA. The ADA may require the removal of structural barriers to access by persons with disabilities in certain public areas of our properties where such removal is readily achievable. We believe that our properties are in substantial compliance with the ADA and that we will not be required to make substantial capital expenditures to address the requirements of the ADA. However, noncompliance with the ADA could result in litigation, retrofit costs and imposition of fines or an award of damages to private litigants. Additionally, properties that we may acquire may not comply with the requirements of the ADA, and we endeavor to identify such noncompliance prior to our acquisition. The obligation to make readily achievable accommodations is an ongoing one, and we will continue to assess our properties and make alterations as appropriate in this respect.
Tax Status
We have elected to be taxed as a REIT under Sections 856 through 860 of the Code. As a result, we generally are not subject to corporate federal income tax on that portion of our REIT taxable income that we currently distribute to our shareholders. A REIT is subject to numerous organizational and operational requirements, including requirements concerning the nature of our gross income and assets and specifying that we must distribute at least 90 percent of our REIT taxable income (determined without regard to the deduction for dividends paid and excluding net capital gains) each year. We will be subject to U.S. federal income tax on our taxable income at regular corporate rates if we fail to qualify as a REIT for U.S. federal income tax purposes in any taxable year, or to the extent we distribute less than 100 percent of our REIT taxable income. We will also not be permitted to qualify for treatment as a REIT for U.S. federal income tax purposes for four years following the year during which qualification is lost. Even if we continue to qualify as a REIT for U.S. federal income tax purposes, we will be subject to certain state and local income, franchise and property taxes.
To maintain our qualification as a REIT under the Code, we cannot operate the hotels we own and acquire. Therefore, our Operating Partnership and its subsidiaries lease our hotel properties to our TRS lessees who in turn engage third-party eligible independent contractors to manage our hotels. The earnings of TRS lessees are subject to taxation like other regular C corporations.
Joint Venture
We hold a 99.99% controlling interest in The Liberty, a Luxury Collection Hotel, Boston. Since we hold a controlling interest, the joint venture has been consolidated in our financial statements. The 0.01% interest of the third-party partner is included in non-controlling interests in the consolidated balance sheets.
Human Capital
Our human capital management objectives are to attract, recruit, hire, develop and promote a highly talented, diverse workforce. We maintain strong corporate governance standards. We offer competitive compensation and benefits programs designed to create and maintain shareholder value and not encourage excessive risk-taking.
Inclusion, representation and diversity matter to us. We are committed to creating and maintaining a work environment of respect for all human beings regardless of race, gender identity, sexual orientation, accessibility needs, religion, political orientation, veteran status, and culture.
Creating a healthy environment for our employees is a top priority. We provide employees with standing desks, ergonomic desk chairs, a desk wellness series, and complimentary fitness center memberships. We are deeply committed to our community, through volunteering, donations, and sourcing locally, when available.
We currently employ 60 full-time employees. None of our employees is a member of a union. However, some employees of the hotel managers at several of our hotels are currently represented by labor unions and are subject to collective bargaining agreements.
Available Information
Our Internet website is located at www.pebblebrookhotels.com. Copies of the charters of the committees of our board of trustees, our code of business conduct and ethics and our corporate governance guidelines are available on our website. All reports that we have filed with the United States Securities and Exchange Commission (the "SEC") including this Annual Report on Form 10-K and our current reports on Form 8-K, can be obtained free of charge from the SEC's website at www.sec.gov or through our website.

