EDGAR 10-K Filing

Company CIK: 1511337
Filing Year: 2022
Filename: 1511337_10-K_2022_0001511337-22-000009.json

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ITEM 1. BUSINESS
Item 1. Business
Our Company
We are a self-advised and self-administered Maryland real estate investment trust ("REIT") that owns primarily premium-branded, high-margin, focused-service and compact full-service hotels. We are one of the largest U.S. publicly-traded lodging REITs in terms of both number of hotels and number of rooms. Our hotels are concentrated in markets that we believe exhibit multiple demand generators and attractive long-term growth prospects. We believe premium-branded, focused-service and compact full-service hotels with these characteristics generate high levels of RevPAR, strong operating margins and attractive returns.
As of December 31, 2021, we owned 98 hotel properties with approximately 21,700 rooms, located in 22 states and the District of Columbia. We owned, through wholly-owned subsidiaries, a 100% interest in 96 of our hotel properties, a 95.0% controlling interest in The Knickerbocker, and a 50% interest in an entity owning one hotel property. We consolidate our real estate interests in the 97 hotel properties in which we hold a controlling financial interest, and we record the real estate interests in one hotel property in which we hold an indirect 50% interest using the equity method of accounting. We lease 97 of the 98 hotel properties to our TRSs, of which we own a controlling financial interest.
For U.S. federal income tax purposes, we elect to be taxed as a REIT. Substantially all of our assets and liabilities are held by, and all of our operations are conducted through, the Operating Partnership. We are the sole general partner of the Operating Partnership. As of December 31, 2021, we owned, through a combination of direct and indirect interests, 99.5% of the units of limited partnership interest in the Operating Partnership ("OP units").
COVID-19
The global outbreak of COVID-19 and the public health measures that have been undertaken in response have had, and will likely continue to have, a material adverse impact on the global economy and all aspects of our business. Significant events affecting travel, including the COVID-19 pandemic, typically have an impact on booking patterns, with the full extent of the impact generally determined by the duration of the event and its impact on travel decisions. The effects of the COVID-19 pandemic could have lasting changes in consumer behavior that could create headwinds for our hotel properties. Since we cannot estimate when the COVID-19 pandemic and the responsive measures to combat it will end, we cannot estimate the ultimate operational and financial impact of the COVID-19 pandemic on our business.
The effects of the COVID-19 pandemic have significantly impacted our operations, and combined with macroeconomic trends such as reduced business spending, including on travel, and a labor shortage, which has led to higher labor costs, lead us to believe that the ongoing effects of the COVID-19 pandemic on our operations will continue to have an adverse impact on our financial results.
The Lodging Industry
The lodging industry in the United States consists of public and private entities that operate in an extremely diversified market under a variety of brand names. The key participants in the lodging industry are as follows:
•Owners - own the hotel property and typically enter into a management agreement with an independent third party to manage the hotel property. The hotel properties may be branded and operated under the manager’s brand or branded under a separate franchise agreement.
•Franchisors - own a brand or brands and provide the franchised hotels with brand recognition, marketing support and worldwide reservation systems.
•Managers - responsible for the day-to-day operation of the hotel property, including the employment of the hotel staff, the determination of room rates, the development of sales and marketing plans, the preparation of operating and capital expenditure budgets and the preparation of financial reports for the owner.
Our Investment and Business Strategies
Our objective is to generate strong returns for our shareholders by acquiring and owning primarily premium-branded, focused-service and compact full-service hotels at prices where we believe we can generate attractive returns on investment and long-term value appreciation through proactive asset management. We also intend to selectively dispose of hotel properties
when we believe the returns have been maximized or the hotel properties no longer meet our strategy in order to have investment capacity for other opportunities, which may include acquisitions. We intend to pursue this objective through the following investment and business strategies:
Investment Strategies
•Targeted ownership of premium-branded, focused-service and compact full-service hotels. We believe that premium-branded, focused-service and compact full-service hotels have the potential to generate attractive returns relative to other types of hotels due to their ability to achieve RevPAR levels at or close to those generated by traditional full-service hotels, while achieving higher profit margins due to their more efficient operating model and less volatile cash flows.