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ITEM 1A. RISK FACTORS
Item 1A. Risk Factors.
The following summary and discussion sets forth some of the risks associated with our business and should be considered carefully. These risks are interrelated and you should treat them as a whole. Additional risks and uncertainties not presently known to us may also materially and adversely affect our business operations, the value of our shares and our ability to pay dividends to our shareholders. In connection with the forward-looking statements that appear in this Annual Report on Form 10-K, in these risk factors and elsewhere, you should carefully review the section titled “Forward-Looking Statements”.
Summary of Risk Factors
Risks Related to Our Business and Properties
•Risks related to the potential loss of our executive officers
•Risks related to third-party management companies
•Risks related to the purchase or sale of hotel properties
•Risks related to financing and use of financial institutions
•Risks related to financial performance
•Risks related to restrictive covenants
•Risks related to highly competitive markets and regional downturns
•Risks related to our TRS lessee structure
•Risks related to joint ventures and franchise agreements
•Risks related to investment decisions
•Risks related to conflicts of interest
Risks Related to Debt and Financing
•Risks related to debt service obligations
•Risks related to our existing indebtedness
•Risks related to “cash trap” provisions
•Risks related to refinancing or defaulting on debt
•Risks related to acquiring outstanding debt
Risks Related to the Lodging Industry
•Risks related to COVID-19 or other pandemics
•Risks related to hotel profitability
•Risks related to operations
•Risks related to competition for acquisitions
•Risks related to the seasonality and cyclical nature of the lodging industry
•Risks related to capital expenditure requirements
•Risks related to hotel and resort development
•Risks related to changing technology and its effects on the lodging industry and cyber-attacks
•Risks related to hotel personnel and unionization
•Risks related to terrorist attacks
•Risks related to natural disasters, climate change and other environmental factors and regulations
•Risks related to underinsurance or lack of insurance
•Risks related to unknown or contingent liabilities
•Risks related to compliance with federal law and other legislative changes
•Risks related to potential litigation
General Risks Related to the Real Estate Industry
•Risks related to illiquidity of real estate investments
•Risks related to changing tax regimes in states and localities in which we own property
•Risks related to liabilities under environmental laws
Risks Related to Our Organization and Structure
•Risks related to change of control
•Risks related to ownership limitations in our declaration of trust
•Risks related to actions against our trustees and officers
•Risks related to changes in major policies
•Risks related to further issuances of securities
•Risks related to future offerings of debt securities or preferred shares
•Risks related to the rights of holders of common shares or preferred shares
•Risks related to employment agreements with our executive officers
•Risks related to internal controls
U.S. Federal Income Tax Risk Factors
•Risks related to potential failures to qualify as a REIT, whether by us or by LaSalle prior to the merger
•Risks related to REIT requirements
•Risks related to distributions of REIT taxable income
•Risks related to our TRS and TRS lessees
•Risks related to our Operating Partnership
•Risks related to taxation on dividends
•Risks related to subsidiary REITs
•Risks related to revocation of our REIT qualification
•Risks related to share ownership restrictions
•Risks related to prohibited transactions tax
•Risks related to legislative or regulatory tax changes
Risks Related to Our Business and Properties
We depend on the efforts and expertise of our executive officers and would be adversely affected by the loss of their services.
We depend on the efforts and expertise of Jon E. Bortz, our Chairman and Chief Executive Officer, and our two other executive officers, to execute our business strategy. The loss of their services, and our inability to quickly identify and hire suitable replacements could adversely affect our business activities, including, without limitation, relationships with shareholders, lenders, management companies and other industry personnel.
Our returns could be negatively impacted if the third-party management companies that operate our hotels do not manage our hotel properties effectively.
Because U.S. federal income tax laws restrict REITs and their subsidiaries from operating or managing a hotel, we do not operate or manage any of our hotel properties. Instead, we lease all of our hotel properties to subsidiaries that qualify as TRSs, under applicable REIT laws, and our TRS lessees retain third-party managers to operate our hotels pursuant to management contracts. Our cash flow from the hotels may be adversely affected if our managers fail to provide quality services and amenities or if they or their affiliates fail to maintain a quality brand name. In addition, our managers or their affiliates may manage, and in some cases may own, invest in or provide credit support or operating guarantees, to hotels that compete with hotel properties that we own or acquire, which may result in conflicts of interest and decisions regarding the operation of our hotels that are not in our best interests.
We do not have the authority to require any hotel property to be operated in a particular manner or to govern any particular aspect of the daily operations of any hotel property (for example, setting room rates). Thus, even if we believe our hotels are being operated inefficiently or in a manner that does not result in satisfactory occupancy rates, RevPAR and ADR, we cannot force the management company to change its method of operating our hotels. We generally will attempt to resolve issues with our managers through discussions and negotiations. However, if we are unable to reach satisfactory results through discussions and negotiations, we may choose to litigate the dispute or submit the matter to third-party dispute resolution. We can only seek redress if a management company violates the terms of the applicable management contract with a TRS lessee, and then only to the extent of the remedies provided for under the terms of the management contract. Additionally, in the event that we need to replace any management company, we may be required by the terms of the management contract to pay substantial termination fees and may experience significant disruptions at the affected hotels.
Due to our exclusive focus on hotels and resorts, and our concentration in hotel investments primarily in major gateway urban and resort markets, a downturn in the lodging industry generally or regional downturns in the markets in which we operate would adversely affect our operations and financial condition.
Our primary business is hotel-related. Therefore, a downturn in the lodging industry, in general, and the segments and markets (especially West Coast major gateway metropolitan markets) in which we operate, in particular, would have a material adverse effect on our financial condition, results of operations, the market price of our common shares and our ability to make distributions to our shareholders.
If we cannot obtain financing, our growth will be limited.
To maintain our qualification as a REIT for U.S. federal income tax purposes, we are required to distribute at least 90 percent of our REIT taxable income (determined without regard to the deduction for dividends paid and excluding any net capital gains) each year to our shareholders and we generally expect to make distributions in excess of such amount. As a result, our ability to retain earnings to fund acquisitions, redevelopment and development or other capital expenditures is and will continue to be limited. Although our business strategy contemplates future access to debt financing (in addition to our senior unsecured revolving credit facilities, senior notes and term loans) to fund acquisitions, redevelopment, development, return on investment initiatives and working capital requirements, there can be no assurance that we will be able to obtain such financing on favorable terms or at all. Events in financial markets have adversely impacted the credit markets, and they may do so in the future, and, as a result, credit can become significantly more expensive and difficult to obtain, if available at all. Tightening credit markets may have an adverse effect on our ability to obtain financing on favorable terms, if at all, thereby increasing financing costs and/or requiring us to accept financing with increased restrictions and/or significantly higher interest rates. If adverse conditions in the credit markets - in particular with respect to real estate or lodging industry finance - materially deteriorate, our business could be materially and adversely affected.
Our ability to make distributions to our shareholders is subject to fluctuations in our financial performance, operating results and capital improvements requirements.
To maintain our qualification as a REIT for U.S. federal income tax purposes, we are required to distribute at least 90 percent of our REIT taxable income (determined without regard to the deduction for dividends paid and excluding any net capital gains) each year to our shareholders and we generally expect to make distributions in excess of such amount. In the event of downturns in our operating results, unanticipated capital improvements to our hotel properties or other factors, we may be unable to declare or pay distributions to our shareholders or may pay such distributions in a combination of cash and our common shares. The timing and amount of distributions are in the sole discretion of our board of trustees which will consider, among other factors, our financial performance, any debt service obligations, any debt covenants and capital expenditure requirements. We cannot assure you that we will generate sufficient cash in order to fund distributions.
We may pay taxable distributions in cash and our common shares, in which case shareholders may sell their common shares to pay tax on such distributions, placing downward pressure on the market price of our common shares.
We may distribute taxable distributions that are payable in cash and common shares at the election of each shareholder. If we made a taxable distribution payable in cash and common shares, taxable shareholders receiving such distributions will be required to include the full amount of the distribution as ordinary income to the extent of our current and accumulated earnings and profits, as determined for U.S. federal income tax purposes. As a result, shareholders may be required to pay income tax with respect to such distributions in excess of the cash distributions received. If a U.S. shareholder sells the common shares that it receives as a distribution in order to pay this tax, the sales proceeds may be less than the amount included in income with respect to the distribution, depending on the market price of our common shares at the time of the sale. Furthermore, with respect to certain non-U.S. shareholders, we may be required to withhold U.S. federal income tax with respect to such distributions, including in respect of all or a portion of such distribution that is payable in common shares. If we made a taxable distribution payable in cash and our common shares and a significant number of our shareholders determine to sell our common shares in order to pay taxes owed on distributions, it may put downward pressure on the trading price of our common shares.
Restrictive covenants in our management contracts could preclude us from taking actions with respect to the sale or refinancing of a hotel property that would otherwise be in our best interest.
We may enter into management contracts that contain some restrictive covenants or acquire properties subject to existing management contracts that do not allow the flexibility we seek, including management contracts that restrict our ability to terminate the contract or require us to pay significant termination fees. For example, the terms of some management contracts may restrict our ability to sell a property unless the purchaser is not a competitor of the manager and assumes the related management contract and meets specified other conditions which may preclude us from taking actions that would otherwise be in our best interest or could cause us to incur substantial expense.
We invest primarily in the upper-upscale segment of the lodging market, which is highly competitive and generally subject to greater volatility than most other market segments and could negatively affect our profitability.
The upper-upscale segment of the hotel business is highly competitive. Our hotel properties compete on the basis of location, room rates, quality, service levels, reputation and reservations systems, among many factors. There are many competitors in the upper-upscale segment, and many of these competitors may have substantially greater marketing and financial resources than we have. This competition could reduce occupancy levels and RevPAR at our hotels. In addition, in periods of weak demand, as may occur during a general economic recession, profitability is adversely affected by the relatively high fixed costs of operating upper-upscale hotels.
Our TRS lessee structure subjects us to the risk of increased hotel operating expenses.
Our leases with our TRS lessees require our TRS lessees to pay rent based in part on revenues from our hotels. Our operating risks include decreases in hotel revenues and increases in hotel operating expenses, which would adversely affect our TRS lessees' ability to pay rent due under the leases, including but not limited to increases in: wage and benefit costs, which may include an increase in minimum wages and health benefit costs; repair and maintenance expenses; property taxes; insurance costs; and other operating expenses. Increases in these operating expenses can have a significant adverse impact on our financial condition, results of operations, the market price of our common shares and our ability to make distributions to our shareholders.
Our hotels operated under franchise agreements are subject to risks arising from adverse developments with respect to the franchise brand and to costs associated with maintaining the franchise license.
Certain of our hotel properties operate under franchise agreements and we anticipate that some of the hotels we acquire in the future will operate under franchise agreements. We are therefore subject to the risks associated with concentrating hotel investments in several franchise brands, including reductions in business following negative publicity related to one of the brands or the general decline of a brand.
Maintenance of franchise licenses for branded hotel properties is subject to franchisors' operating standards and other terms and conditions including the requirement to make certain capital improvements. Franchisors periodically inspect hotel properties to ensure that we and our lessees and management companies follow their standards. Failure by us, one of our TRS lessees or one of our third-party management companies to maintain these standards or other terms and conditions could result in a franchise license being canceled. If a franchise license is canceled due to our failure to make required improvements or to otherwise comply with its terms, we also may be liable to the franchisor for a termination payment, which varies by franchisor and by hotel property.
The loss of a franchise license could materially and adversely affect the operations and the underlying value of the hotel property because of the loss of associated name recognition, marketing support and centralized reservation system provided by the franchisor and adversely affect our revenues, financial condition, results of operations, the market price of our common shares and our ability to make distributions to our shareholders.
Any joint venture investments that we may make in the future could be adversely affected by our lack of sole decision-making authority, our reliance on our co-venturers' financial condition and disputes between us and our co-venturers.
We may co-invest in hotels in the future with third parties through partnerships, joint ventures or other entities, acquiring non-controlling interests in or sharing responsibility for a property, partnership, joint venture or other entity. In this event, we would not be in a position to exercise sole decision-making authority regarding the property, partnership, joint venture or other entity. Investments through partnerships, joint ventures, or other entities may, under certain circumstances, involve risks not present were a third party not involved, including the possibility that partners or co-venturers might become bankrupt, fail to fund their share of required capital contributions, make dubious business decisions or block or delay necessary decisions. Partners or co-venturers may have economic or other business interests or goals which are inconsistent with our business interests or goals, and may be in a position to take actions contrary to our policies or objectives. Such investments may also have the potential risk of impasses on decisions, such as a sale, because neither we nor the partner or co-venturer would have full control over the partnership or joint venture. Disputes between us and partners or co-venturers may result in litigation or arbitration that would increase our expenses and prevent our officers and/or trustees from focusing their time and effort on our business. Consequently, action by, or disputes with, partners or co-venturers might result in subjecting properties owned by the partnership or joint venture to additional risk. In addition, we may in certain circumstances be liable for the actions of our third-party partners or co-venturers.
Our senior executive officers have broad discretion to make investments, and they may make investments where the returns are substantially below expectations or which result in net operating losses.
Our senior executive officers have broad discretion, within the general investment criteria established by our board of trustees, to invest our capital and to determine the timing of such investments. In addition, our investment policies may be revised from time to time at the discretion of our board of trustees, without a vote of our shareholders. Such discretion could result in investments that may not yield returns consistent with expectations.
Some of our hotels are subject to rights of first offer which may adversely affect our ability to sell those properties on favorable terms or at all.
We are subject to a franchisor’s or operator’s right of first offer, in some instances. These third-party rights may adversely affect our ability to timely dispose of these properties on favorable terms, or at all.
The purchase or sale of properties we put under contract may not be consummated.
From time to time, we enter into purchase and sale agreements for hotel properties. These transactions, whether or not consummated, require substantial time and attention from management. Furthermore, potential acquisitions and potential dispositions require significant expense, including expenses for due diligence, marketing, legal fees and related overhead. To the extent we do not consummate one or more of the transactions, these expenses will not be offset by revenues or proceeds from these properties or dispositions.
Our cash and cash equivalents are maintained in a limited number of financial institutions and the funds in those institutions may not be fully or federally insured.
We maintain cash balances in a limited number of financial institutions. Our cash balances are generally in excess of federally insured limits. The failure or collapse of one or more of these financial institutions may materially adversely affect our ability to recover our cash balances.
Our conflicts of interest policy may not adequately address all of the conflicts of interest that may arise with respect to our activities.
In order to avoid any actual or perceived conflicts of interest with our trustees, officers or employees, we have adopted a conflicts of interest policy to specifically address some of the potential conflicts relating to our activities. Although under this policy any transaction, agreement or relationship in which any of our trustees, officers or employees has an interest must have the approval of a majority of our disinterested trustees, there is no assurance that this policy will be adequate to address all of the conflicts that may arise or will address such conflicts in a manner that is favorable to us.
Risks Related to Debt and Financing
Debt service obligations could adversely affect our overall operating results, may require us to sell hotel properties, may jeopardize our qualification as a REIT and could adversely affect our ability to make distributions to our shareholders and the market price of our common shares.
Our business strategy includes the use of both secured and unsecured debt to finance long-term growth. Incurring debt subjects us to many risks, including the risks that our cash flow from operations will be insufficient to make required payments of principal and interest, our debt may increase our vulnerability to adverse economic and industry conditions, we may be required to dedicate a substantial portion of our cash flow from operations to payments on our debt, and the terms of any refinancing will not be as favorable as the terms of the debt being refinanced.
We have placed and may in the future place mortgages on certain of our hotel properties to secure debt. To the extent we cannot meet any of our debt service obligations, we may be required to sell or we will risk losing to foreclosure some or all of our mortgaged hotel properties. If we are required to sell one or more of our hotel properties to meet debt service obligations, we may have to accept unfavorable terms. Also, covenants applicable to debt could impair our planned investment strategy and, if violated, result in a default. If we violate covenants relating to indebtedness, we could be required to repay all or a portion of our indebtedness before maturity at a time when we might be unable to arrange financing for such repayment on attractive terms, if at all. In addition, future indebtedness agreements may require that we meet certain covenant tests in order to make distributions to our shareholders.
Higher interest rates could increase debt service requirements on any of our floating rate debt, including our senior unsecured revolving credit facilities, and could reduce the amounts available for distribution to our shareholders, as well as reduce funds available for our operations, future business opportunities or other purposes. We have obtained, and we may in the future obtain, one or more forms of interest rate protection - in the form of swap agreements, interest rate cap contracts or similar agreements that are consistent with our intention to remain qualified as a REIT - to “hedge” against the possible negative effects of interest rate fluctuations. However, such hedging incurs costs and we cannot assure you that any hedging will adequately relieve the adverse effects of interest rate increases or that counterparties under these agreements will honor their obligations thereunder. Adverse economic conditions could also cause the terms on which we borrow to be unfavorable.
Our existing indebtedness contains financial covenants that could limit our operations and our ability to make distributions to our shareholders.
The credit agreements that govern our existing senior unsecured revolving credit facilities and unsecured term loan facilities contain financial and operating covenants, such as net worth requirements, fixed charge coverage, debt ratios and other limitations that restrict our ability to make distributions or other payments to our stockholders, sell all or substantially all of our assets and engage in mergers, consolidations and certain acquisitions without the consent of the lenders. In addition, property-level debt we enter into in the future may contain restrictions (including cash management provisions) that may under circumstances specified in the loan agreements prohibit our subsidiaries that own our hotels from making distributions or paying dividends, repaying loans to us or other subsidiaries or transferring any of their assets to us or another subsidiary which could adversely affect our ability to make distributions to our shareholders. Failure to meet our financial covenants could result from, among other things, changes in our results of operations, the incurrence of additional debt or changes in general economic conditions. Such failures could cause one or more of our lenders to accelerate the timing of payments and could have a material adverse effect on our business, financial condition, results of operations and our ability to make distributions to our shareholders. The terms of our debt may restrict our ability to engage in transactions that we believe would otherwise be in the best interests of our shareholders.
Our existing mortgage loan agreements contain, and mortgage loan agreements we may enter into in the future may contain, “cash trap” provisions that could limit our ability to make distributions to our shareholders.
Our existing mortgage loan agreements contain, and mortgage loan agreements we may enter into in the future may contain, cash trap provisions that may be triggered if the performance of the hotels securing the loans declines below a threshold. If these provisions are triggered, substantially all of the profit generated by the hotel will be deposited directly into a lockbox account and then swept into a cash management account for the benefit of the lender. In that event, cash would be distributed to us only after certain items are paid, including deposits into leasing and maintenance reserves and the payment of debt service, insurance, taxes, operating expenses and extraordinary capital expenditures and leasing expenses. This could adversely affect our liquidity and our ability to make distributions to our shareholders.
There is refinancing risk associated with our debt.
Our typical debt contains limited principal amortization; therefore, the vast majority of the principal must be repaid at the maturity of the loan in a so-called “balloon payment.” At the maturity of these loans, assuming we do not have sufficient funds to repay the debt, we will need to refinance the debt. If the credit environment is constrained at the time of our debt maturities, we would have a very difficult time refinancing debt or refinancing terms may be at substantially higher interest rates and/or lower proceeds. If we are unable to refinance our debt on acceptable terms, we may be forced to choose from a number of unfavorable options. These options include agreeing to otherwise unfavorable financing terms on one or more of our unencumbered assets, selling one or more hotels at disadvantageous terms, including unattractive prices, or defaulting on the mortgage and permitting the lender to foreclose. Any one of these options could have a material adverse effect on our business, financial condition, results of operations and our ability to make distributions to our shareholders.
If we default on our secured debt, the lenders may foreclose on our hotels.
All of our indebtedness for borrowed money, except our senior unsecured revolving credit facility, term loans and senior unsecured notes, is secured by either single property first mortgage liens or leasehold interests under the ground leases on the applicable hotel. If we default on any of the secured loans, the applicable lender will be able to foreclose on the property pledged to secure the loan.
In addition to causing us to lose the property, a foreclosure may result in taxable income. Under the Code, a foreclosure would be treated as a sale of the property for a purchase price equal to the outstanding balance of the debt secured by the mortgage. If the outstanding balance of the debt secured by the mortgage exceeds our tax basis in the property, we would recognize taxable income on foreclosure even though we did not receive any cash proceeds. As a result, we may then be required to identify and utilize other sources of cash for distributions to our shareholders. If this occurs, our financial condition, cash flow and ability to satisfy our other debt obligations or ability to pay distributions may be adversely affected.
Acquiring outstanding debt secured by a hotel or resort property may expose us to risks of costs and delays in acquiring the underlying property.
We may acquire outstanding debt secured by a hotel or resort property from lenders and investors if we believe we can ultimately foreclose or otherwise acquire ownership of the underlying property in the near-term through foreclosure, deed-in-lieu of foreclosure or other means. However, if we do acquire such debt, borrowers may seek to assert various defenses to our foreclosure or other actions and we may not be successful in acquiring the underlying property on a timely basis, or at all, in which event we could incur significant costs and experience significant delays in acquiring such properties, all of which could adversely affect our financial performance and reduce our expected returns from such investments. In addition, we may not earn a current return on such investments particularly if the loan that we acquire is in default.
Risks Related to the Lodging Industry
The COVID-19 pandemic has had, and is expected to continue to have, a material adverse impact on our financial condition, results of operations, cash flows, liquidity and prospects. The current, and uncertain future, impact of the COVID-19 pandemic, including its effect on the ability or desire of people to travel for leisure or for business, is expected to continue to adversely impact our financial condition, results of operations, cash flows, liquidity and prospects.
The COVID-19 pandemic and federal, state and local government responses and restrictions thereto have significantly disrupted, and are expected to continue to significantly disrupt, our business. As a result of this pandemic and subsequent government mandates and health official recommendations and restrictions, hotel demand was nearly eliminated during the second quarter of 2020 and occupancy levels reached historic lows. While our operations have significantly improved, they are still below pre-pandemic levels in some markets, and there can be no assurance that our operations will continue to improve or that our operations will not deteriorate again as a result of surges in the pandemic and government, business and individual responses. Certain states and cities, including those where our hotels are located, reacted to the pandemic by instituting quarantines, restrictions on travel, “shelter in place” rules, restrictions on the types of business that may continue to operate, and/or restrictions on the types of construction projects that may be reinstated. In response to the COVID-19 pandemic in 2020, we temporarily suspended operations at the vast majority of our hotels. The hotels reopened through the first half of 2021 and operations and occupancy began to increase through 2021 and 2022. The majority of our hotels have returned to normal operations although some markets are still recovering and have not yet reached pre-pandemic occupancy levels. Use of our cash during this period of lower demand and certain restrictive covenants of our credit agreements reduced the amount of cash available for hotel capital expenditures, future business opportunities and other purposes, including distributions to our shareholders. To preserve liquidity, we worked with our operators to significantly reduce staffing and expenses at our hotels, reduced the quarterly cash dividend on our common shares to $0.01 per share. While we have returned to positive cash flows, we cannot assure you that these steps will prove to be sufficient or that our forecast or the assumptions we used to estimate our liquidity requirements will be correct.
We are unable to predict whether we will need again to suspend operations temporarily at any of our hotels as a result of the outbreak of new variants of COVID-19 and government, business and individual responses to such outbreaks. Travel advisories and restrictions may be continued or reinstituted due to the continued outbreak or a resurgent outbreak of COVID-19. Furthermore, even in absence of such restrictions, travel demand may remain weak for a significant period of time as individuals or businesses may fear or restrict traveling. We are unable to predict if and when occupancy and the average daily rates at our hotels will return to pre-pandemic levels. Additionally, our hotels may be negatively impacted by adverse changes in the economy, including higher unemployment rates, declines in income levels, loss of personal wealth and possibly a national and/or global recession resulting from the impact of COVID-19 or other pandemics. Declines in demand trends, occupancy and the average daily rates at our hotels may indicate that one or more of our hotels is impaired, which would adversely affect our financial condition and results of operations.
Economic conditions may reduce demand for hotel properties and adversely affect hotel profitability.
The performance of the lodging industry has historically been closely linked to the performance of the general economy and, specifically, growth in U.S. Gross Domestic Product ("GDP"). It is also sensitive to business and personal discretionary spending levels. Declines in corporate travel budgets and consumer demand due to adverse general economic conditions, such as declines in U.S. GDP, risks affecting or reducing travel patterns (such as governmental restrictions on in-bound international travel), lower consumer confidence or adverse political conditions can lower the revenues and profitability of hotel properties and therefore the net operating profits of our TRS lessees to whom we lease our hotel properties. Another domestic or global economic downturn may lead to a significant decline in demand for products and services provided by the lodging industry, lower occupancy levels and significantly reduced room rates.
We cannot predict the pace or duration of the global economic cycles or the cycles in the lodging industry. A period of economic weakness would likely have an adverse impact on our revenues and negatively affect our financial condition, results of operations, the market price of our common shares and our ability to make distributions to our shareholders.
Our operating results and ability to make distributions to our shareholders may be adversely affected by various operating risks common to the lodging industry.
Our hotel properties have different economic characteristics than many other real estate assets and a hotel REIT is structured differently than many other types of REITs. Our TRS lessees engage hotel managers pursuant to management contracts and pay the managers fees for managing the hotels. The TRS lessees receive all the operating profit or losses of the hotels. Moreover, virtually all hotel guests stay at a hotel for only a few nights at a time, so the rate and occupancy at each of our hotels change daily. As a result, we may have highly volatile earnings.
In addition, our hotel properties are subject to various operating risks common to the lodging industry, many of which are beyond our control, including the following:
•competition from other hotel properties and non-hotel properties that provide nightly and short-term rentals in our markets;
•over building of new hotels in our markets, which could adversely affect occupancy and revenues at our hotel properties;
•dependence on business and commercial travelers, conventions and tourism;
•increases in energy costs, airplane fares, government taxes and fees, and other expenses affecting travel, which may affect travel patterns and reduce the number of business and commercial travelers and tourists;
•increases in operating costs due to inflation and other factors that may not be offset by increased room rates;
•changes in interest rates and in the availability, cost and terms of debt financing;
•changes in governmental laws and regulations (including minimum wage increases), fiscal policies and zoning ordinances and the related costs of compliance with laws and regulations, fiscal policies and ordinances;
•adverse effects of international, national, regional and local economic and market conditions;
•labor strikes or disruptions;
•unforeseen events beyond our control, such as terrorist attacks, cyber-attacks, travel-related health concerns and restrictions as a result of pandemics and epidemics such as H1N1 influenza (swine flu), avian bird flu, Zika virus, SARS, MERS and COVID-19 (coronavirus), political instability, regional hostilities, imposition of taxes or surcharges by regulatory authorities, travel-related accidents and unusual weather patterns, including natural disasters such as hurricanes, tsunamis or earthquakes;
•strength of the U.S. dollar which may reduce in-bound international travel and encourage out-bound international travel;
•adverse effects of a downturn in the lodging industry; and
•risks generally associated with the ownership of hotel properties and real estate, as we discuss in more detail below.
These factors could reduce the revenues and net operating profits of our TRS lessees, which in turn could adversely affect our financial condition, results of operations, the market price of our common shares, and our ability to make distributions to our shareholders.
Competition for acquisitions may reduce the number of properties we can acquire.
We compete for investment opportunities with entities that may have substantially greater financial and other resources than we have. These entities generally may be able to accept more risk than we can prudently manage. This competition may generally limit the number of suitable investment opportunities offered to us or the number of properties that we are able to acquire. This competition may also increase the bargaining power of property owners seeking to sell to us, making it more difficult for us to acquire new properties on attractive terms.
The seasonality of the lodging industry may cause fluctuations in our quarterly revenues that cause us to borrow money to fund distributions to our shareholders.
The lodging industry is seasonal in nature. This seasonality can be expected to cause quarterly fluctuations in our revenues. Our quarterly earnings may be adversely affected by factors outside our control, including weather conditions and poor economic factors. As a result, we may have to enter into short-term borrowings in certain quarters in order to offset these fluctuations in revenues and to make distributions to our shareholders.
The cyclical nature of the lodging industry may cause the returns from our investments to be less than we expect.
The lodging industry is highly cyclical in nature. Fluctuations in lodging demand and, therefore, hotel operating performance, are caused largely by general economic and local market conditions, which subsequently affect levels of business and leisure travel. In addition to general economic conditions, new hotel room supply is an important factor that can affect lodging industry fundamentals, and over-building has the potential to exacerbate the negative impact of poor economic conditions. Room rates and occupancy, and thus RevPAR, tend to increase when demand growth exceeds supply growth. A decline in lodging demand, or a continued growth in lodging supply, could result in continued deterioration in lodging industry fundamentals and returns that are substantially below expectations, or result in losses, which could adversely affect our financial condition, results of operations, the market price of our common shares and our ability to make distributions to our shareholders.
Capital expenditure requirements at our properties may be costly and require us to incur debt, postpone improvements, reduce distributions or otherwise adversely affect the results of our operations and the market price of our common shares.
Some of the hotel properties we acquire need renovations and capital improvements at the time of acquisition and all the hotel properties we have acquired and will acquire in the future will have an ongoing need for renovations and other capital improvements, including replacement, from time to time, of furniture, fixtures and equipment. The franchisors, if any, of our hotel properties also require periodic capital improvements as a condition to our maintaining the franchise licenses. In addition, our lenders often require that we set aside annual amounts for capital improvements to our hotel properties. These capital improvements may give rise to the following risks:
•possible environmental problems;
•construction cost overruns and delays, including those caused by supply chain disruptions;
•the possibility that revenues will be reduced while rooms or restaurants are out of service due to capital improvement projects;
•a possible shortage of available cash to fund capital improvements and the related possibility that financing for these capital improvements may not be available to us on attractive terms; and
•uncertainties as to market demand or a loss of market demand after capital improvements have begun.
The costs of renovations and capital improvements could adversely affect our financial condition, results of operations, the market price of our common shares and our ability to make distributions to our shareholders.
Hotel and resort development and redevelopment is subject to timing, budgeting and other risks that may adversely affect our financial condition, results of operations, the market price of our common shares and our ability to make distributions to our shareholders.
We may engage in hotel development and redevelopment if suitable opportunities arise. Hotel development and redevelopment involves a number of risks, including risks associated with:
•construction delays or cost overruns that may increase project costs;
•the receipt of zoning, occupancy and other required governmental permits and authorizations;
•development costs incurred for projects that are not pursued to completion;
•acts of God such as earthquakes, hurricanes, floods or fires that could adversely impact a project;
•the negative impact of construction on operating performance during and soon after the construction period;
•the ability to raise capital; and
•governmental restrictions on the nature or size of a project.
We cannot assure you that any development or redevelopment project will be completed on time or within budget. Our inability to complete a project on time or within budget could adversely affect our financial condition, results of operations, the market price of our common shares and our ability to make distributions to our shareholders.
The increasing use by consumers of Internet travel intermediaries and alternative lodging marketplaces may reduce our revenues.
Some of our hotel rooms are booked through Internet travel intermediaries, such as Travelocity.com, Expedia.com, Booking.com and Priceline.com. As bookings through these intermediaries increase, these intermediaries may be able to obtain higher commissions, reduced room rates or other significant contract concessions from the management companies that operate the hotels we own and acquire. Moreover, some of these Internet travel intermediaries attempt to offer hotel rooms as a commodity by increasing the importance of price and general quality indicators (such as “three-star downtown hotel”), at the expense of brand identification, quality of product or service. These intermediaries hope that consumers will eventually develop brand loyalties to their reservations system rather than to lodging brands or properties. Additional sources of competition, such as alternative lodging marketplaces like Airbnb, may, as they become more accepted, lead to a reduced demand for conventional hotel guest rooms and to an increased supply of lodging alternatives. If the amount of bookings made through Internet travel intermediaries or the use of alternative lodging marketplaces prove to be more significant than we expect, profitability may be lower than expected, and our financial condition, results of operations, the market price of our common shares and our ability to make distributions to our shareholders may be adversely affected.
We may be adversely affected by increased use of business-related technology which may reduce the need for business-related travel.
The increased use of teleconference and video-conference technology by businesses, particularly given its widespread use and increased acceptance during the COVID-19 pandemic, could result in decreased business travel as companies increase the use of technologies that allow multiple parties from different locations to participate at meetings without traveling to a centralized meeting location. To the extent that such technologies play an increased role in day-to-day business and the necessity for business-related travel decreases, hotel room demand may decrease and our financial condition, results of operations, the market price of our common shares and our ability to make distributions to our shareholders may be adversely affected.
Our hotel managers and we rely on information technology in our operations, and any material failure, inadequacy, interruption or security failure of that technology could harm our business.
Our hotel managers and we rely on information technology networks and systems, including the Internet, to process, transmit and store electronic information, and manage or support various business processes, including financial transactions and records, personal identifying information, reservations, billing and operating data. Our hotel managers and we purchase some of our information technology from vendors, on whom our systems depend. We rely on commercially available systems, software, tools and monitoring to provide security for processing, transmission and storage of confidential customer information, such as individually identifiable information, including information relating to financial accounts. Recently, several hotels and hotel management companies have been subject to successful cyber-attacks, including those seeking guest credit card information or impacting the ability of our hotel managers to operate. Although we have taken steps to protect the security of our information systems and the data maintained in those systems, it is possible that our safety and security measures will not be able to prevent the systems' improper functioning or damage, or the improper access or disclosure of personally identifiable information such as in the event of cyber-attacks. Security breaches, including physical or electronic break-ins, computer viruses, ransomware, attacks by hackers and similar breaches, can create system disruptions, shutdowns or unauthorized disclosure of confidential information or theft of corporate funds and expose us to claims by guests whose personal information is accessed. Any failure to maintain proper function, security and availability of our information systems could interrupt our operations, delay or disrupt our financial reporting, damage our reputation, subject us to liability claims or regulatory penalties and have a material adverse effect on our business, financial condition and results of operations.
Many of our hotel managers carry cyber insurance policies to protect and offset a portion of potential costs incurred from a security breach. Additionally, we currently have cyber insurance policies to provide supplemental coverage above the coverage carried by our third-party managers. Despite various precautionary steps to protect our hotels from losses resulting from cyber-attacks, any cyber-attack occurrence could still result in losses at our properties, which could affect our results of operations.
For more information regarding cybersecurity risk and our management of it, see Part I, Item 1C of this Annual Report on Form 10-K.
We are subject to risks associated with the employment of hotel personnel, particularly with hotels that employ unionized labor.
Our third-party hotel managers are responsible for hiring and maintaining the labor force at our hotels. Although we do not directly employ or manage employees at our hotels, we are subject to risks associated with the employment of hotel personnel, particularly at those hotels with unionized labor. From time to time, strikes, lockouts, public demonstrations or other negative actions and publicity may disrupt hotel operations. In addition, we may be affected by shortages of qualified labor. If our managers cannot hire qualified labor for reasonable wages or at all, our indirect labor costs may rise and our hotel customers may not receive adequate service. We also may incur increased legal costs and indirect labor costs as a result of contract disputes or other events. The resolution of labor disputes or new or re-negotiated labor contracts could lead to increased labor costs, either by increases in wages or benefits or by changes in work rules that raise hotel operating costs. Furthermore, collective bargaining agreements, negotiated between the hotel managers and labor unions, may limit the ability of the hotel managers to reduce the size of hotel workforces during economic downturns. We cannot control negotiations between hotel managers and labor unions. In addition, we believe that unions are generally becoming more aggressive about organizing workers at hotels in certain locations. Potential labor activities at these hotels could significantly increase the administrative, labor and legal expenses of the third-party management companies operating these hotels and reduce our profits. The unionization of additional employees at our hotels or increased labor shortages could have a material adverse effect on our business, financial condition and results of operations.
Terrorist attacks or changes in terror alert levels could adversely affect travel and hotel demand.
Previous terrorist attacks and subsequent terrorist alerts have adversely affected the U.S. travel and hospitality industries over the past several years, often disproportionately to the effect on the overall economy. The impact that terrorist attacks in the U.S. or elsewhere could have on domestic and international travel and our business in particular cannot be definitively determined, but any such attacks or the threat of such attacks could have a material adverse effect on our business, our ability to finance our business, our ability to insure our properties and our results of operations and financial condition.
We face risks associated with natural disasters and the direct and indirect physical effects of climate change, which may include more frequent and more severe storms, hurricanes, flooding, droughts and wildfires, any of which could have a material adverse effect on our hotel properties, operations, cash flows and financing options.
We are subject to the risks associated with the direct and indirect physical effects of climate change, which can include more frequent and more severe storms, hurricanes, flooding, droughts, wildfires and power outages, any of which could have a material adverse effect on our hotels, operating results and cash flows. To the extent climate change causes changes in weather patterns, our markets, particularly our coastal markets, could experience increases in storm frequency and intensity and rising sea levels interrupting our operations and causing damage to our hotels. As a result, we could become subject to significant losses and repair costs that may not be fully covered by insurance. Our markets in more remote locations may experience prolonged variations in temperature or precipitation that may limit access to the water needed to operate our hotels or significantly increase energy costs, which may subject those hotels to additional regulatory burdens, such as limitations on water usage or stricter energy efficiency standards. Climate change also may affect our business by increasing the cost of (or even making unavailable) property insurance on terms we find acceptable in areas most vulnerable to such events, increasing operating costs at our hotels, such as the cost of water or energy, and requiring us to expend funds as we seek to mitigate, repair and protect our hotels against such risks. A tightening of credit markets for, or a reduction in the availability of capital to, borrowers whose assets are in areas that are particularly adversely affected by the effects of climate change may reduce our ability to obtain financing on favorable terms, or at all, thereby increasing financing costs and/or requiring us to accept financing with increased restrictions and/or significantly higher interest rates, which could have a material adverse effect on our financial condition, results of operations, the market price of our common shares and our ability to make distributions to our shareholders.
We are subject to operational risks associated with complying with increased environmental-related regulations, aligning with investor requirements concerning environmental issues and meeting shifting consumer preferences with regard to the environment. In an effort to mitigate the impact of climate change, our hotels could become subject to increased governmental regulations mandating energy efficiency standards, the usage of sustainable energy sources and updated equipment specifications, which may require additional capital investments or increased operating costs. Climate change may also affect our business by causing a shift in consumer preferences for sustainable travel. Our hotels may be subject to additional costs to manage consumer expectations for sustainable buildings and hotel operations.
There can be no assurance that climate change will not have a material adverse effect on our hotels, operating results or cash flows.
Uninsured and underinsured losses could result in a loss of capital.
We maintain comprehensive property insurance on each of our hotel properties, including liability, fire and extended coverage, of the type and amount we believe are customarily obtained for or by hotel owners. There are no assurances that coverage will remain available at reasonable rates. Various types of catastrophic losses, like earthquakes and floods, and losses from terrorist activities, may not be insurable in whole or in part or may not be available on terms that we consider acceptable.
In the event of a substantial loss, our insurance coverage may not be sufficient to cover the full market value or replacement cost of our lost investment. Should an uninsured loss or a loss in excess of insured limits occur, we could lose all or a portion of the capital we have invested in a hotel property, as well as the anticipated future revenue from the property. In that event, we might nevertheless remain obligated for any mortgage debt or other financial obligations related to the property. Inflation, changes in building codes and ordinances, environmental considerations and other factors might also keep us from using insurance proceeds to replace or renovate a hotel after it has been damaged or destroyed. Under those circumstances, the insurance proceeds we receive might be inadequate to restore our economic position on the damaged or destroyed property.
Our hotels may be subject to unknown or contingent liabilities which could cause us to incur substantial costs.
The hotel properties that we own or may acquire are or may be subject to unknown or contingent liabilities for which we may have no recourse, or only limited recourse, against the sellers. In general, the representations and warranties provided under the transaction agreements related to the sales of the hotel properties may not survive the closing of the transactions. While we will seek to require the sellers to indemnify us with respect to breaches of representations and warranties that survive, such indemnification may be limited and subject to various materiality thresholds, a significant deductible or an aggregate cap on losses. As a result, there is no guarantee that we will recover any amounts with respect to losses due to breaches by the sellers of their representations and warranties. In addition, the total amount of costs and expenses that may be incurred with respect to liabilities associated with these hotels may exceed our expectations, and we may experience other unanticipated adverse effects, all of which may adversely affect our financial condition, results of operations, the market price of our common shares and our ability to make distributions to our shareholders.
Noncompliance with environmental laws and regulations could subject us to fines and liabilities which could adversely affect our operating results.
Our hotel properties are subject to various federal, state and local environmental laws. Under these laws, courts and government agencies have the authority to require us, as an owner of a contaminated property, to clean up the property, even if we did not know of or were not responsible for the contamination. These laws also apply to persons who owned a property at the time it became contaminated, and therefore it is possible we could incur cleanup costs even after we sell some of the properties we acquire. In addition to cleanup costs, environmental contamination can affect the value of a property and, therefore, an owner's ability to borrow funds using the property as collateral or to sell the property. Under environmental laws, courts and government agencies also have the authority to require that a person who sent waste to a waste disposal facility, such as a landfill or an incinerator, pay for the clean-up of that facility if it becomes contaminated and threatens human health or the environment. A person that arranges for the disposal or transports for disposal or treatment of a hazardous substance at a property owned by another may be liable for the costs of removal or remediation of hazardous substances released into the environment at that property.
Furthermore, various court decisions have established that third parties may recover damages for injury caused by property contamination. For instance, a person exposed to asbestos while staying in a hotel may seek to recover damages if they suffer injury from the asbestos. Also, some of these environmental laws restrict the use of a property or place conditions on various activities. An example would be laws requiring a business to use chemicals (such as swimming pool chemicals at a hotel property) to manage them carefully and notify local officials that the chemicals are being used.
We could be responsible for any of the costs discussed above. The costs to clean up a contaminated property, to defend against a claim, or to comply with environmental laws could be material and could adversely affect our financial condition, results of operations, the market price of our common shares and our ability to make distributions to our shareholders.
As a result, we may become subject to material environmental liabilities. We can make no assurances that future laws or regulations will not impose material environmental liabilities or that the current environmental condition of our hotel properties will not be affected by the condition of the properties in the vicinity of our hotel properties (such as the presence of leaking underground storage tanks) or by third parties unrelated to us.
Our hotel properties may contain or develop harmful mold, which could lead to liability for adverse health effects and costs of remediating the problem.
When excessive moisture accumulates in buildings or on building materials, mold growth may occur, particularly if the moisture problem remains undiscovered or is not addressed over a period of time. Some molds may produce airborne toxins or irritants. Concern about indoor mold exposure has been increasing as exposure to mold may cause various adverse health effects and symptoms, including allergic or other reactions. Some of our properties may contain microbial matter such as mold and mildew. The presence of significant mold at any of our hotel properties could require us to undertake a costly remediation program to contain or remove the mold from the affected property. The presence of significant mold could expose us to liability from hotel guests, hotel employees and others if property damage or health concerns arise.
Compliance with the Americans with Disabilities Act could require us to incur substantial costs.
Under the ADA, all public accommodations must meet various federal requirements related to access and use by disabled persons. While we believe that our hotels substantially comply with these requirements, a determination to the contrary could require removal of access barriers and non-compliance could result in litigation costs, costs to remediate deficiencies, U.S. government fines or damages to private litigants.
If we are required to make substantial modifications to our hotel properties, whether to comply with the ADA or other changes in governmental rules and regulations, our financial condition, results of operations, the market price of our common shares and our ability to make distributions to our shareholders could be adversely affected.
The nature of the operations of our hotels exposes us to the risk of claims and litigation that may arise in the normal course of business.
As owners of hotel properties, we face potential claims, litigation and threatened litigation from guests, visitors to our properties, contractors, sub-contractors and others. These claims and proceedings are inherently uncertain and their costs and outcomes cannot be predicted with certainty. Regardless of their outcomes, such claims and legal proceedings can adversely impact us because of the legal and other costs, diversion of management time and resources and other factors. Although our hotel management companies and we maintain insurance covering some of these matters, it is possible that one or more claims, suits or proceedings may not be covered by insurance and could result in substantial costs, judgments, fines and penalties that could adversely affect our business, consolidated financial position, results of operations or cash flows.
A delay in approving a budget and/or continuing appropriation legislation to fund the operations of the federal government, failure to raise the borrowing limit for the federal government, and other legislative changes and governmental disruptions could affect travel directly and indirectly and may thereby negatively impact our revenues and cash available for distributions.
The delay in approving a budget and continuing appropriation legislation to fund the federal government's operations caused many federal agencies to cease or curtail some activities during the fourth quarter of 2013 and for an even longer period of time beginning in the fourth quarter of 2018. There can be no assurance that similar action or inaction by federal or state government agencies, or other efforts to reduce government expenditures or growth, will not occur again in future periods, resulting in difficulties and discouraging travel or meetings and conferences. The reduction in income from both businesses and federal government employees and the possibility of another federal government impasse may adversely affect consumer confidence or may discourage both business and leisure travel, resulting in the deferral or cancellation of travel and a negative effect on our group and transient revenues in the future. Such impacts could have a material adverse impact on our consolidated financial statements.
General Risks Related to the Real Estate Industry
Illiquidity of real estate investments could significantly impede our ability to sell hotels or otherwise respond to adverse changes in the performance of our hotel properties.
Because real estate investments are relatively illiquid, our ability to promptly sell one or more hotel properties for reasonable prices in response to changing economic, financial and investment conditions will be limited. The real estate market is affected by many factors beyond our control, including:
•adverse changes in international, national, regional and local economic and market conditions;
•changes in interest rates and in the availability, cost and terms of debt financing;
•changes in governmental laws and regulations, fiscal policies and zoning ordinances and the related costs of compliance with laws and regulations, fiscal policies and ordinances;
•the ongoing need for capital improvements, particularly in older structures;
•changes in operating expenses; and
•civil unrest, acts of God, including earthquakes, floods, wildfires and other natural disasters, which may result in uninsured losses, and acts of war or terrorism.
We have acquired hotels, and may acquire additional hotels in the future, subject to ground leases or other leasehold interests. Sales of property subject to such leases may require the lessors' consent. This consent requirement may make selling or financing the hotels more difficult or expensive subject to ground leases or other leasehold interests.
We may decide to sell hotel properties in the future. We cannot predict whether we will be able to sell any hotel property for the price or on the terms set by us, or whether any price or other terms offered by a prospective purchaser would be acceptable to us. We also cannot predict the length of time needed to find a willing purchaser and close a hotel property sale.
We may be required to expend funds to correct defects or to make improvements before a hotel property can be sold. We cannot assure you that we will have funds available to correct those defects or to make those improvements. In acquiring a hotel property, we may agree to lock-out provisions that materially restrict us from selling that property for a period of time or impose other restrictions, such as a limitation on the amount of debt that can be placed or repaid on that property. These factors and any others that would impede our ability to respond to adverse changes in the performance of the hotel properties or a need for liquidity could adversely affect our financial condition, results of operations, the market price of our common shares and our ability to make distributions to our shareholders.
If states and localities in which we own material amounts of property or conduct material amounts of business raise their income and property tax rates or amend their tax regimes in a manner that increases our state and local tax liabilities, we would have less cash available for distribution to our shareholders and the market price of our shares could be adversely affected.
We and our subsidiaries are subject to income tax and other taxes by states and localities in which we conduct business. Additionally, we are and will continue to be subject to property taxes in states and localities in which we own property, and our TRS lessees are and will continue to be subject to federal, state and local corporate income tax. States and localities may seek additional sources of revenue to reduce budget deficits and otherwise improve their financial condition or provide more services, they may, among other steps, raise income and property tax rates and/or amend their tax regimes to eliminate for state income tax purposes the favorable tax treatment REITs enjoy for U.S. federal income tax purposes. We cannot predict when or if any states or localities would make any such changes, or what form those changes would take. If states and localities in which we own material amounts of property or conduct material amounts of business make changes to their tax rates or tax regimes that increase our state and local tax liabilities, such increases would reduce the amount of cash available for distribution to our shareholders and could adversely affect the market price of our shares.
The costs of compliance with or liabilities under environmental laws could significantly reduce our profitability.
Operating expenses at our hotels could be higher than anticipated due to the cost of complying with existing or future environmental laws and regulations. In addition, an owner of real property can face liability for environmental contamination created by the presence or discharge of hazardous substances on the property. We may face liability regardless of:
•our lack of knowledge of the contamination;
•the timing of the contamination;
•the cause of the contamination; or
•the party responsible for the contamination of the property.
Environmental laws also impose ongoing compliance requirements on owners and operators of real property. Environmental laws potentially affecting us address a wide variety of matters, including, but not limited to, asbestos-containing building materials ("ACBMs"), storage tanks, storm water and wastewater discharges, lead-based paint, mold/mildew and hazardous wastes. Failure to comply with these laws could result in fines and penalties and/or expose us to third-party liability. Some of our properties may have conditions that are subject to these requirements, and we could be liable for such fines or penalties and/or liable to third parties.
Certain hotel properties we own or may own in the future may contain, or may have contained, ACBMs. Environmental laws require that ACBMs be properly managed and maintained and may impose fines and penalties on building owners and operators for failure to comply with these requirements. Also, certain properties may be adjacent or near other properties that have contained or currently contain storage tanks for the storage of petroleum products or other hazardous or toxic substances. These operations create a potential for the release of petroleum products or other hazardous or toxic substances. Third parties may be permitted by law to seek recovery from owners or operators for property damage and/or personal injury associated with exposure to contaminants, including, but not limited to, petroleum products, hazardous or toxic substances and asbestos fibers.
We have obtained Phase I ESAs on our hotel properties and expect to do so for hotel properties we acquire in the future. ESAs are intended to evaluate information regarding the environmental condition of the surveyed property and surrounding properties based generally on visual observations, interviews and certain publicly available databases. These assessments do not typically take into account all environmental issues including, but not limited to, testing of soil or groundwater or the possible presence of asbestos, lead-based paint, radon, wetlands or mold. As a result, these assessments may fail to reveal all environmental conditions, liabilities or compliance concerns. Material environmental conditions, liabilities or compliance concerns may arise after the ESAs and future laws, ordinances or regulations may impose material additional environmental liability. We cannot assure you that costs of future environmental compliance will not affect our ability to make distributions to our shareholders or that such costs or other remedial measures will not be material to us.
The presence of hazardous substances on a property may limit our ability to sell the property on favorable terms or at all, and we may incur substantial remediation costs. The discovery of material environmental liabilities at our properties could subject us to unanticipated significant costs, which could significantly reduce our profitability and the cash available for distribution to our shareholders.
Risks Related to Our Organization and Structure
Provisions of our declaration of trust may limit the ability of a third party to acquire control of us by authorizing our board of trustees to authorize issuances of additional securities.
Our declaration of trust authorizes our board of trustees to issue up to 500,000,000 common shares and up to 100,000,000 preferred shares. In addition, our board of trustees may, without shareholder approval, amend our declaration of trust to increase the aggregate number of our shares or the number of shares of any class or series that we have the authority to issue and to classify or reclassify any unissued common shares or preferred shares and to set the preferences, rights and other terms of the classified or reclassified shares. As a result, our board of trustees may authorize the issuance of additional shares or establish a series of common or preferred shares that may have the effect of delaying or preventing a change in control of our company, including transactions at a premium over the market price of our shares, even if shareholders believe that a change of control is in their interest.
Provisions of Maryland law may limit the ability of a third party to acquire control of us by requiring our board of trustees or shareholders to approve proposals to acquire our company or effect a change of control.
Certain provisions of the Maryland General Corporation Law (the "MGCL") applicable to Maryland real estate investment trusts may have the effect of inhibiting a third party from making a proposal to acquire us or of impeding a change of control under circumstances that otherwise could provide our common shareholders with the opportunity to realize a premium over the then-prevailing market price of such shares, including:
•“business combination” provisions that, subject to limitations, prohibit certain business combinations between us and an “interested shareholder” (defined generally as any person who beneficially owns 10 percent or more of the voting power of our shares) or an affiliate of any interested shareholder for five years after the most recent date on which the shareholder becomes an interested shareholder, and thereafter imposes special appraisal rights and special shareholder voting requirements on these combinations; and
•“control share” provisions that provide that our “control shares” (defined as shares which, when aggregated with other shares controlled by the shareholder, entitle the shareholder to exercise one of three increasing ranges of voting power in electing trustees) acquired in a “control share acquisition” (defined as the direct or indirect acquisition of ownership or control of “control shares”) have no voting rights except to the extent approved by our shareholders by the affirmative vote of at least two-thirds of all the votes entitled to be cast on the matter, excluding all interested shares.
By resolution of our board of trustees, we have opted out of the business combination provisions of the MGCL and provided that any business combination between us and any other person is exempt from the business combination provisions of the MGCL, provided that the business combination is first approved by our board of trustees (including a majority of trustees who are not affiliates or associates of such persons). Pursuant to a provision in our bylaws, we have opted out of the control share provisions of the MGCL. However, our board of trustees may by resolution elect to opt in to the business combination provisions of the MGCL and we may, by amendment to our bylaws, opt in to the control share provisions of the MGCL in the future.
Additionally, Title 8, Subtitle 3 of the MGCL permits our board of trustees, without shareholder approval and regardless of what is currently provided in our declaration of trust or bylaws, to implement certain takeover defenses, such as a classified board. These provisions may have the effect of inhibiting a third party from making an acquisition proposal for us or of delaying, deferring or preventing a change in control of us under the circumstances that otherwise could provide our common shareholders with the opportunity to realize a premium over the then current market price. In October 2015, we opted out of the classified board provision of Title 8, Subtitle 3 of the MGCL and prohibited ourselves from opting back into that provision without prior approval of our shareholders.
The ownership limitations in our declaration of trust may restrict or prevent shareholders from engaging in certain transfers of our common shares.
To maintain our qualification as a REIT for U.S. federal income tax purposes, no more than 50 percent in value of our outstanding shares may be owned, directly or indirectly, by five or fewer individuals (as defined in the U.S. federal income tax laws to include various kinds of entities) during the last half of any taxable year. To assist us in maintaining our qualification as a REIT, our declaration of trust contains a share ownership limit. Generally, any of our shares owned by affiliated owners will be added together for purposes of the share ownership limit.
If anyone transfers our shares in a way that would violate the share ownership limit or prevent us from qualifying as a REIT under the U.S. federal income tax laws, those shares instead will be transferred to a trust for the benefit of a charitable beneficiary and will be either redeemed by us or sold to a person whose ownership of the shares will not violate the share ownership limit or we will consider the transfer to be null and void from the outset, and the intended transferee of those shares will be deemed never to have owned the shares. Anyone who acquires our shares in violation of the share ownership limit or the other restrictions on transfer in our declaration of trust bears the risk of suffering a financial loss when the shares are redeemed or sold if the market price of our shares falls between the date of purchase and the date of redemption or sale.