•Use of premium hotel brands. We believe in affiliating our hotels with premium brands owned by leading international franchisors such as Marriott, Hilton and Hyatt. We believe that utilizing premium brands provides significant advantages because of their guest loyalty programs, worldwide reservation systems, effective product segmentation, global distribution and strong customer awareness.
•Focus on high-growth markets. We focus on owning and acquiring hotel properties in markets that we believe exhibit multiple demand generators and attractive long-term growth prospects. As a result, we believe that these hotel properties generate higher returns on investment.
Business Strategies
•Maximize returns from our hotel properties. We believe that our hotel properties have the potential to generate improvements in RevPAR and earnings before interest, taxes, depreciation and amortization ("EBITDA") as a result of our proactive asset management and the anticipated long-term recovery of the United States economy. We actively monitor and advise our third-party management companies on most aspects of our hotels' operations, including property positioning, physical design, capital planning and investment, guest experience and overall strategic direction. We regularly review opportunities to further invest in our hotel properties in an effort to enhance quality and attractiveness, increase long-term value and generate attractive returns on investment.
•Pursue a disciplined hotel acquisition strategy. We seek to acquire additional hotel properties at prices below replacement cost where we believe we can generate attractive returns on investment. We intend to target newly or recently built hotel properties and we will also target acquisition opportunities where we can enhance value by pursuing proactive investment strategies such as renovation, repositioning or rebranding.
•Pursue opportunistic capital recycling. We may opportunistically and selectively sell hotel properties whose returns appear to have been maximized. To the extent that we sell our hotel properties, except as may be required by our debt agreements, we intend to redeploy the capital into other investment opportunities, including without limitation, acquisitions and internal value creation opportunities.
•Maintain a flexible balance sheet. We intend to continue to maintain a flexible capital structure that allows us to execute our strategy. We believe that a strong balance sheet is a key competitive advantage that affords us a lower cost of capital and positions us for growth. We structure our debt profile to maintain financial flexibility and a balanced maturity schedule with access to different forms of financing.
Our Hotels
Our hotel properties operate under strong, premium brands, with approximately 88% of our hotel properties operating under existing relationships with Marriott, Hilton or Hyatt. The following table sets forth the brand affiliations of our hotel properties as of December 31, 2021:
Brand Affiliations Number of hotels Percentage of total hotels Number of rooms Percentage of total rooms
Marriott
Courtyard 12 12.3 % 2,664 12.3 %
Residence Inn 10 10.2 % 1,444 6.7 %
Marriott 5 5.1 % 1,738 8.0 %
Fairfield Inn & Suites 4 4.1 % 552 2.5 %
Renaissance 3 3.1 % 782 3.6 %
SpringHill Suites 3 3.1 % 437 2.0 %
AC Hotel 1 1.0 % 205 0.9 %
Moxy 1 1.0 % 170 0.8 %
Subtotal 39 39.9 % 7,992 36.8 %
Hilton
Embassy Suites 20 20.4 % 5,539 25.6 %
Hilton Garden Inn 5 5.1 % 1,125 5.2 %
DoubleTree 4 4.1 % 920 4.2 %
Hampton Inn/Hampton Inn & Suites 3 3.1 % 499 2.3 %
Homewood Suites 2 2.0 % 345 1.6 %
Hilton 1 1.0 % 231 1.1 %
Subtotal 35 35.7 % 8,659 40.0 %
Hyatt
Hyatt House 7 7.1 % 1,188 5.5 %
Hyatt Place 3 3.1 % 466 2.2 %
Hyatt Centric 2 2.0 % 266 1.2 %
Subtotal 12 12.2 % 1,920 8.9 %
Wyndham
Wyndham 7 7.1 % 2,241 10.3 %
Subtotal 7 7.1 % 2,241 10.3 %
Other Brand Affiliation 5 5.1 % 858 4.0 %
Total 98 100.0 % 21,670 100.0 %
Asset Management
We have a dedicated team of asset management professionals that proactively work with our third-party management companies to maximize profitability at each of our hotels to the extent permitted under the REIT rules. Our asset management team monitors the performance of our hotels on a daily basis and holds frequent ownership meetings with corporate operations executives and key personnel at the hotels. Our asset management team works closely with our third-party management companies on key aspects of each hotel's operation, including, among others, revenue management, market positioning, cost structure, capital and operational budgeting, as well as the identification and evaluation of return on investment initiatives and overall business strategy. In addition, we retain approval rights on key staffing positions at many of our hotels, such as the hotel's general manager and director of sales. We believe that our strong asset management process helps to ensure that each hotel is being operated to our and our franchisors' standards, that our hotel properties are being adequately maintained in order to preserve the value of the asset and to ensure the safety of our customers, and that our management companies are maximizing revenues, profits and operating margins.