In addition, these ownership limitations may prevent an acquisition of control of us by a third party without our board of trustees' approval, even if our shareholders believe the change of control is in their interest.
Our rights and the rights of our shareholders to take action against our trustees and officers are limited, which could limit shareholders' recourse in the event of actions not in their best interests.
Under Maryland law, generally, a trustee's actions will be upheld if he or she performs his or her duties in good faith, in a manner he or she reasonably believes to be in our best interests and with the care that an ordinarily prudent person in a like position would use under similar circumstances. In addition, our declaration of trust limits the liability of our trustees and officers to us and our shareholders for money damages, except for liability resulting from:
•actual receipt of an improper benefit or profit in money, property or services; or
•active and deliberate dishonesty by the trustee or officer that was established by a final judgment as being material to the cause of action adjudicated.
Our declaration of trust authorizes us to indemnify our trustees and officers for actions taken by them in those capacities to the maximum extent permitted by Maryland law. Our bylaws require us to indemnify each trustee or officer, to the maximum extent permitted by Maryland law, in defense of any proceeding to which they are made, or threatened to be made, a party by reason of their service to us. In addition, we have entered into indemnification agreements with our officers and trustees and we may be obligated to fund the defense costs incurred by our trustees and officers. As a result, we and our shareholders may have more limited rights against our trustees and officers than might otherwise exist absent the current provisions in our declaration of trust and bylaws or that might exist with other companies.
Our declaration of trust contains provisions that make removal of our trustees difficult, making it difficult for our shareholders to effect changes to our management.
Our declaration of trust provides that a trustee may be removed only for cause (as defined in our declaration of trust) and then only by the affirmative vote of at least two-thirds of the votes entitled to be cast generally in the election of trustees. Our declaration of trust also provides that vacancies on our board of trustees may be filled only by a majority of the remaining trustees in office, even if less than a quorum. These requirements prevent shareholders from removing trustees except for cause and with a substantial affirmative vote and from replacing trustees with their own nominees and may prevent a change in control of our company that is in the best interests of our shareholders.
The ability of our board of trustees to change our major policies without the consent of shareholders may not be in our shareholders' interest.
Our board of trustees determines our major policies, including policies and guidelines relating to our acquisitions, leverage, financing, growth, operations and distributions to shareholders. Our board of trustees may amend or revise these and other policies and guidelines from time to time without the vote or consent of our shareholders. Accordingly, our shareholders will have limited control over changes in our policies and those changes could adversely affect our financial condition, results of operations, the market price of our common shares and our ability to make distributions to our shareholders.
Further issuances of equity securities may be dilutive to current shareholders.
We expect to issue additional common shares or preferred shares to raise the capital necessary to finance hotel acquisitions or improvements, refinance debt or pay portions of future dividends. In addition, we may issue units in our Operating Partnership, which are redeemable on a one-for-one basis for our common shares, to acquire hotels. Such issuances could result in dilution of our shareholders' equity interests.
Future offerings of debt securities or preferred shares, which would be senior to our common shares upon liquidation and for the purpose of distributions, may cause the market price of our common shares to decline.
We have issued eight series of preferred shares, of which we have repurchased four and four remain outstanding, and three series of senior unsecured notes. In the future, we may increase our capital resources by making debt or equity securities offerings, including senior or subordinated notes, additional series of preferred shares and common shares. We will be able to issue additional common shares or preferred shares without shareholder approval, unless shareholder approval is required by applicable law or the rules of any stock exchange or automated quotation system on which our securities may be listed or traded. Upon liquidation, holders of our debt securities and preferred shares and lenders with respect to other borrowings will receive a distribution of our available assets prior to the holders of our common shares. Additional equity offerings could significantly dilute the holdings of our existing shareholders or reduce the market price of our common shares, or both. Holders of our common shares are not entitled to preemptive rights or other protections against dilution. Preferred shares and debt, if issued, have a preference on liquidating distributions or a preference on dividend or interest payments that could limit our ability to make a distribution to the holders of our common shares. Because our decision to issue securities will depend on market conditions and other factors beyond our control, we cannot predict or estimate the amount, timing or nature of our future offerings. Thus, our shareholders bear the risk of our future securities issuances reducing the market price of our common shares and diluting their interest.
Holders of our outstanding preferred shares have dividend, liquidation and other rights that are senior to the rights of the holders of our common shares.
Our board of trustees has the authority to designate and issue preferred shares with liquidation, dividend and other rights that are senior to those of our common shares. As of December 31, 2023, 4,400,000 shares of our 6.375% Series E Cumulative Redeemable Preferred Shares (the “Series E Preferred Shares”), 6,000,000 shares of our 6.30% Series F Cumulative Redeemable Preferred Shares (the “Series F Preferred Shares”), 9,200,000 shares of our 6.375% Series G Cumulative Redeemable Preferred Shares (the “Series G Preferred Shares”) and 8,000,000 shares of our 5.70% Series H Cumulative Redeemable Preferred Shares (the “Series H Preferred Shares”) were issued and outstanding. The aggregate liquidation preference with respect to the outstanding preferred shares is approximately $690.0 million as of December 31, 2023, and aggregate annual dividends on our outstanding preferred shares of approximately $47.2 million. Holders of any of these preferred shares are entitled to cumulative dividends before any dividends may be declared or set aside on our common shares. Upon our voluntary or involuntary liquidation, dissolution or winding up, before any payment is made to holders of our common shares, holders of these preferred shares are entitled to receive a liquidation preference of $25.00 per share plus any accrued and unpaid distributions. This will reduce the remaining amount of our assets, if any, available to distribute to holders of our common shares. In addition, holders of these preferred shares have the right to elect two additional trustees to our board of trustees whenever dividends on the preferred shares are in arrears for six or more quarterly dividends, whether or not consecutive.
The change of control conversion and redemption features of the Series E Preferred Shares, the Series F Preferred Shares, the Series G Preferred Shares and the Series H Preferred Shares may make it more difficult for a party to take over our company or discourage a party from taking over our company.
Upon the occurrence of a change of control (as defined in our declaration of trust) as the result of which our common shares and the common securities of the acquiring or surviving entity (or American Depositary Receipts representing such securities) are not listed on the New York Stock Exchange (the “NYSE”), the NYSE American LLC or Nasdaq or listed or quoted on an exchange or quotation system that is a successor to the NYSE, the NYSE American LLC or Nasdaq, holders of Series E Preferred Shares, Series F Preferred Shares, Series G Preferred Shares or Series H Preferred Shares will have the right (unless, as provided in our declaration of trust, we have provided or provide notice of our election to redeem the applicable series) to convert some or all of their preferred shares into our common shares (or equivalent value of alternative consideration), and under these circumstances we will also have a special optional redemption right to redeem such shares. Upon such a conversion, holders of Series E Preferred Shares will be limited to a maximum number of our common shares equal to 1.9372 multiplied by the number of Series E Preferred Shares converted, holders of Series F Preferred Shares will be limited to a maximum number of our common shares equal to 2.0649 multiplied by the number of Series F Preferred Shares converted, holders of Series G Preferred Shares will be limited to a maximum number of our common shares equal to 2.1231 multiplied by the number of Series G Preferred Shares converted and holders of Series H Preferred Shares will be limited to a maximum number of our common shares equal to 2.2311 multiplied by the number of Series H Preferred Shares converted. In addition, those features of the Series E Preferred Shares, Series F Preferred Shares, Series G Preferred Shares and Series H Preferred Shares may have the effect of inhibiting a third party from making an acquisition proposal for our company or of delaying, deferring or preventing a change of control of our company under circumstances that otherwise could provide the holders of our common shares, Series E Preferred Shares, Series F Preferred Shares, Series G Preferred Shares or Series H Preferred Shares with the opportunity to realize a premium over the then-current market price or that shareholders may otherwise believe is in their best interests.
We have entered into an agreement with each of our executive officers that requires us to make payments in the event the officer's employment is terminated by us without cause, by the officer for good reason or under certain circumstances following a change of control of our company.
The agreements that we have entered into with our executive officers provide benefits under certain circumstances that could make it more difficult or expensive for us to terminate these officers and may prevent or deter a change of control of our company that would otherwise be in the interest of our shareholders.
If we fail to maintain an effective system of internal controls, we may not be able to accurately determine our financial results or prevent fraud. As a result, our shareholders could lose confidence in our financial results, which could harm our business and the value of our common shares.
Effective internal controls are necessary for us to provide reliable financial reports and effectively prevent fraud. We may in the future discover areas of our internal controls that need improvement. Section 404 of the Sarbanes-Oxley Act of 2002 requires us to evaluate and report on our internal controls over financial reporting and have our independent auditors annually issue their own opinion on our internal controls over financial reporting. We cannot be certain that we will be successful in maintaining adequate internal controls over our financial reporting and financial processes. Furthermore, as we grow our business, our internal controls will become more complex, and we will require significantly more resources to ensure our internal controls remain effective. If we or our independent auditors discover a material weakness, the disclosure of that fact, even if quickly remedied, could reduce the market value of our common shares. Additionally, the existence of any material weakness or significant deficiency would require management to devote significant time and incur significant expense to remediate any such material weaknesses or significant deficiencies and management may not be able to remediate any such material weaknesses or significant deficiencies in a timely manner.
U.S. Federal Income Tax Risk Factors
Our failure to maintain our qualification as a REIT would result in higher taxes and reduced cash available for distribution to our shareholders.
We have elected to be taxed as a REIT for U.S. federal income tax purposes. However, qualification as a REIT involves the application of highly technical and complex provisions of the Code, for which only a limited number of judicial and administrative interpretations exist. Even an inadvertent or technical mistake could jeopardize our REIT qualification. Our qualification as a REIT depends on our satisfaction of certain asset, income, organizational, distribution, shareholder ownership and other requirements on a continuing basis.
Moreover, new tax legislation, administrative guidance or court decisions, in each instance potentially applicable with retroactive effect, could make it more difficult or impossible for us to maintain our qualification as a REIT. If we were to fail to qualify as a REIT in any taxable year, we would be subject to U.S. federal income tax on our taxable income at regular corporate rates, and distributions to shareholders would not be deductible by us in computing our taxable income. Any such corporate tax liability could be substantial and would reduce the amount of cash available for distribution to our shareholders, which in turn could have an adverse impact on the value of our shares. If, for any reason, we ceased to qualify as a REIT and we were not entitled to relief under certain Code provisions, we would be unable to elect REIT status for the four taxable years following the year during which we ceased to so qualify which would negatively impact the value of our shares.
In addition, if we fail to maintain our qualification as a REIT, we will no longer be required to make distributions to shareholders, and all distributions to shareholders will be subject to tax as dividend income to the extent of our current and accumulated earnings and profits. As a result of all these factors, our failure to maintain our qualification as a REIT could impair our ability to execute our business and growth strategies, as well as make it more difficult for us to raise capital and service our indebtedness.
We could face adverse tax consequences if LaSalle failed to qualify as a REIT prior to the merger.
In connection with the closing of the merger, we received an opinion of counsel to the effect that LaSalle qualified as a REIT for U.S. federal income tax purposes through the time of the merger. However, we did not request a ruling from the IRS that LaSalle qualified as a REIT. Notwithstanding the opinion of counsel, if the IRS successfully challenged LaSalle’s REIT status prior to the merger, we could face adverse tax consequences, including:
•succeeding to LaSalle’s liability for U.S. federal income taxes at regular corporate rates for the periods in which LaSalle failed to qualify as a REIT (without regard to the deduction for dividends paid for such periods);
•succeeding to any built-in gain on LaSalle’s assets, for which we could be liable for U.S. federal income tax at regular corporate rates, if we were to recognize such gain in the five-year period following the merger; and
•succeeding to LaSalle’s earnings and profits accumulated during the periods in which LaSalle failed to qualify as a REIT, which we would be required to distribute to our shareholders in order to satisfy the REIT distribution requirements and avoid the imposition of any excise tax.
As a result, we would have less cash available for operations and distributions to our shareholders, which could require us to raise capital on unfavorable terms or pay deficiency dividends.
Complying with REIT requirements may cause us to forego otherwise attractive business opportunities or liquidate otherwise attractive investments.
To maintain our qualification as a REIT for U.S. federal income tax purposes, we must continually satisfy tests concerning, among other things, the sources of our income, the nature and diversification of our assets, the amounts we distribute to our shareholders and the ownership of our shares. In order to meet these tests, we may be required to forego investments we might otherwise make. Thus, compliance with the REIT requirements may hinder our performance.
In particular, we must ensure that at the end of each calendar quarter, at least 75 percent of the value of our assets consists of cash, cash items, government securities and qualified real estate assets. The remainder of our investment in securities (other than government securities and qualified real estate assets) generally cannot include more than 10 percent of the outstanding voting securities of any one issuer or more than 10 percent of the total value of the outstanding securities of any one issuer. In addition, in general, no more than 5 percent of the value of our assets (other than government securities and qualified real estate assets) can consist of the securities of any one issuer, no more than 20 percent of the value of our total assets can be represented by the securities of one or more TRSs and no more than 25 percent of our assets can be represented by debt of "publicly offered REITs" (i.e., REITs that are required to file annual and periodic reports with the SEC under the Exchange Act) that is not secured by real property or interests in real property. The Code provides that temporary investments of new capital in stock or debt instruments for the one-year period beginning on the date on which we receive the new capital will be considered qualified real estate assets for purposes of the above requirements. If we fail to comply with these requirements at the end of any calendar quarter, we must correct the failure within 30 days after the end of the calendar quarter or qualify for certain statutory relief provisions to avoid losing our REIT qualification and suffering adverse tax consequences. As a result, we may be required to liquidate otherwise attractive investments. These actions could have the effect of reducing our income and amounts available for distribution to our shareholders.
To maintain our qualification as a REIT and avoid corporate income tax and excise tax, we must distribute annually a certain percentage of our REIT taxable income, which could require us to raise capital on terms or sell properties at prices or at times that are unfavorable.
To maintain our qualification as a REIT, we must distribute to our shareholders each calendar year at least 90 percent of our REIT taxable income (including certain items of non-cash income), determined without regard to the deduction for dividends paid and excluding any net capital gain. To the extent that we satisfy the 90 percent distribution requirement, but distribute less than 100 percent of our REIT taxable income, we will be subject to U.S. federal corporate income tax on our undistributed income. In addition, we will incur a 4 percent nondeductible excise tax on the amount, if any, by which our distributions in any calendar year are less than the sum of:
•85 percent of our REIT ordinary income for that year;
•95 percent of our REIT capital gain net income for that year; and
•any undistributed REIT taxable income from prior years.
We have distributed, and we intend to continue to distribute, our REIT taxable income to our shareholders in a manner intended to satisfy the 90 percent distribution requirement and to avoid both corporate income tax and the 4 percent nondeductible excise tax. However, there is no requirement that TRSs distribute their after tax net income to their parent REIT or their shareholders.
Our REIT taxable income may substantially exceed our net income as determined based on U.S. generally accepted accounting principles ("U.S. GAAP"), because, for example, realized capital losses will be deducted in determining our U.S. GAAP net income, but may not be deductible in computing our REIT taxable income. Differences in timing between the recognition of income and the related cash receipts or the effect of required debt amortization payments could require us to borrow or raise capital on terms or sell properties at prices or at times that we regard as unfavorable in order to distribute enough of our REIT taxable income to satisfy the distribution requirement and to avoid corporate income tax and the 4 percent nondeductible excise tax in a particular year.
We may pay taxable dividends partly in shares and partly in cash, in which case shareholders may sell our shares to pay tax on such dividends, placing downward pressure on the market price of our shares.
We may pay taxable dividends partly in shares and partly in cash. Under IRS Revenue Procedure 2017-45, as a publicly offered REIT, as long as at least 20 percent of the total dividend is available in cash and certain other requirements are satisfied, the IRS will treat the share distribution as a dividend (to the extent applicable rules treat such distribution as being made out of our earnings and profits). This threshold has been temporarily reduced in the past and may be reduced in the future by IRS guidance. Although we have no current intention of paying dividends in the form of our own shares, if in the future we choose to pay dividends in our own shares, our shareholders may be required to pay tax in excess of the cash that they receive. If a U.S. shareholder sells the shares that it receives as a dividend in order to pay this tax, the sales proceeds may be less than the amount included in income with respect to the dividend, depending on the market price of our shares at the time of the sale. Furthermore, with respect to certain non-U.S. shareholders, we may be required to withhold U.S. federal income tax with respect to such dividends, including in respect of all or a portion of such dividend that is payable in shares. If we pay dividends in our own shares and a significant number of our shareholders sell our shares in order to pay taxes owed on dividends, it may put downward pressure on the trading price of our shares.
Our TRS lessees increase our overall tax liability.
Our TRS lessees are subject to U.S. federal and state income tax on their taxable income, which consists of the revenues from the hotel properties leased by our TRS lessees, net of the operating expenses (including management fees) for such hotel properties and rent payments to us. In certain circumstances, the ability of our TRS lessees to deduct interest expense may be limited. Accordingly, although our ownership of our TRS lessees allows us to participate in the operating income from our hotel properties in addition to receiving rent, that operating income is fully subject to income tax. The after-tax net income of our TRS lessees is available for distribution to us.
Our ownership of our TRSs is limited and our transactions with our TRSs will cause us to be subject to a 100 percent penalty tax on certain income or deductions if those transactions are not conducted on arm's-length terms.
A REIT may own up to 100 percent of the stock of one or more TRSs. A TRS may hold assets and earn income that would not be qualifying assets or income if held or earned directly by a REIT, including gross operating income from hotel operations pursuant to hotel management contracts. Both the subsidiary and the REIT must jointly elect to treat the subsidiary as a TRS. A corporation of which a TRS directly or indirectly owns more than 35 percent of the voting power or value of the stock will automatically be treated as a TRS. Overall, no more than 20 percent of the value of a REIT's assets may consist of stock or securities of one or more TRSs. In addition, the TRS rules limit the deductibility of interest paid or accrued by a TRS to its parent REIT to assure that the TRS is subject to an appropriate level of corporate taxation. The rules also impose a 100 percent excise tax on certain transactions between a TRS and its parent REIT that are not conducted on an arm's-length basis.
Our TRSs are subject to applicable U.S. federal, state and local income tax on their taxable income, and their after-tax net income will be available for distribution to us, but is not required to be distributed to us. We believe that the aggregate value of the stock and securities of our TRSs is and will continue to be less than 20 percent of the value of our total assets (including our TRS stock and securities). Furthermore, we will monitor the value of our respective investments in our TRSs for the purpose of ensuring compliance with TRS ownership limitations. In addition, we will scrutinize all of our transactions with our TRSs to ensure that they are entered into on arm's-length terms to avoid incurring the 100 percent excise tax described above. There can be no assurance, however, that we will be able to comply with the TRS ownership limitation discussed above or to avoid application of the 100 percent excise tax discussed above.
If the leases of our hotel properties to our TRS lessees are not respected as true leases for U.S. federal income tax purposes, we would fail to qualify as a REIT and would be subject to higher taxes and have less cash available for distribution to our shareholders.
To maintain our qualification as a REIT, we must satisfy two gross income tests, under which specified percentages of our gross income must be derived from certain sources, such as “rents from real property.” Rents paid to our Operating Partnership by our TRS lessees pursuant to the lease of our hotel properties constitute substantially all of our gross income. In order for such rent to qualify as “rents from real property” for purposes of the gross income tests, the leases must be respected as true leases for U.S. federal income tax purposes and not be treated as service contracts, joint ventures or some other type of arrangement. If our leases are not respected as true leases for U.S. federal income tax purposes, we would fail to qualify as a REIT.
If our Operating Partnership failed to qualify as a partnership for U.S. federal income tax purposes, we would cease to qualify as a REIT and would be subject to higher taxes and have less cash available for distribution to our shareholders and suffer other adverse consequences.
We believe that our Operating Partnership qualifies to be treated as a partnership for U.S. federal income tax purposes. As a partnership, our Operating Partnership generally is not subject to U.S. federal income tax on its income. Instead, each of its partners, including us, is required to pay tax on its allocable share of our Operating Partnership's income. No assurance can be provided, however, that the IRS will not challenge its status as a partnership for U.S. federal income tax purposes, or that a court would not sustain such a challenge. If the IRS were successful in treating our Operating Partnership as a corporation for tax purposes, we would fail to meet the gross income tests and certain of the asset tests applicable to REITs and, accordingly, cease to qualify as a REIT. Also, the failure of our Operating Partnership to qualify as a partnership would cause it to become subject to federal and state corporate income tax, which would reduce significantly the amount of cash available for debt service and for distribution to its partners, including us.
If our TRSs fail to qualify as TRSs for U.S. federal income tax purposes or our hotel managers do not qualify as “eligible independent contractors,” we would fail to qualify as a REIT.
Rent paid by a lessee that is a “related party tenant” of ours will not be qualifying income for purposes of the two gross income tests applicable to REITs. We lease all of our hotels to our TRS lessees. So long as any TRS lessee qualifies as a TRS, it will not be treated as a “related party tenant” with respect to our properties that are managed by an independent hotel management company that qualifies as an “eligible independent contractor.” We believe that our TRSs qualify to be treated as TRSs for U.S. federal income tax purposes, but there can be no assurance that the IRS will not challenge the status of a TRS for U.S. federal income tax purposes or that a court would not sustain such a challenge. If the IRS were successful in disqualifying any of our TRS lessee from treatment as a TRS, it is possible that we would fail to meet the asset tests applicable to REITs and substantially all of our income would fail to qualify for the gross income tests. If we failed to meet either the asset or gross income tests, we would likely lose our REIT qualification for U.S. federal income tax purposes.
Additionally, if our hotel managers do not qualify as “eligible independent contractors,” we will fail to qualify as a REIT. Each of the hotel management companies that enter into a management contract with our TRS lessees must qualify as an “eligible independent contractor” under the REIT rules in order for the rent paid to us by our TRS lessees to be qualifying income for purposes of the REIT gross income tests. Among other requirements, in order to qualify as an eligible independent contractor a manager must not own, directly or through its shareholders, more than 35 percent of our outstanding shares, taking into account certain ownership attribution rules. The ownership attribution rules that apply for purposes of these 35 percent thresholds are complex. Although we intend to monitor ownership of our shares by our hotel managers and their owners, there can be no assurance that these ownership levels will not be exceeded.
Dividends payable by REITs do not qualify for the reduced tax rates available for some dividends.
The maximum U.S. federal income tax rate applicable to qualified dividend income payable to certain non-corporate U.S. shareholders is 20 percent. Dividends payable by REITs, however, generally are not eligible for the reduced qualified dividend rates. For taxable years beginning before January 1, 2026, non-corporate taxpayers may deduct up to 20 percent of certain pass-through business income, including “qualified REIT dividends” (generally, dividends received by a REIT shareholder that are not designated as capital gain dividends or qualified dividend income), subject to certain limitations, resulting in an effective maximum U.S. federal income tax rate of 29.6 percent on such income. Although the reduced U.S. federal income tax rate applicable to qualified dividend income does not adversely affect the taxation of REITs or dividends payable by REITs, the more favorable rates applicable to regular corporate qualified dividends and the reduced corporate tax rate could cause certain non-corporate investors to perceive investments in REITs to be relatively less attractive than investments in the stocks of non-REIT corporations that pay dividends, which could adversely affect the value of the shares of REITs, including our shares.
Complying with REIT requirements may limit our ability to hedge our liabilities effectively and may cause us to incur tax liabilities.
The REIT provisions of the Code substantially limit our ability to hedge our liabilities. Any income from a properly identified hedging transaction we enter into to manage risk of interest rate changes, price changes or currency fluctuations with respect to borrowings made or to be made to acquire or carry real estate assets does not constitute “gross income” for purposes of the 75 percent or 95 percent gross income tests. To the extent that we enter into other types of hedging transactions, the income from those transactions is likely to be treated as non-qualifying income for purposes of both of the gross income tests. As a result of these rules, we may need to limit our use of advantageous hedging techniques or implement those hedges through a TRS. This could increase the cost of our hedging activities because our TRS would be subject to tax on gains or expose us to greater risks associated with changes in interest rates than we would otherwise want to bear. In addition, losses in our TRSs will generally not provide any tax benefit, except for being carried forward against future taxable income in the TRSs.
If our subsidiary REITs failed to qualify as REITs, we could be subject to higher taxes and could fail to remain qualified as REITs.
Our Operating Partnership owns 100 percent of the common shares of our subsidiary REITs that have elected to be taxed as REITs under the U.S. federal income tax laws. Our subsidiary REITs are subject to the various REIT qualification requirements and other limitations described herein that are applicable to us. If either of our subsidiary REITs were to fail to qualify as a REIT, then (i) such subsidiary REIT would become subject to U.S. federal income tax and (ii) our ownership of shares in such subsidiary REIT would cease to be a qualifying asset for purposes of the asset tests applicable to REITs. If our subsidiary REITs were to fail to qualify as a REIT, it is possible that we would fail certain of the asset tests applicable to REITs, in which event we would fail to qualify as a REIT unless we could avail ourselves of certain relief provisions. We have made “protective” TRS elections with respect to each of our subsidiary REITs and may implement other protective arrangements intended to avoid such an outcome if our subsidiary REITs were not to qualify as a REIT, but there can be no assurance that such “protective” elections and other arrangements will be effective to avoid the resulting adverse consequences to us. Moreover, even if the “protective” TRS elections were to be effective in the event of the failure of our subsidiary REITs to maintain their qualifications as REITs, such subsidiary REITs would be subject to U.S. federal income tax and we cannot assure you that we would not fail to satisfy the requirement that not more than 20 percent of the value of our total assets may be represented by the securities of one or more TRSs. In this event, we would fail to qualify as a REIT unless we or such subsidiary REITs could avail ourselves or themselves of certain relief provisions.
The ability of our board of trustees to revoke our REIT qualification without shareholder approval may subject us to U.S. federal and state income tax and reduce distributions to our shareholders.
Our declaration of trust provides that our board of trustees may revoke or otherwise terminate our REIT election, without the approval of our shareholders, if it determines that it is no longer in our best interest to continue to qualify as a REIT. If we cease to be a REIT, we would become subject to U.S. federal income tax on our taxable income and would no longer be required to distribute most of our taxable income to our shareholders, which may have adverse consequences on our total return to our shareholders and on the market price of our common shares.
The share ownership restrictions of the Code for REITs and the 9.8 percent share ownership limit in our declaration of trust may inhibit market activity in our shares and restrict our business combination opportunities.
In order to qualify as a REIT for each taxable year, five or fewer individuals, as defined in the Code, may not own, actually or constructively, more than 50 percent in value of our issued and outstanding shares at any time during the last half of a taxable year. Attribution rules in the Code determine if any individual or entity actually or constructively owns our shares under this requirement. Additionally, at least 100 persons must beneficially own our shares during at least 335 days of each taxable year. To help insure that we meet these tests, our declaration of trust restricts the acquisition and ownership of our shares.
Our declaration of trust, with certain exceptions, authorizes our board of trustees to take such actions as are necessary and desirable to preserve our qualification as a REIT. Unless exempted by our board of trustees, our declaration of trust prohibits any person from beneficially or constructively owning more than 9.8 percent (measured by value or number of shares, whichever is more restrictive) of any class or series of our shares. Our board of trustees may not grant an exemption from these restrictions to any proposed transferee whose ownership in excess of 9.8 percent of the value of our outstanding shares would result in the termination of REIT status. These restrictions on transferability and ownership will not apply, however, if our board of trustees determines that it is no longer in our best interest to continue to qualify as a REIT.
These ownership limits could delay or prevent a transaction or a change in control that might involve a premium price for our shares or otherwise be in the best interest of the shareholders.
The prohibited transactions tax may limit our ability to engage in transactions, including dispositions of assets that would be treated as sales for U.S. federal income tax purposes.
A REIT’s net income from prohibited transactions is subject to a 100 percent tax. In general, prohibited transactions are sales or other dispositions of property, other than foreclosure property, held primarily for sale to customers in the ordinary course of business. Although a safe harbor to the characterization of the sale of real property by a REIT as a prohibited transaction is available, we cannot assure you that we can comply with the safe harbor or that we will avoid owning property that may be characterized as held primarily for sale to customers in the ordinary course of business. Consequently, we may choose not to engage in certain sales of real property or may conduct such sales through a TRS.
We may be subject to adverse legislative or regulatory tax changes that could increase our tax liability, reduce the tax benefits of our REIT structure compared to non-REIT corporations, reduce our operating flexibility and reduce the market price of our shares.
At any time, the U.S. federal income tax laws governing REITs or the administrative and judicial interpretations of those laws may be amended. We cannot predict when or if any new U.S. federal income tax law, regulation or administrative and judicial interpretation, or any amendment to any existing U.S. federal income tax law, regulation or administrative or judicial interpretation, will be adopted, promulgated or become effective and any such law, regulation or interpretation may take effect retroactively. We cannot predict the long-term effect of any future law changes on REITs and their shareholders generally. We and our shareholders could be adversely affected by any such change in, or any new, U.S. federal income tax law, regulation or administrative and judicial interpretation.