Competition
The U.S. lodging industry is highly competitive. Our hotel properties compete with other participants in the lodging industry for guests in each of their markets on the basis of several factors, including, among others, location, quality of accommodations, convenience, brand affiliation, room rates, service levels, amenities and the availability of lodging and event space. Competition is often specific to the individual markets in which our hotel properties are located and includes competition from existing and new hotels in the focused-service and compact full-service hotel segments and non-traditional accommodations for travelers, such as online services that market homes and condominiums as an alternative to hotel rooms. We believe that hotels, such as our hotels, that are affiliated with leading national brands, such as the Marriott, Hilton and Hyatt brands, will enjoy competitive advantages associated with operating under such brands.
We face competition for the acquisition of hotel properties from institutional pension funds, private equity funds, REITs, hotel companies and other parties who are engaged in the acquisition of hotel properties. Some of these competitors may have substantially greater financial and operational resources and access to capital, a lower cost of capital and/or greater knowledge of the markets in which we seek to invest. This competition may reduce the number of suitable investment opportunities offered to us and decrease the attractiveness of the terms on which we may acquire our targeted hotel investments, including the cost thereof.
Seasonality
The lodging industry is seasonal in nature, which can cause quarterly fluctuations in our revenues. For example, our hotels in the northeastern metropolitan areas experience lower revenues and profits during the winter months of December through March, while our hotels in Florida generally have higher revenues in the months of January through April. This seasonality can be expected to cause periodic fluctuations in a hotel's room revenues, occupancy levels, room rates, operating expenses and cash flows.
Our Financing Strategy
Over time, we intend to finance our long-term growth with equity issuances and debt financing with staggered maturities. Our strategy with respect to our debt profile is to primarily have unsecured debt and a greater percentage of fixed rate and hedged floating rate debt as compared to unhedged floating rate debt. Our debt is currently comprised of unsecured senior notes, unsecured credit agreements, and mortgage loans secured by certain hotel properties. We have a mix of fixed and floating rate debt; however, all of our debt currently either bears interest at fixed rates or effectively bears interest at fixed rates due to interest rate swaps on the debt.
Organizational Structure
We conduct our business through a traditional umbrella partnership real estate investment trust ("UPREIT") in which our hotel properties are indirectly owned by the Operating Partnership, through limited partnerships, limited liability companies or other subsidiaries. We are the sole general partner of the Operating Partnership and, as of December 31, 2021, we owned 99.5% of the OP units in the Operating Partnership. In the future, we may issue OP units from time to time in connection with acquiring hotel properties, financing, compensation or other reasons.
In order for the income from our hotel operations to constitute "rents from real property" for purposes of the gross income tests required for REIT qualification, we cannot directly or indirectly operate any of our hotel properties. Accordingly, we lease our hotels, and we intend to lease any hotels we acquire in the future, to subsidiaries of our TRSs ("TRS lessees"), which are owned by us. Our TRS lessees have engaged, or will engage, third-party management companies to manage our hotel properties, and any hotel properties we acquire in the future, on market terms.
Our TRS lessees pay rent to us that we intend to treat as "rents from real property," provided that the third-party management companies engaged by our TRS lessees to manage our hotel properties are deemed to be "eligible independent contractors" and certain other requirements are met. Our TRSs are subject to U.S. federal, state and local income taxes applicable to corporations.
Regulation
General
Our hotel properties are subject to various U.S. federal, state and local laws, ordinances and regulations, including regulations relating to common areas and fire and life safety requirements. We believe that each of our hotel properties has the necessary permits and approvals to operate its business.