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ITEM 1B. UNRESOLVED STAFF COMMENTS
Item 1B. Unresolved Staff Comments.
None.

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ITEM 2. PROPERTIES
Item 2. Properties.
We lease office space to use as our headquarters located at 4747 Bethesda Avenue, Suite 1100, Bethesda, Maryland 20814.
As of December 31, 2023, we owned interests in 46 hotels with a total of 11,924 guest rooms, all of which are consolidated in our financial statements. The following table sets forth certain information about our hotels.
Property Date Acquired Location Number of
Guest Rooms
1. L'Auberge Del Mar November 30, 2018 Del Mar, CA 121
2. Hotel Palomar Los Angeles Beverly Hills (1)
November 20, 2014 Los Angeles, CA 264
3. W Los Angeles - West Beverly Hills August 23, 2012 Los Angeles, CA 297
4. Chamberlain West Hollywood Hotel November 30, 2018 West Hollywood, CA 115
5. Hotel Ziggy November 30, 2018 West Hollywood, CA 108
6. Le Parc at Melrose November 30, 2018 West Hollywood, CA 154
7. Mondrian Los Angeles May 3, 2011 West Hollywood, CA 236
8. Montrose at Beverly Hills November 30, 2018 West Hollywood, CA 133
9. Le Méridien Delfina Santa Monica November 19, 2010 Santa Monica, CA 315
10. Viceroy Santa Monica Hotel (1)
November 30, 2018 Santa Monica, CA 169
11. Embassy Suites San Diego Bay - Downtown January 29, 2013 San Diego, CA 341
12. Hilton San Diego Gaslamp Quarter November 30, 2018 San Diego, CA 286
13. Paradise Point Resort & Spa (1)
November 30, 2018 San Diego, CA 462
14. San Diego Mission Bay Resort (1)
November 30, 2018 San Diego, CA 357
15. Margaritaville Hotel San Diego Gaslamp Quarter November 30, 2018 San Diego, CA 235
16. The Westin San Diego Gaslamp Quarter April 6, 2011 San Diego, CA 450
17. Estancia La Jolla Hotel & Spa (1) (4)
December 1, 2021 La Jolla, CA 210
18. Argonaut Hotel (1)
February 16, 2011 San Francisco, CA 252
19. Harbor Court Hotel San Francisco (1)
November 30, 2018 San Francisco, CA 131
20. 1 Hotel San Francisco (1)
November 30, 2018 San Francisco, CA 200
21. Hotel Zelos San Francisco (1)
October 25, 2012 San Francisco, CA 202
22. Hotel Zephyr Fisherman's Wharf (1)
December 9, 2013 San Francisco, CA 361
23. Hotel Zeppelin San Francisco (1)
May 22, 2014 San Francisco, CA 196
24. Hotel Zetta San Francisco April 4, 2012 San Francisco, CA 116
25. Chaminade Resort & Spa November 30, 2018 Santa Cruz, CA 156
26. George Hotel November 30, 2018 Washington, DC 139
27. Hotel Monaco Washington DC (1)
September 9, 2010 Washington, DC 184
28. Hotel Zena Washington DC November 30, 2018 Washington, DC 191
29. Viceroy Washington DC November 30, 2018 Washington, DC 178
30. Southernmost Beach Resort (2)
November 30, 2018 Key West, FL 296
31. The Marker Key West Harbor Resort November 30, 2018 Key West, FL 96
32. Margaritaville Hollywood Beach Resort (1) (4)
September 23, 2021 Hollywood, FL 369
33. Inn on Fifth May 11, 2022 Naples, FL 119
34. LaPlaya Beach Resort & Club May 21, 2015 Naples, FL 189
35. Jekyll Island Club Resort (1)
July 22, 2021 Jekyll Island, GA 200
36. Hotel Chicago Downtown, Autograph Collection November 30, 2018 Chicago, IL 354
37. The Westin Michigan Avenue Chicago November 30, 2018 Chicago, IL 752
38. Hyatt Regency Boston Harbor (1)
November 30, 2018 Boston, MA 270
39. Revere Hotel Boston Common December 18, 2014 Boston, MA 356
40. The Liberty, a Luxury Collection Hotel, Boston (1) (3)
November 30, 2018 Boston, MA 298
41. The Westin Copley Place, Boston (1)
November 30, 2018 Boston, MA 803
42. W Boston June 8, 2011 Boston, MA 238
43. The Hotel Zags August 28, 2013 Portland, OR 174
44. The Nines, a Luxury Collection Hotel, Portland July 17, 2014 Portland, OR 331
45. Newport Harbor Island Resort June 23, 2022 Newport, RI 257
46. Skamania Lodge November 3, 2010 Stevenson, WA 263
Total number of guest rooms 11,924
______________________
(1) This property is subject to a long-term ground, air rights or hotel lease.
(2) The restaurant facility at this property is subject to a ground lease.
(3) We own a 99.99% controlling interest in this property.
(4) This property is subject to mortgage debt.
Hotel Managers and Hotel Management Agreements
We are a party to hotel management agreements with Davidson Hospitality Group, HEI Hotels and Resorts, Highgate, Kimpton Hotels and Restaurants, Marriott International, Noble House Hotels & Resorts, Pyramid Global Hospitality, Sage Hospitality, sbe Hotel Group, SH Hotels & Resorts, Springboard Hospitality and Viceroy Hotel Group.
Our management agreements generally have the terms described below:
•Base Management Fees. Our management agreements generally provide for the payment of base management fees between 1% and 4% of the applicable hotel's revenues or a fixed amount, as determined in the agreements.
•Incentive Management and Other Fees. Some of our management agreements provide for the payment of incentive management fees. Generally, incentive management fees are 10% to 20% of net operating income above a specified return on project costs or as a percentage of net operating income above various net operating income thresholds. Some of our management agreements have a maximum incentive fee of 2% of revenue.
•Terms. The remaining terms of our management agreements are up to 10 years, not including renewals, and up to 29 years, including renewals.
•Ability to Terminate. The majority of our management agreements are terminable at will by us upon payment of a termination fee and some are terminable upon sale of the property. Most of the agreements also provide us the ability to terminate based on failure to achieve defined operating performance thresholds. Termination fees range from zero to up to three times the annual base management and incentive management fees, depending on the agreement and the reason for termination.
•Operational Services. Each manager has exclusive authority to supervise, direct and control the day-to-day hotel operation and management including establishing all room rates, processing reservations, procuring inventories, supplies and services, hiring and firing employees and independent contractors and preparing public relations, publicity and marketing plans for the hotel.
•Executive Supervision and Management Services. Each manager supervises all managerial and other hotel employees, reviews hotel operation and maintenance, prepares reports, budgets and projections, and provides other administrative and accounting support services for the hotel. Under certain management agreements, we have approval rights over the hiring of certain key management personnel at the hotel.
•Chain Services. Our management agreements with major hotel franchisors require the managers to furnish chain services that are generally made available to other hotels managed by such operators. Such services may, for example, include: the development and operation of computer systems and reservation services; management and administrative services; marketing and sales services; human resources training services; and additional services as may from time to time be more efficiently performed on a national, regional or group level.
•Working Capital. Our management agreements typically require us to maintain working capital for a hotel and to fund the cost of supplies such as linens and other similar items. We are also responsible for providing funds to meet the cash needs for the hotel operations if the funds available from the hotel operations are insufficient to meet the financial requirements of the hotel.
•Furniture, Fixtures and Equipment Replacements. We are required to invest in the hotels and to provide all the necessary furniture, fixtures and equipment for the operation of the hotels (including funding any required furniture, fixture and equipment replacements). Our management agreements generally provide that once a year the managers will prepare a list of furniture, fixtures and equipment to be acquired and certain routine capital repairs to be performed in the following year and an estimate of funds that are necessary for our review and approval. To fund the furniture, fixtures and equipment replacements, a specified percentage of the gross revenues of each hotel (typically 4.0%) is either deposited by the manager with our funds or out of the property's cash flow in an escrow account or held by us, as owner.
•Building Alterations, Improvements and Renewals. Our management agreements generally require the managers to prepare an annual estimate of the expenditures necessary for major capital repairs, alterations, improvements, renewals and replacements to the structural, mechanical, electrical, heating, ventilating, air conditioning, plumbing and vertical transportation elements of the hotels. In addition to the foregoing, the management agreements generally provide that the managers may propose such changes, alterations and improvements to the hotels as are required by reason of laws or regulations or, in the manager's reasonable judgment, to keep the hotels in a safe, competitive and efficient operating condition.
•Sale of a Hotel. Certain of our management agreements limit our ability to sell, lease or otherwise transfer a hotel, unless the transferee assumes the related management agreement and meets other specified conditions.
Franchise and Sub-License Agreements
We have franchise and sub-license agreements for certain of our hotels. Pursuant to these agreements, we pay franchise or sub-license fees based on a percentage of gross room revenues, as well as certain other fees for marketing and reservations services. Franchise or sub-license fees for room revenues are approximately 1% to 6% of gross room revenues. Some of these agreements provide us with termination rights. The agreements for the respective hotels expire as follows:
Property Expiration Date
Embassy Suites San Diego Bay - Downtown January 2028
Margaritaville Hollywood Beach Resort July 2028
Le Méridien Delfina Santa Monica September 2033
The Nines, a Luxury Collection Hotel, Portland October 2033
Hotel Chicago Downtown, Autograph Collection February 2034
The Liberty, a Luxury Collection Hotel, Boston January 2036
Margaritaville Hotel San Diego Gaslamp Quarter August 2038
Hilton San Diego Gaslamp Quarter June 2041
Hyatt Regency Boston Harbor December 2042
Paradise Point Resort & Spa 15th anniversary after hotel is re-branded as a Margaritaville

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ITEM 3. LEGAL PROCEEDINGS
Item 3. Legal Proceedings.
The nature of the operations of our hotels exposes the hotels and us to the risk of claims and litigation in the normal course of business. We are not presently subject to any material litigation nor, to our knowledge, is any litigation threatened against us, other than routine actions for negligence or other claims and administrative proceedings arising in the ordinary course of business, some of which are expected to be covered by liability insurance and all of which collectively are not expected to have a material adverse effect on our liquidity, results of operations or our financial condition.

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ITEM 4. MINE SAFETY DISCLOSURE
Item 4. Mine Safety Disclosures.
Not applicable.
PART II

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ITEM 5. MARKET FOR REGISTRANT'S COMMON EQUITY
Item 5. Market for Registrant's Common Equity, Related Shareholder Matters and Issuer Purchases of Equity Securities.
Market Information
Our common shares began trading on the NYSE on December 9, 2009 under the symbol “PEB”.
Shareholder Information
On February 14, 2024, there were 72 holders of record of our common shares. However, because the vast majority of our common shares are held by brokers and other institutions on behalf of shareholders, we believe that there are considerably more beneficial holders of our common shares than record holders.
The following graph provides a comparison of the cumulative total return on our common shares from December 31, 2018, to the NYSE closing price per share on December 31, 2023, with the cumulative total return on the Russell 2000 Index (the “Russell 2000”) and the FTSE Nareit Equity REITs Index (the “FTSE Nareit Equity REITs”) for the same period. Total return values were calculated assuming a $100 investment on December 31, 2018 with reinvestment of all dividends in (i) our common shares, (ii) the Russell 2000 and (iii) the FTSE Nareit Equity REITs. The total return values do not include any dividends declared, but not paid, during the period.
The actual returns shown on the graph above are as follows:
Value of Initial Investment at December 31,
Name 2018 2019 2020 2021 2022 2023
Pebblebrook Hotel Trust $ 100.00 $ 99.89 $ 70.26 $ 83.74 $ 50.25 $ 60.14
Russell 2000 $ 100.00 $ 125.49 $ 150.50 $ 172.75 $ 137.40 $ 160.60
FTSE Nareit Equity REITs $ 100.00 $ 128.65 $ 122.12 $ 172.52 $ 129.53 $ 144.14
Distributions
Distributions to the extent of our current and accumulated earnings and profits for federal income tax purposes generally will be taxable to a shareholder as ordinary income. Distributions in excess of current and accumulated earnings and profits generally will be treated as a nontaxable reduction of the shareholder's basis in their shares, to the extent thereof, and thereafter as a taxable capital gain. Distributions that are treated as a reduction of the shareholder's basis in their shares will increase the amount of gain, or reduce the amount of loss, recognized upon the sale of their shares.
The declaration of distributions by our company is in the sole discretion of our board of trustees and depends on our actual cash flow, financial condition, capital expenditure requirements for our hotels, the annual distributions requirements under the REIT provisions of the Code and such other factors as our board of trustees deems relevant.
Securities Authorized for Issuance Under Equity Compensation Plan
The following table sets forth information regarding securities authorized for issuance under our equity compensation plan, our 2009 Equity Incentive Plan, as amended and restated, as of December 31, 2023. See Note 8. Share-Based Compensation Plan to our consolidated financial statements included in Part IV, Item 15 of this Annual Report on Form 10-K for additional information regarding our 2009 Equity Incentive Plan.
Plan Category Number of securities to be issued upon exercise of outstanding options, warrants and rights Weighted-average exercise price of outstanding options, warrants and rights Number of securities remaining available for future issuance under equity compensation plans
Equity compensation plans approved by security holders
- - 1,499,388
Equity compensation plans not approved by security holders - - -
Total - - 1,499,388
During the year ended December 31, 2023, certain of our employees chose to have us acquire from such employees an aggregate of 122,140 common shares to pay taxes due upon vesting of restricted common shares granted pursuant to share award agreements. The average price paid by the Company for these shares was $13.96 per share.
Issuer Purchases of Equity Securities
Common Shares
Period Total Number of Shares Purchased Average Price Paid Per Share Total Number of Shares Purchased as Part of Publicly Announced Plans or Programs Approximate Dollar Value of Shares that May Yet Be Purchased Under the Plans or Programs (1)
(in millions)
October 1, 2023 - October 31, 2023 - $ - - $ -
November 1, 2023 - November 30, 2023 - $ - - $ -
December 1, 2023 - December 31, 2023 - $ - - $ -
Total - $ - - $ 146.0
______________________
(1) On February 17, 2023, our Board of Trustees authorized a share repurchase program of up to $150.0 million of our outstanding common shares. This $150.0 million share repurchase program commenced in June 2023, upon the completion of our prior $100.0 million share repurchase program which begun in 2017. Under our current program, we may repurchase common shares from time to time in transactions on the open market or by private agreement. We may suspend or discontinue this program at any time. As of December 31, 2023, $146.0 million of common shares remained available for repurchase under this program.
Preferred Shares
Period Total Number of Shares Purchased Average Price Paid Per Share Total Number of Shares Purchased as Part of Publicly Announced Plans or Programs Approximate Dollar Value of Shares that May Yet Be Purchased Under the Plans or Programs (1)
(in millions)
October 1, 2023 - October 31, 2023 - $ - - $ -
November 1, 2023 - November 30, 2023 1,000,000 $ 15.79 1,000,000 $ -
December 1, 2023 - December 31, 2023 - $ - - $ -
Total 1,000,000 $ 15.79 1,000,000 $ 84.2
______________________
(1) On February 17, 2023, our Board of Trustees authorized a share repurchase program of up to $100.0 million of our outstanding preferred shares. Under this program we may repurchase up to an aggregate of $100.0 million of our 6.375% Series E Cumulative Redeemable Preferred Shares, 6.30% Series F Cumulative Redeemable Preferred Shares, 6.375% Series G Cumulative Redeemable Preferred Shares and 5.70% Series H Cumulative Redeemable Preferred Shares from time to time in transactions on the open market or by private agreement. We may suspend or discontinue this program at any time. As of December 31, 2023, $84.2 million of preferred shares remained available for repurchase under this program.

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ITEM 6. SELECTED FINANCIAL DATA
Item 6. [Reserved]