Americans with Disabilities Act
Our hotel properties must comply with the applicable provisions of the Americans with Disabilities Act of 1990 and the Accessibility Guidelines promulgated thereunder (the "ADA"), to the extent that such hotels 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 hotels where such removal is readily achievable. We believe that our hotel 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, non-compliance with the ADA could result in imposition of fines or an award of damages to private litigants. The obligation to make readily achievable accommodations is an ongoing one, and we will continue to assess our hotels and to make alterations as appropriate in this respect.
Environmental Matters
Under various federal, state and local laws, ordinances and regulations relating to the protection of the environment, a current or previous owner or operator (including tenants) of real estate may be subject to liability related to contamination resulting from the presence or discharge of hazardous or toxic substances at that property and may be required to investigate and clean up such contamination at that property or emanating from that property. These costs could be substantial and liability under these laws may attach without regard to whether the owner or operator knew of, or was responsible for, the presence of the contaminants, and the liability may be joint and several. The presence of contamination or the failure to remediate contamination at our hotels may expose us to third-party liability for cleanup costs, property damage or bodily injury, natural resource damages and costs or expenses related to liens or property use restrictions and materially and adversely affect our ability to sell, lease or develop the real estate or to incur debt using the real estate as collateral.
Our hotel properties are subject to various federal, state, and local environmental, health and safety laws and regulations. Our hotel properties incur costs to comply with these laws and regulations and could be subject to fines and penalties for non-compliance. The costs of complying with environmental, health and safety laws could increase as new laws are enacted and existing laws are modified.
Some of our hotel properties contain asbestos-containing building materials. We believe that the asbestos is appropriately contained in accordance with current environmental regulations and that we have no need for any immediate remediation or current plans to remove the asbestos.
We believe that our hotel properties are in compliance, 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. Although 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 present properties, we can offer no assurance that a material environmental claim will not be asserted against us in the future.
Insurance
We carry comprehensive general liability, fire, extended coverage, business interruption, rental loss of income coverage and umbrella liability coverage on all of our hotels, including earthquake, wind, flood and hurricane coverage on hotels in areas where we believe such coverages are warranted, in each case with limits of liability that we deem adequate. Similarly, we are insured against the risk of direct physical damage in amounts we believe to be adequate to reimburse us, on a replacement cost basis, for the costs incurred to repair or rebuild each hotel, including loss of income during the reconstruction period. We have selected policy specifications and insured limits which we believe to be appropriate given the relative risk of loss, the cost of the coverage and industry practice. Certain of our properties in our portfolio are located in areas known to be subject to hurricanes and we believe that we have appropriate insurance for those risks, although they are subject to higher deductibles than ordinary property insurance. We do not carry insurance for generally uninsurable risks, including, but not limited to losses
caused by communicable or infectious diseases, war or governmental actions such as government seizures of property. In addition, we do not carry cyber insurance. In the opinion of our management, our hotels are adequately insured.
Human Capital
As of December 31, 2021, we had 76 employees. We strive to maintain a workplace that is free from discrimination or harassment on the basis of race, color, sex, religion, age, ethnicity, national origin, disability, sexual orientation, gender identification or any other status protected by applicable laws. We conduct annual trainings to prevent discrimination and harassment and monitor employee conduct year-round.
Our key human capital management objectives are to attract, recruit, hire, develop and promote a deep and diverse bench of talent that translates into a strong and successful workforce. To support these objectives, our human resources programs are designed to develop talent to prepare them for critical roles and leadership positions for the future; reward and support employees through competitive pay and benefit programs; enhance our culture through efforts to foster, promote, and preserve a culture of diversity and inclusion; and evolve and invest in technology, tools, and resources to enable employees at work.
In addition, throughout the COVID-19 pandemic, we have taken aggressive steps to protect the health and well-being of our associates, customers and the employees of our third-party management companies. Among other things, we follow the American Hotel Lodging Association ("AHLA") Safe Stay® initiative focused on enhanced hotel cleaning practices, social interactions and workplace protocols required to address the challenges and new expectations presented by the COVID-19 pandemic. We are committed to ensuring the continuing safety, health and well-being of our community.