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ITEM 7. MANAGEMENT'S DISCUSSION AND ANALYSIS
Item 7. Management’s Discussion and Analysis of Financial Condition and Results of Operations.
The following discussion and analysis should be read in conjunction with the consolidated financial statements and related notes included elsewhere in this report. Pebblebrook Hotel Trust is a Maryland real estate investment trust that conducts its operations so as to qualify as a REIT under the Code. Substantially all of the operations are conducted through Pebblebrook Hotel, L.P. (our "Operating Partnership"), a Delaware limited partnership of which Pebblebrook Hotel Trust is the sole general partner. In this report, we use the terms "the Company", "we" or "our" to refer to Pebblebrook Hotel Trust and its subsidiaries, unless the context indicates otherwise.
Overview
Our hotel portfolio continued to recover in 2023 with strong growth in occupancy at many of our urban properties, especially our properties in Washington, D.C. and San Francisco, which had trailed the recovery in other markets and our resort properties. We have observed continued stable demand from both the business and leisure segments. We believe 2024 will continue this trend and anticipate positive benefits from a robust convention calendar in many urban markets, including San Diego, Washington, D.C., Boston and Chicago. International inbound travel is expected to continue to recover. Our LaPlaya Beach Resort & Club, which was closed in 2022 due to Hurricane Ian, has been substantially restored. Two of the resort buildings were fully operational for most of 2023 and the final resort building, the Beach House, is expected to be substantially completed by the end of this month. We have agreed to a partial business interruption insurance settlement with our insurance company during 2023 and will continue to work with our insurance company through full completion of our insurance claim.
During 2023, we sold five hotels and two retail components of our hotels in separate transactions for an aggregate sales price of $330.8 million.
During 2023, we repurchased 6,498,901 common shares for an aggregate purchase price of $91.0 million, or an average of $14.01 per share, and 1,000,000 preferred shares for an aggregate purchase price of $15.8 million, or an average of $15.79 per share, under our existing common and preferred share repurchase programs.
During 2023, we repaid $71.1 million of debt, which includes of $47.6 million of senior unsecured notes and $23.5 million of mortgage loans.
In January 2024, we extended the maturity date of $356.7 million borrowed under Term Loan 2024 to January 2028. We also repaid $60.0 million outstanding on Term Loan 2024 and $50.0 million outstanding on the Term Loan 2025 with available cash. The remaining $43.3 million of Term Loan 2024 that was not extended will continue to mature in October 2024.
While we do not operate our hotel properties, both our asset management team and our executive management team monitor and work cooperatively with our hotel managers by advising and making recommendations in all aspects of our hotels’ operations, including property positioning and repositioning, revenue and expense management, operations analysis, physical design, renovation and capital improvements, guest experience and overall strategic direction. Through these efforts, we seek to improve property efficiencies, lower costs, maximize revenues and enhance property operating margins, which we expect will enhance returns to our shareholders.
Key Indicators of Financial Condition and Operating Performance
We measure hotel results of operations and the operating performance of our business by evaluating financial and non-financial metrics such as room revenue per available room ("RevPAR"); total revenue per available room ("Total RevPAR"); average daily rate ("ADR"); occupancy rate ("Occupancy"); funds from operations ("FFO"); earnings before interest, income taxes, depreciation and amortization ("EBITDA"); and EBITDA for real estate ("EBITDAre"). We evaluate individual hotel and company-wide performance with comparisons to budgets, prior periods and competing properties. ADR, occupancy and RevPAR may be impacted by macroeconomic factors as well as regional and local economies and events. See Non-GAAP Financial Measures for further discussion of FFO, EBITDA and EBIDTAre.
Hotel Operating Statistics
The following table represents the key same-property hotel operating statistics for our hotels for the years ended December 31, 2023 and 2022:
For the year ended December 31,
2023 2022
Same-Property Occupancy 67.7 % 63.1 %
Same-Property ADR $ 302.96 $ 312.01
Same-Property RevPAR $ 205.24 $ 196.96
Same-Property Total RevPAR $ 316.02 $ 298.38
The above table of hotel operating statistics includes information from all hotels owned as of December 31, 2023, except for LaPlaya Beach Resort & Club due to its closure following Hurricane Ian, 1 Hotel San Francisco for the first and second quarters only due to its closure for redevelopment and Newport Harbor Island Resort for the fourth quarter only due to its ongoing redevelopment. The above table of hotel operating statistics also includes Hotel Monaco Seattle and Hotel Vintage Seattle for the first quarter only due to their sales in May 2023, Retail at The Westin Michigan Avenue Chicago for the first quarter only due to its sale in March 2023, Hotel Zoe Fisherman’s Wharf for the first, second and third quarters only due to its sale in November 2023, and Marina City Retail at Hotel Chicago Downtown, Autograph Collection for the first, second and third quarters only due to its sale in December 2023.
Results of Operations
This section includes comparisons of certain 2023 financial information to the same information for 2022. Year-to-year comparisons of the 2022 financial information to the same information for 2021 are contained in Part II, Item 7 of our Annual Report on Form 10-K for the year ended December 31, 2022 filed with the SEC on February 21, 2023.
At December 31, 2023 and 2022, our consolidated financial statements included the operations of 46 and 51 hotel properties, respectively, which have been included in our results of operations during the respective periods since their dates of acquisition or through their dates of disposition. Based on when a property was acquired or disposed, operating results for certain properties are not comparable for the years ended December 31, 2023 and 2022. The properties listed in the table below are hereinafter referred to as "non-comparable properties" for the periods indicated and all other properties are referred to as "comparable properties":
Property Location Disposition Date
The Marker San Francisco San Francisco, CA June 28, 2022
Sofitel Philadelphia at Rittenhouse Square Philadelphia, PA August 2, 2022
Hotel Spero San Francisco, CA August 25, 2022
Hotel Vintage Portland Portland, OR September 14, 2022
The Heathman Hotel Portland, OR February 22, 2023
Retail at The Westin Michigan Avenue Chicago Chicago, IL March 17, 2023
Hotel Colonnade Coral Gables Coral Gables, FL March 28, 2023
Hotel Monaco Seattle Seattle, WA May 9, 2023
Hotel Vintage Seattle Seattle, WA May 24, 2023
Hotel Zoe Fisherman’s Wharf San Francisco, CA November 14, 2023
Marina City Retail at Hotel Chicago Downtown, Autograph Collection Chicago, IL December 21, 2023
Property Location Acquisition Date
Inn on Fifth Naples, FL May 11, 2022
Newport Harbor Island Resort Newport, RI June 23, 2022
Comparison of the year ended December 31, 2023 to the year ended December 31, 2022
Revenues - Total revenues increased by $28.1 million, which includes a $63.3 million increase at our comparable properties primarily due to an increase in leisure and business travel as well as a significant increase in revenue at 1 Hotel San Francisco, which was under renovation through June 2022 and began ramping up operations in the third quarter of 2022. These increases were partially offset by a $35.2 million decrease due to our non-comparable properties as well as a significant decrease in revenue at LaPlaya Beach Resort & Club, which was closed in September 2022 as a result of Hurricane Ian and was partially reopened in 2023.
Hotel operating expenses - Total hotel operating expenses increased by $57.6 million as a result of an increase in staffing, wages and benefits to accommodate occupancy increases, particularly at our urban properties, as well as an increase in hotel operating expenses at 1 Hotel San Francisco, which was closed most of the first and second quarters of 2022 for renovations. Our overall increase in hotel operating expenses was partially offset by a $27.1 million decrease due to our non-comparable properties.
Depreciation and amortization - Depreciation and amortization expense increased by $1.1 million primarily due to redevelopment and renovation activities at Margaritaville Hotel San Diego Gaslamp Quarter and Estancia La Jolla Hotel & Spa which commenced in 2022.
Real estate taxes, personal property taxes, property insurance and ground rent - Real estate taxes, personal property taxes, property insurance and ground rent decreased by $1.5 million primarily due to a $9.3 million decrease in real estate taxes as a result of tax appeals and lower tax assessments. This decrease was partially offset by a $5.9 million increase in property insurance due to higher insurance premium assessments and a $1.9 million increase in ground rent on ground leases whose rent is based on a percentage of revenues.
General and administrative - General and administrative expense increased by $5.6 million primarily due to an increase in professional fees and employee compensation expense. General and administrative expenses consist of employee compensation costs, legal and professional fees, insurance and other expenses.
Impairment - We recognized an impairment loss of $81.8 million in 2023 related to three hotels and one retail component of a hotel property. We recognized an impairment loss of $89.6 million in 2022 related to three hotels as well as an impairment related to damage caused by Hurricane Ian at LaPlaya Beach Resort & Club in Naples, Florida and Southernmost Beach Resort in Key West, Florida.
Gain on sale of hotel properties - We recognized a gain on sale of $30.4 million primarily due to the sales of five hotels and two retail components of our hotels in 2023. We recognized a gain on sale of $6.2 million primarily due to the sales of four hotels in 2022.
Business interruption insurance income - We recognized business interruption insurance income of $33.0 million in 2023 related to a partial settlement with the insurance carriers for lost income at LaPlaya Beach Resort & Club.
Other operating expenses - Other operating expenses increased by $7.3 million primarily due to payroll and claims administration costs at LaPlaya Beach Resort & Club for which reimbursement from insurance policies is uncertain.
Interest expense - Interest expense increased by $15.7 million as a result of higher interest rates on floating rate debt.
Other - Other increased by $3.7 million due to an increase in interest income earned on excess cash.
Non-controlling interests - Non-controlling interests represent the allocation of income or loss of the Operating Partnership to third-party common OP unit holders and to the preferred OP unit holders.
Distributions to preferred shareholders - Distributions to preferred shareholders decreased by $1.4 million as result of the redemption of one million of our 5.70% Series H Cumulative Redeemable Preferred Shares in December 2022 and the redemption of one million of our 5.70% Series H Cumulative Redeemable Preferred Shares in November 2023.
Non-GAAP Financial Measures
Non-GAAP financial measures are measures of our historical or future financial performance that are different from measures calculated and presented in accordance with U.S. GAAP. We report FFO, EBITDA and EBITDAre, which are non-GAAP financial measures that we believe are useful to investors as key measures of our operating performance.
We calculate FFO in accordance with standards established by Nareit, formerly known as the National Association of Real Estate Investment Trusts, which defines FFO as net income (calculated in accordance with U.S. GAAP), excluding real estate related depreciation and amortization, gains (losses) from sales of real estate, impairments of real estate assets (including impairment of real estate related joint ventures), the cumulative effect of changes in accounting principles and adjustments for unconsolidated partnerships and joint ventures. Historical cost accounting for real estate assets implicitly assumes that the value of real estate assets diminishes predictably over time. Since real estate values instead have historically risen or fallen with market conditions, most industry investors consider presentations of operating results for real estate companies that use historical cost accounting to be insufficient by themselves. By excluding the effect of real estate related depreciation and amortization including our share of the joint venture depreciation and amortization, gains (losses) from sales of real estate and impairments of real estate assets (including impairment of real estate related joint ventures), all of which are based on historical cost accounting and which may be of lesser significance in evaluating current performance, we believe that FFO provides investors a useful financial measure to evaluate our operating performance.
The following table reconciles net income (loss) to FFO and FFO available to common share and unit holders for the years ended December 31, 2023, 2022 and 2021 (in thousands):
For the year ended December 31,
2023 2022 2021
Net income (loss) $ (74,276) $ (84,981) $ (186,372)
Adjustments:
Real estate depreciation and amortization 240,304 239,231 223,813
Gain on sale of hotel properties (30,375) (6,194) (64,729)
Impairment loss 81,788 89,633 14,856
FFO $ 217,441 $ 237,689 $ (12,432)
Distribution to preferred shareholders and unit holders (48,306) (48,049) (42,105)
Redemption of preferred shares 8,396 8,186 (8,055)
FFO available to common share and unit holders $ 177,531 $ 197,826 $ (62,592)
EBITDA is defined as earnings before interest, income taxes, depreciation and amortization. The white paper issued by Nareit entitled “Earnings Before Interest, Taxes, Depreciation and Amortization for Real Estate” defines EBITDAre as net income or loss (computed in accordance with U.S. GAAP), excluding interest expense, income tax, depreciation and amortization, gains or losses on the disposition of depreciated property (including gains or losses on change of control), impairment write-downs of depreciated property and of investments in unconsolidated affiliates caused by a decrease in value of depreciated property in the affiliate, and after comparable adjustments for our portion of these items related to unconsolidated affiliates. We believe that EBITDA and EBITDAre provide investors useful financial measures to evaluate our operating performance, excluding the impact of our capital structure (primarily interest expense) and our asset base (primarily depreciation and amortization).
The following table reconciles net income (loss) to EBITDA and EBITDAre for the years ended December 31, 2023, 2022 and 2021 (in thousands):
For the year ended December 31,
2023 2022 2021
Net income (loss) $ (74,276) $ (84,981) $ (186,372)
Adjustments:
Interest expense 115,660 99,988 96,633
Income tax expense (benefit) 655 277 61
Depreciation and amortization 240,645 239,583 224,251
EBITDA $ 282,684 $ 254,867 $ 134,573
(Gain) loss on sale of hotel properties (30,375) (6,194) (64,729)
Impairment loss 81,788 89,633 14,856
EBITDAre
$ 334,097 $ 338,306 $ 84,700
FFO, EBITDA and EBITDAre do not represent cash generated from operating activities as determined by U.S. GAAP and should not be considered as alternatives to U.S. GAAP net income (loss), as indications of our financial performance, or to U.S. GAAP cash flow from operating activities, as measures of liquidity. In addition, FFO, EBITDA and EBITDAre are not indicative of funds available to fund cash needs, including the ability to make cash distributions.
Critical Accounting Policies
We consider these policies critical because they require estimates about matters that are inherently uncertain, involve various assumptions and require significant management judgment, and because they are important for understanding and evaluating our reported financial results. These judgments affect the reported amounts of assets and liabilities and our disclosure of contingent assets and liabilities at the dates of the financial statements and the reported amounts of revenue and expenses during the reporting periods. Applying different estimates or assumptions may result in materially different amounts reported in our financial statements.
Investment in Hotel Properties
Estimation and judgment are required to determine the fair values of our acquired hotel properties. Upon acquiring a business or hotel property, we measure and recognize the fair value of the acquired land, land improvements, building, furniture, fixtures and equipment, identifiable intangible assets or liabilities, other assets and assumed liabilities. Identifiable intangible assets or liabilities typically arise from contractual arrangements assumed in connection with the transaction, including terms that are above or below market compared to an estimated market agreement at the acquisition date. We determine the acquisition-date fair values of all assets and assumed liabilities using a combination of the market, cost and income approaches. These valuation methodologies are based on significant Level 2 and Level 3 inputs in the fair value hierarchy, such as estimates of future income growth, capitalization rates, discount rates, capital expenditures and cash flow projections, including hotel revenues and net operating income, at the respective hotel properties. Estimates of future cash flows are based on a number of factors including historical operating results, known and anticipated trends, and market and economic conditions. Transaction costs are expensed for acquisitions that are considered business combinations and capitalized for asset acquisitions.
Impairment
We review our investments in hotel properties for impairment whenever events or changes in circumstances indicate that the carrying value of the hotel properties may not be recoverable. Events or circumstances that may cause a review include, but are not limited to, when a hotel property experiences a current or projected loss from operations, when it becomes more likely than not that a hotel property will be sold before the end of its useful life, adverse changes in the demand for lodging at the properties due to declining national or local economic conditions and/or new hotel construction in markets where the hotels are located. When such conditions exist, we perform an analysis to determine if the estimated undiscounted future cash flows from operations and the proceeds from the ultimate disposition of a hotel exceed its carrying value. If the estimated undiscounted future cash flows are less than the carrying amount of the asset, an adjustment to reduce the carrying amount to the related hotel's estimated fair market value is recorded and an impairment loss recognized. In the evaluation of impairment of our hotel properties, we make many assumptions and estimates including projected cash flows both from operations and eventual disposition, expected useful life and holding period, future required capital expenditures, and fair values, including consideration of capitalization rates, discount rates, and comparable selling prices. We will adjust our assumptions with respect to the remaining useful life of the hotel property when circumstances change, such as an expiring ground lease or it is more likely than not that the hotel property will be sold prior to its previously expected useful life.
New Accounting Pronouncements
See Note 2. Summary of Significant Accounting Policies to our consolidated financial statements included in Part IV, Item 15 of this Annual Report on Form 10-K for recently issued accounting pronouncements that may affect us.
Liquidity and Capital Resources
Our primary sources of liquidity are cash provided by our operations, borrowings under our credit facilities, net proceeds from equity and debt offerings, and net proceeds from property sales. Our primary cash requirements in the short term (i.e., those requiring cash on or before December 31, 2024) will be to fund property lease obligations, interest and current principal on debt, capital improvements, dividends on common and preferred shares, and working capital of our property operations. We believe our cash and cash equivalents, restricted cash and the amount available on our senior unsecured revolving credit facility, which totaled $830.0 million as of December 31, 2023, along with cash generated from ongoing operations will be sufficient to satisfy our short-term cash requirements. As of December 31, 2023 we had no off-balance sheet arrangements.
In order to maintain our qualification as a REIT, we must pay dividends to our shareholders of at least 90% of our taxable income. As a result of this requirement, we cannot rely on retained earnings to fund long-term liquidity requirements such as hotel property acquisitions, redevelopements and repayments of long-term debt. As such, we expect to continue to raise capital through equity and debt offerings to fund our growth.
Our material cash requirements include the following contractual and other obligations.
Debt
Our outstanding debt consisted of floating- and fixed-rate unsecured term loans, convertible senior notes, senior unsecured notes and mortgage loans with varying maturities. Our total debt had an aggregate face value of $2.3 billion as of December 31, 2023, as summarized below:
December 31, 2023
(in thousands)
Revolving credit facilities $ -
Term loans 1,380,000
Convertible senior notes 750,000
Senior unsecured notes 2,400
Mortgage loans 197,497
Total debt at face value $ 2,329,897
For further discussion on the components of our debt, see Note 5. Debt to our consolidated financial statements included in Part IV, Item 15 of this Annual Report on Form 10-K.
On January 3, 2024, the Company entered into the First Amendment to the Fifth Amended and Restated Credit Agreement ("Credit Agreement") which extended the maturity date of $356.7 million borrowed under Term Loan 2024 to January 2028. In connection with the extension, the Company also repaid $60.0 million of its outstanding Term Loan 2024 obligation with available cash. The remaining $43.3 million of Term Loan 2024's balance will continue to mature in October 2024 and will be paid with available cash or borrowings under the revolving credit facility at maturity. On January 3, 2024, the Company also repaid $50.0 million of its outstanding Term Loan 2025 obligation with available cash.
We have the option to extend certain of our current debt maturities with the payment of extension fees. Assuming we exercise all extension options available in our debt agreements and after adjusting for the aforementioned January 2024 term loan extension and repayments, we expect that future principal and interest payments associated with our remaining debt obligations outstanding as of December 31, 2023 will be $2.6 billion through their maturity, with $45.2 million of principal and $102.4 million of interest payable on or before December 31, 2024. We intend to pay amounts due with available cash, borrowings under our revolving credit facility, proceeds from property sales and/or refinance with long-term debt.
We are in compliance with all of our debt covenants.
Our mortgage loans contain customary provisions regarding events of default, as well as customary cash management, cash trap and lockbox provisions. Cash trap provisions may be triggered if the hotel's performance is below a certain threshold. Once triggered, all of the cash flow generated by the hotel is deposited directly into lockbox accounts and then swept into cash management accounts for the benefit of our lender. As of December 31, 2023, none of the mortgage loans were in a cash trap.
Hotel, ground and finance lease obligations
Our properties that are subject to hotel, ground or finance leases, as noted in Note 11. Commitment and Contingencies to our consolidated financial statements included in Part IV, Item 15 of this Annual Report on Form 10-K, may require minimum fixed rent payments, percentage rent payments based on a percentage of revenues in excess of certain thresholds or rent payments equal to the greater of a minimum fixed rent or percentage rent. Minimum fixed rent may be adjusted annually by increases in consumer price index ("CPI") and may be subject to minimum and maximum increases.
Future fixed minimum payments associated with our hotel, ground and finance leases total $1.8 billion as of December 31, 2023, with $21.5 million payable on or before December 31, 2024.
Purchase commitments
As of December 31, 2023, we had $15.4 million of outstanding purchase commitments, all of which will be paid on or before December 31, 2024. These purchase commitments represent outstanding purchase orders and contracts that have been executed for capital and renovation projects at our properties. See Capital Investments for discussion on planned capital investments.
Preferred dividends and Series Z preferred operating partnership units
We expect to pay aggregate annual dividends and distributions of approximately $47.2 million on our outstanding Series E, Series F, Series G and Series H Cumulative Redeemable Preferred Shares and Series Z Cumulative Perpetual Preferred Units on or before December 31, 2024 and in future years until the shares/units are redeemed. For further discussion on our preferred shares and preferred units, see Note 7. Equity to our consolidated financial statements included in Part IV, Item 15 of this Annual Report on Form 10-K.
Sources and Uses of Cash
Our principal sources of cash are cash from operations, draws on our credit facilities, net proceeds from equity and debt offerings, and net proceeds from property sales. Our principal uses of cash are asset acquisitions, debt service payments, the redemption of equity securities, capital investments, operating costs, corporate expenses and dividends.
Operating Activities. Our net cash provided by operating activities was $236.2 million for the year ended December 31, 2023 and $278.7 million for the year ended December 31, 2022. Fluctuations in our net cash provided by operating activities are primarily the result of changes in hotel revenues, operating cash requirements and corporate expenses. The decrease in cash provided by operations in 2023 as compared to 2022 is primarily due to the disposition of five hotel properties and two retail components of our hotel properties in 2023.
Investing Activities. Our net cash provided by (used in) investing activities was $142.0 million for the year ended December 31, 2023 and $(109.4) million for the year ended December 31, 2022. Fluctuations in our net cash provided by (used in) investing activities are primarily the result of acquisition and disposition activities, as well as capital improvements and additions to our properties.
•During the year ended December 31, 2023, we invested $200.6 million in improvements to our hotel properties, received $314.9 million from the sale of five hotel properties and two retail components of our hotel properties and received $30.2 million in property insurance proceeds.
•During the year ended December 31, 2022, we invested $116.7 million in improvements to our hotel properties, received $248.9 million from the sale of four hotel properties and purchased two hotel properties using cash of $247.2 million.
Financing Activities. Our net cash used in financing activities was $236.8 million for the year ended December 31, 2023 and $209.3 million for the year ended December 31, 2022. Fluctuations in our net cash used in financing activities are primarily the result of our issuance and repurchase of debt and equity securities and distributions paid on our preferred and common shares.
•During the year ended December 31, 2023, we borrowed and repaid $10.0 million of revolving credit facility borrowings, borrowed $140.0 million and repaid $211.1 million in other debt, repurchased $92.8 million and $15.8 million of common shares and preferred shares, respectively, through our common and preferred share repurchase programs, and paid $53.6 million in preferred and common distributions.
•During the year ended December 31, 2022, we borrowed and repaid $190.2 million of revolving credit facility borrowings, borrowed and repaid $1.4 billion in other debt, repurchased $70.7 million of common shares through our common share repurchase program, paid $52.7 million in preferred and common distributions, used $16.0 million to redeem one million Series H Preferred Shares and paid $12.4 million in financing fees.
Capital Investments
We maintain and intend to continue maintaining all of our hotels in good repair and condition, in conformity with applicable laws and regulations, in accordance with franchisor standards when applicable and in accordance with agreed-upon requirements in our management agreements. Routine capital investments will be administered by the hotel management companies. However, we maintain approval rights over the capital investments as part of the annual budget process and as otherwise required from time to time.
Certain of our hotel properties may undergo renovations as a result of our decision to upgrade portions of the hotels, such as guest rooms, meeting space and restaurants, in order to better compete with other hotels in our markets. In addition, after we acquire a hotel property, we are often required by the franchisor or brand manager, if any, to complete a property improvement plan (“PIP”) in order to bring the hotel property up to the franchisor’s or brand’s standards. Generally, we expect to fund renovations and improvements with available cash, restricted cash, borrowings under our credit facility or proceeds from new debt or equity offerings.
For the year ended December 31, 2023, we invested $200.6 million in capital investments to reposition and improve our properties, including the renovations of Newport Harbor Island Resort, Margaritaville Hotel San Diego Gaslamp Quarter, Estancia La Jolla Hotel & Spa, Jekyll Island Club Resort, Hilton San Diego Gaslamp Quarter and Skamania Lodge, as well as capital expenditures related to the repair and remediation of LaPlaya Beach Resort & Club and Southernmost Beach Resort, which were damaged by Hurricane Ian.
Depending on market conditions, and in some instances subject to approval from governmental authorities, we expect to invest an additional $85.0 million to $90.0 million in capital investments in 2024, which includes normal hotel capital refurbishments, return of investment projects and major capital projects. We have the following significant capital projects that are expected to be completed in 2024:
•$49.0 million comprehensive redevelopment of Newport Harbor Island Resort, which commenced in 2023 and is expected to be completed in the second quarter of 2024;
•$26.0 million comprehensive redevelopment of Estancia La Jolla Hotel & Spa, which commenced in 2022 and is expected to be completed in the second quarter of 2024; and
•$20.0 million first phase of a multi-phase master plan at Skamania Lodge, which commenced in 2022 and is expected to be completed in the second quarter of 2024.
Common Share Repurchase Programs, Preferred Share Repurchase Program and ATM Program
Common Share Repurchase Programs
On July 27, 2017, our Board of Trustees authorized a share repurchase program of up to $100.0 million of our outstanding common shares. Under this program, we could repurchase common shares from time to time in transactions on the open market or by private agreement. During the year ended December 31, 2023, we repurchased $87.0 million of common shares under this program, and as of December 31, 2023, no common shares remained available for repurchase under this program.
On February 17, 2023, our Board of Trustees authorized a share repurchase program of up to $150.0 million of our outstanding common shares. Under this program, we may repurchase common shares from time to time in transactions on the open market or by private agreement. We may suspend or discontinue this program at any time. Common shares repurchased by the Company cease to be outstanding and become authorized but unissued common shares. During the year ended December 31, 2023, we repurchased $4.0 million of common shares under this program, and as of December 31, 2023, $146.0 million of common shares remained available for repurchase under this program.
During the year ended December 31, 2023, we repurchased 6,498,901 common shares under the 2017 and 2023 repurchase programs, for an aggregate purchase price of $91.0 million, or an average of approximately $14.01 per share.
The timing, manner, price and amount of any repurchases under the 2023 program will be determined by us in our discretion and will depend on a variety of factors, including legal requirements, price, liquidity and economic considerations, and market conditions. The program does not require us to repurchase any specific number of common shares. The program does not have an expiration date and may be suspended, modified or discontinued at any time.
Preferred Share Repurchase Program
On February 17, 2023, our Board of Trustees approved a repurchase program of up to $100.0 million of our outstanding preferred shares (the “Preferred Share Repurchase Program”). Under the terms of the program, we may repurchase up to an aggregate of $100.0 million of our 6.375% Series E Cumulative Redeemable Preferred Shares, 6.30% Series F Cumulative Redeemable Preferred Shares, 6.375% Series G Cumulative Redeemable Preferred Shares and 5.70% Series H Cumulative Redeemable Preferred Shares from time to time in transactions on the open market or by private agreement. As of December 31, 2023, $84.2 million of preferred shares remained available for repurchase under this program.
During the year ended December 31, 2023, we repurchased 1,000,000 of Series H Preferred Shares under this repurchase program, for an aggregate purchase price of $15.8 million, or an average of approximately $15.79 per share.
The timing, manner, price and amount of any repurchases will be determined by us in our discretion and will depend on a variety of factors, including legal requirements, price, liquidity and economic considerations, and market conditions. The program does not require us to repurchase any specific number of Preferred Shares. The program does not have an expiration date and may be suspended, modified or discontinued at any time.
ATM Program
On April 29, 2021, we filed a prospectus supplement with the SEC to sell up to $200.0 million of common shares under an "at the market" offering program (the "ATM program"). On February 21, 2023, the ATM program expired. No common shares were issued or sold under the ATM program.
Inflation
We rely on the performance of the hotels to increase revenues to keep pace with inflation. Generally, our hotel operators possess the ability to adjust room rates daily, except for group or corporate rates contractually committed to in advance, although competitive pressures may limit the ability of our operators to raise rates faster than inflation or even at the same rate.
Seasonality
For discussion on the seasonality of our hotels' operations, see Part I, Item 1 of this Annual Report on Form 10-K.
Derivative Instruments
In the normal course of business, we are exposed to the effects of interest rate changes. We may enter into derivative instruments including interest rate swaps, caps and collars to manage or hedge interest rate risk. Derivative instruments are subject to fair value reporting at each reporting date and the increase or decrease in fair value is recorded in net income (loss) or accumulated other comprehensive income (loss), based on the applicable hedge accounting guidance. Derivatives expose the Company to credit risk in the event of non-performance by the counter parties under the terms of the interest rate hedge agreements. We believe we minimize the credit risk by transacting with major credit-worthy financial institutions.
As of December 31, 2023, we have interest rate swap agreements with an aggregate notional amount of $1.2 billion to hedge variable interest rates on our unsecured term loans and a mortgage loan. We have designated these pay-fixed, receive-floating interest rate swap derivatives as cash flow hedges. For a further discussion of our derivative instruments see Note 5. Debt, to our consolidated financial statements included in Part IV, Item 15 of this Annual Report on Form 10-K.

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ITEM 7A. QUANTITATIVE AND QUALITATIVE DISCLOSURES ABOUT MARKET RISK
Item 7A. Quantitative and Qualitative Disclosures About Market Risk.
Interest Rate Sensitivity
We are exposed to market risk from changes in interest rates. We seek to limit the impact of interest rate changes on earnings and cash flows and to lower our overall borrowing costs by closely monitoring our variable rate debt and converting such debt to fixed rates when we deem such conversion advantageous. From time to time, we may enter into interest rate swap agreements or other interest rate hedging contracts. While these agreements are intended to lessen the impact of rising interest rates, they also expose us to the risks that the other parties to the agreements will not perform, we could incur significant costs associated with the settlement of the agreements, the agreements will be unenforceable and the underlying transactions will fail to qualify as highly effective cash flow hedges under guidance included in ASC 815 "Derivatives and Hedging."
The table below provides information about financial instruments that are sensitive to changes in interest rates, including senior notes, term loans, mortgage loans and credit facilities. For debt obligations, the table presents scheduled maturities, including annual amortization of principal, and related weighted-average interest rates for the debt maturing in each specified period (dollars in thousands).
2024 2025 2026 2027 2028 Thereafter Total
Liabilities
Fixed rate debt (1)
$ 1,910 $ 4,592 $ 752,308 $ 2,429 $ 48,658 $ - $ 809,897
Average interest rate 5.07 % 5.00 % 1.76 % 5.07 % 5.07 % - % 1.99 %
Variable rate debt (1)
$ 460,000 $ 460,000 $ - $ 460,000 $ 140,000 $ - $ 1,520,000
Average interest rate 7.66 % 7.66 % - % 7.61 % 9.06 % - % 7.77 %
Total $ 461,910 $ 464,592 $ 752,308 $ 462,429 $ 188,658 $ - $ 2,329,897
______________________
(1) Scheduled maturities assume we exercise all extension options available in our debt agreements. For a discussion of our debt, see Note 5. Debt, to our consolidated financial statements included in Part IV, Item 15 of this Annual Report on Form 10-K.
This table reflects indebtedness outstanding as of December 31, 2023 and does not reflect indebtedness, if any, incurred after that date. Our ultimate exposure to interest rate fluctuations depends on the amount of indebtedness that bears interest at variable rates, the time at which the interest rate is adjusted, the amount of adjustment, the ability to prepay or refinance variable rate indebtedness and hedging strategies used to reduce the impact of any increases in rates. As of December 31, 2023, the estimated fair value of our fixed rate debt was $686.3 million.
As of December 31, 2023, $365.0 million of the Company's aggregate indebtedness (15.7% of total indebtedness) was subject to variable interest rates, excluding amounts outstanding under the term loan facilities that have been effectively swapped into fixed rates. If interest rates on our unhedged variable rate debt increase or decrease by 0.1 percent, our annual interest expense will increase or decrease by approximately $0.4 million, respectively.

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ITEM 8. FINANCIAL STATEMENTS AND SUPPLEMENTARY DATA
Item 8. Financial Statements and Supplementary Data.
See Financial Statements and index beginning on page.

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ITEM 9. CHANGES IN AND DISAGREEMENTS WITH ACCOUNTANTS
Item 9. Changes in and Disagreements With Accountants on Accounting and Financial Disclosure.
None.

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ITEM 9A. CONTROLS AND PROCEDURES
Item 9A. Controls and Procedures.
Disclosure Controls and Procedures
Under the supervision and with the participation of our management, including our Chief Executive Officer and Chief Financial Officer, we have evaluated the effectiveness of the design and operation of our disclosure controls and procedures pursuant to Rule 13a-15(b) under the Exchange Act as of the end of the period covered by this report. Based on that evaluation, our Chief Executive Officer and Chief Financial Officer have concluded that, as of the end of the period covered by this report, these disclosure controls and procedures were effective to provide reasonable assurance that information required to be disclosed by us in reports we file or submit under the Exchange Act is recorded, processed, summarized and reported within the time periods specified in the SEC's rules and forms, and that such information is accumulated and communicated to our management to allow timely decisions regarding required disclosure.
Management's Annual Report on Internal Control Over Financial Reporting
Our management is responsible for establishing and maintaining adequate internal control over financial reporting, as such term is defined in Rules 13a-15(f) and 15d-15(f) under the Exchange Act. Under the supervision and with the participation of our management, including our principal executive officer, we conducted an evaluation of the effectiveness of our internal control over financial reporting based on the original framework in Internal Control - Integrated Framework issued in 2013 by the Committee of Sponsoring Organizations of the Treadway Commission. Based on our evaluation under the framework in Internal Control - Integrated Framework, our management concluded that our internal control over financial reporting was effective as of December 31, 2023.
KPMG LLP, an independent registered public accounting firm, has audited our consolidated financial statements included in this Annual Report on Form 10-K and, as part of its audit, has issued its report, included herein on page, on the effectiveness of our internal control over financial reporting.
There was no change to our internal control over financial reporting during the fourth quarter ended December 31, 2023 that has materially affected, or is reasonably likely to materially affect, our internal control over financial reporting.

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ITEM 9B. OTHER INFORMATION
Item 9B. Other Information.
During the three months ended December 31, 2023, none of our officers or trustees adopted or terminated any contract, instruction or written plan for the purchase or sale of our securities that was intended to satisfy the affirmative defense conditions of Rule 10b5-1(c) or any “non-Rule 10b5-1 trading arrangement."

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ITEM 10. DIRECTORS, EXECUTIVE OFFICERS AND CORPORATE GOVERNANCE
Item 10. Trustees, Executive Officers and Corporate Governance.
The information required by this item is incorporated by reference to the Company's Proxy Statement for the 2024 Annual Meeting of Shareholders.

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ITEM 11. EXECUTIVE COMPENSATION
Item 11. Executive Compensation.
The information required by this item is incorporated by reference to the Company's Proxy Statement for the 2024 Annual Meeting of Shareholders.

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ITEM 12. SECURITY OWNERSHIP OF CERTAIN BENEFICIAL OWNERS
Item 12. Security Ownership of Certain Beneficial Owners and Management and Related Shareholder Matters.
The information required by this item is incorporated by reference to the Company's Proxy Statement for the 2024 Annual Meeting of Shareholders.

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ITEM 13. CERTAIN RELATIONSHIPS AND RELATED TRANSACTIONS
Item 13. Certain Relationships and Related Transactions, and Trustee Independence.
The information required by this item is incorporated by reference to the Company's Proxy Statement for the 2024 Annual Meeting of Shareholders.

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ITEM 14. PRINCIPAL ACCOUNTING FEES AND SERVICES
Item 14. Principal Accountant Fees and Services.
Our independent registered public accounting firm is KPMG LLP, McLean, VA, Auditor Firm ID: 185.
The information required by this item is incorporated by reference to the Company's Proxy Statement for the 2024 Annual Meeting of Shareholders.
PART IV

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ITEM 15. EXHIBITS, FINANCIAL STATEMENT SCHEDULES
Item 15. Exhibits and Financial Statement Schedules.
(a) The following documents are filed as part of this report:
1. Financial Statements
Included herein on pages through.
2. Financial Statement Schedules
The following financial statement schedule is included herein on pages through.
Schedule III--Real Estate and Accumulated Depreciation
All other schedules for which provision is made in Regulation S-X are either not required to be included herein under the related instructions or are inapplicable or the related information is included in the footnotes to the applicable financial statement and, therefore, have been omitted from this Item 15.
3. Exhibits
The following exhibits are filed or furnished, as the case may be, as part of this Annual Report on Form 10-K:
Exhibit Number Description of Exhibit
3.1
Declaration of Trust of Pebblebrook Hotel Trust, as amended and supplemented through July 23, 2021 (incorporated by reference to Exhibit 3.1 to Pebblebrook Hotel Trust’s Quarterly Report on Form 10-Q filed with the SEC on July 29, 2021 (File No. 001-34571)).
3.2
Bylaws of Pebblebrook Hotel Trust, as amended and restated on February 17, 2023 (incorporated by reference to Exhibit 3.1 to Pebblebrook Hotel Trust's Current Report on Form 8-K filed with the SEC on February 24, 2023 (File No. 001-34571)).
3.3
Second Amended and Restated Agreement of Limited Partnership of Pebblebrook Hotel, L.P., dated as of December 13, 2013 (incorporated by reference to Exhibit 3.1 to Pebblebrook Hotel Trust's Current Report on Form 8-K filed with the SEC on December 17, 2013 (File No. 001-34571)).
3.4
First Amendment to the Second Amended and Restated Agreement of Limited Partnership of Pebblebrook Hotel, L.P., dated as of September 30, 2014 (incorporated by reference to Exhibit 3.4 to Pebblebrook Hotel Trust’s Annual Report on Form 10-K filed with the SEC on February 17, 2015 (File No. 001-34571)).
3.5
Second Amendment to the Second Amended and Restated Agreement of Limited Partnership of Pebblebrook Hotel, L.P., dated as of June 8, 2016 (incorporated by reference to Exhibit 3.5 to Pebblebrook Hotel Trust’s Current Report on Form 8-K filed with the SEC on June 8, 2016 (File No. 001-34571)).
3.6
Third Amendment to the Second Amended and Restated Agreement of Limited Partnership of Pebblebrook Hotel, L.P., dated as of November 30, 2018 (incorporated by reference to Exhibit 3.3 to Pebblebrook Hotel Trust’s Current Report on Form 8-K filed with the SEC on December 3, 2018 (File No. 001-34571)).
3.7
Fourth Amendment to the Second Amended and Restated Agreement of Limited Partnership of Pebblebrook Hotel, L.P., dated as of May 12, 2021 (incorporated by reference to Exhibit 3.2 to Pebblebrook Hotel Trust’s Current Report on Form 8-K filed with the SEC on May 12, 2021 (File No. 001-34571)).
3.8
Fifth Amendment to the Second Amended and Restated Agreement of Limited Partnership of Pebblebrook Hotel, L.P. dated July 23, 2021 (incorporated by reference to Exhibit 3.2 to Pebblebrook Hotel Trust's Current Report on Form 8-K filed with the SEC on July 27, 2021 (File No. 001-34571)).
3.9
Sixth Amendment to the Second Amended and Restated Agreement of Limited Partnership of Pebblebrook Hotel., L.P., dated as of May 11, 2022 (incorporated by reference to Exhibit 3.1 to Pebblebrook Hotel Trust's Current Report on Form 8-K filed with the SEC on May 12, 2022 (File No. 001-34571)).
4.1†
Description of the Registrant's Securities.
4.2
Indenture, dated December 15, 2020, between the Company and The Bank of New York Mellon Trust Company, N.A. (incorporated by reference to Exhibit 4.1 to Pebblebrook Hotel Trust's Current Report on Form 8-K filed with the SEC on December 16, 2020 (File No. 001-34571)).
4.3
First Supplemental Indenture, dated December 15, 2020, between the Company and The Bank of New York Mellon Trust Company, N.A. (incorporated by reference to Exhibit 4.2 to Pebblebrook Hotel Trust's Current Report on Form 8-K filed with the SEC on December 16, 2020 (File No. 001-34571)).
10.1*
Pebblebrook Hotel Trust 2009 Equity Incentive Plan, as amended and restated effective July 10, 2012 (incorporated by reference to Exhibit 10.1 to Pebblebrook Hotel Trust's Quarterly Report on Form 10-Q filed with the SEC on August 2, 2012 (File No. 001-34571)).
10.2*
Amendment No. 1 to the Pebblebrook Hotel Trust 2009 Equity Incentive Plan, as amended and restated effective July 10, 2012, effective July 7, 2016 (incorporated by reference to Exhibit 10.1 to Pebblebrook Hotel Trust’s Quarterly Report on Form 10-Q filed with the SEC on July 25, 2016 (File No. 001-34571)).
10.3*
Amendment No. 2 to the Pebblebrook Hotel Trust 2009 Equity Incentive Plan, as amended and restated effective July 10, 2012, effective February 15, 2017 (incorporated by reference to Exhibit 10.1 to Pebblebrook Hotel Trust’s Current Report on Form 8-K filed with the SEC on February 22, 2017 (File No. 001-34571)).
10.4*
Amendment No. 3 to the Pebblebrook Hotel Trust 2009 Equity Incentive Plan, as amended and restated effective July 10, 2012, effective May 19, 2021 (incorporated by reference to Exhibit 10.1 to Pebblebrook Hotel Trust’s Current Report on Form 8-K filed with the SEC on May 21, 2021 (File No. 001-34571)).
10.5*
Amendment No. 4 to the Pebblebrook Hotel Trust 2009 Equity Incentive Plan, as amended and restated effective July 10, 2012, effective May 16, 2022 (incorporated by reference to Exhibit 10.1 to Pebblebrook Hotel Trust's Current Report on Form 8-K filed with the SEC on May 16, 2022 (File No. 001-34571)).
10.6*
Change in Control Severance Agreement between Pebblebrook Hotel Trust and Jon E. Bortz (incorporated by reference to Exhibit 10.2 to Pebblebrook Hotel Trust's Annual Report on Form 10-K filed with the SEC on March 24, 2010 (File No. 001-34571)).
10.7*
Change in Control Severance Agreement between Pebblebrook Hotel Trust and Raymond D. Martz (incorporated by reference to Exhibit 10.3 to Pebblebrook Hotel Trust's Annual Report on Form 10-K filed with the SEC on March 24, 2010 (File No. 001-34571)).
10.8*
Change in Control Severance Agreement between Pebblebrook Hotel Trust and Thomas C. Fisher (incorporated by reference to Exhibit 10.4 to Pebblebrook Hotel Trust's Annual Report on Form 10-K filed with the SEC on March 24, 2010 (File No. 001-34571)).
10.9*
Form of Indemnification Agreement between Pebblebrook Hotel Trust and its officers and trustees (incorporated by reference to Exhibit 10.4 of Amendment No. 1 to Pebblebrook Hotel Trust's Registration Statement on Form S-11/A filed with the SEC on November 10, 2009 (File No. 333-162412)).
10.10*
Form of Share Award Agreement for trustees (incorporated by reference to Exhibit 10.6 of Amendment No. 2 to Pebblebrook Hotel Trust's Registration Statement on Form S-11/A filed with the SEC on November 25, 2009 (File No. 333-162412)).
10.11*
Form of LTIP Unit Vesting Agreement (incorporated by reference to Exhibit 10.2 to Pebblebrook Hotel Trust's Quarterly Report on Form 10-Q filed with the SEC on April 26, 2012 (File No. 001-34571)).
10.12*
Form of Performance Unit Retention Award Agreement (incorporated by reference to Exhibit 10.2 to Pebblebrook Hotel Trust's Current Report on Form 8-K filed with the SEC on December 17, 2013 (File No. 001-34571)).
10.13
Fifth Amended and Restated Credit Agreement, dated as of October 13, 2022, among Pebblebrook Hotel, L.P., as the borrower, Pebblebrook Hotel Trust, as the parent REIT and a guarantor, certain subsidiaries of the borrower, as guarantors, Bank of America, N.A., as administrative agent and L/C issuer, and the other lenders party thereto (incorporated by reference to Exhibit 10.1 to Pebblebrook Hotel Trust's Current Report on Form 8-K filed with the SEC on October 14, 2022 (File No. 001-34571)).
10.14
First Amendment to Fifth Amended Restated Credit Agreement, dated as of January 3, 2024, among Pebblebrook Hotel, L.P., as the borrower, Pebblebrook Hotel Trust, as the parent REIT and a guarantor, certain subsidiaries of the borrower, as guarantors, Bank of America, N.A., as administrative agent and L/C issuer, and the other lenders party thereto (incorporated by reference to Exhibit 10.1 to Pebblebrook Hotel Trust's Current Report on Form 8-K filed with the SEC on January 4, 2024 (File No. 001-34571)).
10.15*
Form of Share Award Agreement (time-based vesting) for Executive Officers (incorporated by reference to Exhibit 10.1 to Pebblebrook Hotel Trust’s Current Report on Form 8-K filed with the SEC on February 16, 2018 (File No. 001-34571)).
10.16*
Form of Performance Unit Award Agreement for Executive Officers (incorporated by reference to Exhibit 10.2 to Pebblebrook Hotel Trust’s Current Report on Form 8-K filed with the SEC on February 16, 2018 (File No. 001-34571)).
10.17*
Form of Performance Unit Award Agreement for Executive Officers (incorporated by reference to Exhibit 10.1 to Pebblebrook Hotel Trust’s Current Report on Form 8-K filed with the SEC on February 24, 2023 (File No. 001-34571)).
10.18*
Form of LTIP Class B Unit Vesting Agreement - retention award (incorporated by reference to Exhibit 10.6 to Pebblebrook Hotel Trust's Quarterly Report on Form 10-Q filed with the SEC on April 29, 2021 (File No. 001-34571)).
21.1†
List of Subsidiaries of Pebblebrook Hotel Trust.
23.1†
Consent of KPMG LLP.
31.1†
Certification of Chief Executive Officer pursuant to Rule 13a-14(a)/15d-14(a), as adopted pursuant to Section 302 of the Sarbanes-Oxley Act of 2002.
31.2†
Certification of Chief Financial Officer pursuant to Rule 13a-14(a)/15d-14(a), as adopted pursuant to Section 302 of the Sarbanes-Oxley Act of 2002.
32.1††
Certification of Chief Executive Officer pursuant to 18 U.S.C. Section 1350, as adopted pursuant to Section 906 of the Sarbanes-Oxley Act of 2002.
32.2††
Certification of Chief Financial Officer pursuant to 18 U.S.C. Section 1350, as adopted pursuant to Section 906 of the Sarbanes-Oxley Act of 2002.
97.1†
Clawback Policy.
101.INS XBRL Instance Document - The instance document does not appear in the Interactive Data File because its XBRL tags are embedded within the Inline XBRL document.(1)
101.SCH Inline XBRL Taxonomy Extension Schema Document(1)
101.CAL Inline XBRL Taxonomy Extension Calculation Linkbase Document(1)
101.LAB Inline XBRL Taxonomy Extension Label Linkbase Document(1)
101.DEF Inline XBRL Taxonomy Extension Definition Linkbase Document(1)
101.PRE Inline XBRL Taxonomy Extension Presentation Linkbase Document(1)
104 Cover Page Interactive Data File (embedded within the Inline XBRL document)(1)
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* Management agreement or compensatory plan or arrangement
† Filed herewith.
†† Furnished herewith.
(1) Submitted electronically herewith. Attached as Exhibit 101 to this report are the following documents formatted in XBRL (eXtensible Business Reporting Language): (i) Consolidated Balance Sheets; (ii) Consolidated Statements of Operations and Comprehensive Income; (iii) Consolidated Statements of Equity; (iv) Consolidated Statements of Cash Flows; (v) Notes to Consolidated Financial Statements; and (vi) Cover Page (in connection with Exhibit 104).