Environmental, Social, and Governance ("ESG")
We are committed to driving long-term value creation for our shareholders by upholding our corporate responsibility and incorporating ESG initiatives in all key aspects of our strategy and business.
On the environmental front, our investment strategy of owning primarily rooms-oriented, focused-service and compact full-service hotels leads to lower operational intensity and higher efficiency with respect to space usage than full-service hotels, resulting in a lower environmental impact across our portfolio. In 2021, we disclosed on our website our historical performance with respect to energy consumption, greenhouse gas intensity and water intensity. We also disclosed our environmental policy, which includes our objectives, risks and opportunities, management processes, standard technical practices and investment focus areas as it relates to our environmental impact. Such objectives include reducing energy, greenhouse gas, and water usage and making green building investments, as well as addressing the physical impacts of climate change.
With respect to social causes, we continue to show our commitment to making an impact in the communities we serve. In 2021, following the damage caused by Hurricane Ida, both the Company and our associates donated to the Jericho Road Housing Initiative in New Orleans. Jericho Road Housing Initiative is a community-based organization that provides green and sustainable housing to low-income citizens in the central district of New Orleans. The initiative also provides robust job training and financial coaching services.
In connection with our adherence to the AHLA Safe Stay® initiative, we are committed to promoting the health and well-being of all members of our community - from our customers and associates to the employees of our third-party management companies. To that end, we incorporate all related AHLA Safe Stay policies and procedures into hotel operations so that all related parties benefit from our support. We have committed to initiatives that support associate well-being, including the AHLA 5-Star Promise - a voluntary industry pledge to improve and promote workplace safety around sexual violence, assault and human trafficking. We are also committed to supporting our third-party management companies with integrating the 5-Star Promise principles throughout their hotel operations. Our labor and human rights policy outlines our approach to ensuring fair and equitable labor practices.
We continue to uphold high standards with respect to governance, which is reflected in our approach to maintaining a highly diverse board and our overall approach to risk management. With respect to our board, four trustees are women, six are ethnically diverse and eight are independent. Nearly 80% of our board has deep expertise and experience in risk management. In addition, our board, via the Nominating and Corporate Governance Committee (the "NCG Committee") of the board, has the overall responsibility for overseeing ESG-related issues, policies and programs for the Company. The NCG Committee, with critical support from management, is leading the effort to formulate our strategy with respect to adapting and responding to the risks and opportunities presented by ESG-related matters. During 2021, we also disclosed key ESG metrics, documents and policies through the Global Reporting Initiative (“GRI”) Index, in accordance with the GRI framework.
We intend to continue to enhance our ESG initiatives and our disclosures by striving to adhere to other widely recognized frameworks to provide additional transparency regarding our ESG initiatives. We also intend to enhance strategic decision making by identifying and addressing material risks and opportunities that mitigate long-term environmental impacts to our hotel properties. We will continue to seek ways to maximize the positive impact of our business in ways that foster long-term resiliency for both the portfolio and our stakeholders.
Corporate Information
Our principal executive offices are located at 3 Bethesda Metro Center, Suite 1000, Bethesda, Maryland 20814. Our telephone number is (301) 280-7777. Our website is located at www.rljlodgingtrust.com. The information that is found on or accessible through our website is not incorporated into, and does not form a part of, this Annual Report on Form 10-K or any other report or document that we file with or furnish to the SEC. We have included our website address in this Annual Report on Form 10-K as an inactive textual reference and do not intend it to be an active link to our website.
We make available on our website, free of charge, our Annual Report on Form 10-K, Quarterly Reports on Form 10-Q, Current Reports on Form 8-K and amendments to those reports filed or furnished pursuant to Section 13(a) or 15(d) of the Exchange Act as soon as reasonably practicable after we electronically file such material with, or furnish it to, the SEC. We also make available on our website on the Corporate Governance page under the Investor Relations section various documents related to our corporate governance including our: Board Committee Charters; Corporate Governance Guidelines; Code of Business Conduct and Ethics; Complaint Procedures for Financial and Auditing Matters; Declaration of Trust; and Bylaws.
This Annual Report on Form 10-K and other reports filed with the SEC are available on the SEC's website, which contains reports, proxy and information statements, and other information regarding issuers that file electronically with the SEC. The SEC's website address is www.sec.gov.

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ITEM 1A. RISK FACTORS
Item 1A. Risk Factors
Set forth below are the risks that we believe are material to our shareholders. You should carefully consider the following risks in evaluating our Company and our business. The occurrence of any of the following risks could materially and adversely impact our financial condition, results of operations, cash flows, the market price of our common shares, and our ability to, among other things, satisfy our debt service obligations and to make distributions to our shareholders, which in turn could cause our shareholders to lose all or a part of their investment. Some statements in this report including statements in the following risk factors constitute forward-looking statements. Please refer to the section entitled "Special Note About Forward-Looking Statements" at the beginning of our Annual Report on Form 10-K.
Risks Related to Our Business and Hotel Properties
COVID-19 is expected to continue to significantly impact and disrupt, our business, financial performance and condition, operating results and cash flows. Further, the spread of COVID-19 has caused severe disruptions in the U.S. and global economy and financial markets and could result in the continuation of widespread business continuity issues for an unknown duration.
COVID-19 has disrupted our business and continues to have a material adverse effect on our financial performance and condition, operating results and cash flows.
Factors that would negatively impact our ability to operate successfully during or following the COVID-19 pandemic or another pandemic, or that could otherwise significantly impact and disrupt our business, financial performance and condition, operating results and cash flows, include:
•sustained negative consumer or business sentiment, economic metrics or demand for travel, including beyond the end of the COVID-19 pandemic, which could further impact demand for lodging;
•increased operational costs to maintain hotels, including increased sanitation measures;
•the scaling back or delay of a significant amount of planned capital expenditures, including planned renovation projects, which could adversely affect the value of our properties;
•our increased indebtedness and decreased operating revenues, which could increase our risk of default on our loans;
•disruptions in our supply chains;
•fluctuations in regional and local economies;
•the continued service and availability of personnel, including our senior leadership team, and our ability to recruit, attract and retain skilled personnel to the extent our management or personnel are impacted by the outbreak of pandemic or epidemic disease and are not available to conduct work;
•disruptions as a result of corporate employees working remotely, including risk of cybersecurity incidents and disruptions to internal control procedures; and
•difficulty accessing debt and equity capital on attractive terms, or at all, and a severe disruption and instability in the global financial markets or deteriorations in credit and financing conditions may affect our ability to meet our liquidity needs by restricting or otherwise limiting our access to capital necessary to fund business operations and affect the availability and terms of future borrowings, renewals or refinancings.
Any of the negative impacts of the COVID-19 pandemic, including those described above, alone or in combination with others, may have a material adverse effect on our results of operations, financial condition and cash flows.
The significance, extent and duration of the impacts caused by the COVID-19 pandemic on our business, financial condition, operating results and cash flows, remains largely uncertain and dependent on future developments that cannot be accurately predicted at this time, such as the continued severity, duration, transmission rate and geographic spread of COVID-19 in the United States, the extent and effectiveness of the containment measures taken, the effectiveness of the distribution and efficacy of vaccines, and the responses of the overall economy, the financial markets and the population, particularly in areas in which we operate. Furthermore, there can be no guarantee that the demand for lodging, and consumer confidence in travel generally, will recover as quickly as other industries after the COVID-19 pandemic has largely subsided. As a result, we cannot provide an estimate of the overall impact of the COVID-19 pandemic on our business or when, or if, we will be able to resume normal operations. Nevertheless, the COVID-19 pandemic presents material uncertainty and risk with respect to our business, financial performance and condition, operating results and cash flows.
We require a significant amount of cash to service our debt and sustain our operations. Our ability to generate cash depends on many factors beyond our control, and we may not be able to generate cash required to service our debt.
Our ability to meet our debt service obligations or refinance our debt depends on our future operating and financial performance and capacity to generate cash. Our performance and capacity to generate cash will be affected by our ability to implement our business strategy successfully, but also certain general economic, financial, competitive, regulatory and other factors beyond our control, including the disruption caused by the COVID-19 pandemic. If we cannot generate sufficient cash to meet our debt service obligations or fund our other business needs, we may, among other things, need to refinance all or a portion of our debt, obtain additional financing, or continue to delay planned capital expenditures. We cannot assure you that we will be able to generate sufficient cash through any of the foregoing. If we are unable to refinance any of our debt or obtain additional financing on reasonable terms or at all, we may not be able to satisfy our debt obligations.
We will continue to be significantly influenced by the economies and other conditions in the specific markets in which we operate, particularly in the metropolitan areas where we have high concentrations of hotels.
Our hotels located in the Northern California, Southern California, South Florida, Chicago, Illinois, and Houston, Texas metropolitan areas accounted for approximately 12.5%, 10.5%, 8.6%, 7.4% and 5.5%, respectively, of our total number of rooms available for the fiscal year ended December 31, 2021. As a result, we are particularly susceptible to adverse market conditions in these areas, including industry downturns, relocation of businesses, localized COVID-19 infection rates and governmental actions to address the pandemic, any oversupply of hotel rooms, political unrest or a reduction in lodging demand. Adverse economic developments in the markets in which we have a concentration of hotels, or in any of the other markets in which we operate, or any increase in hotel supply or decrease in lodging demand resulting from the local, regional or national business or political climate, could materially and adversely affect us.
We are dependent on the performance of the third-party management companies that manage the operations of each of our hotels and we could be materially and adversely affected if such third-party hotel managers do not manage our hotels in our best interests.
Because U.S. federal income tax laws restrict REITs and their subsidiaries from operating or managing hotel properties, we do not operate or manage our hotel properties. Instead, we retain third-party hotel managers to operate our hotel properties pursuant to management agreements. As of December 31, 2021, all of our hotel properties had individual management agreements, 30 of which were with Aimbridge Hospitality ("Aimbridge").
The success of our hotel properties depends largely on our ability to establish and maintain good relationships with the hotel managers. From time to time, disputes may arise between us and our third-party managers regarding their performance or compliance with the terms of the management agreements, which in turn could adversely affect our results of operations. We generally will attempt to resolve any such disputes through discussions and negotiations; however, if we are unable to reach satisfactory results through discussions and negotiations, we may choose to terminate our management agreement, litigate the dispute or submit the matter to third-party dispute resolution, the outcome of which may be unfavorable to us.
In the event that any of our management agreements are terminated, we can provide no assurances that we could find a replacement manager or that our franchisors will consent to a replacement manager in a timely manner, or at all, or that any replacement manager will be successful in operating our hotels. Furthermore, if Aimbridge, as our largest provider of management services, is financially unable or unwilling to perform its obligations pursuant to our management agreements, our ability to find a replacement manager or managers for our Aimbridge-managed hotels could be challenging, costly and time consuming.
We are subject to the risks associated with the employment of hotel personnel, particularly with hotels that employ unionized labor.
Our third-party management companies are responsible for hiring and maintaining the labor force at each of our hotels. Although we do not directly employ or manage the employees at our hotels, we still are subject to many of the costs and risks generally associated with the hotel labor force, particularly those hotels with unionized labor. From time to time, the hotel operations may be disrupted as a result of strikes, lockouts, public demonstrations or other negative actions and publicity. The resolution of labor disputes or re-negotiated labor contracts could lead to higher labor costs, either by increases in wages or benefits or by changes in work rules that raise hotel operating costs. We do not have the ability to affect the outcome of these negotiations.
Hotels where our managers have collective bargaining agreements with their employees are more highly affected by labor force activities than others. Furthermore, labor agreements may limit the ability of our hotel managers to reduce the size of the hotel workforce during an economic downturn because collective bargaining agreements are negotiated between the hotel managers and labor unions. Our ability, if any, to have any material impact on the outcome of these negotiations is restricted by and dependent on the individual management agreement covering a specific property, and we may have limited ability to control the outcome of these negotiations.
Labor shortages could slow our growth or harm our business.
Our success depends in part upon our third-party management companies' ability to attract, motivate and retain a sufficient number of qualified employees. Qualified individuals needed to fill these positions are in increasingly short supply in some areas, with such supply issues increasing to historical levels in 2021, as has widely been reported by news sources. The inability to recruit and retain these individuals may adversely impact hotel operations and guest satisfaction, which could harm our business. Additionally, competition for qualified employees has required us to pay meaningfully higher wages to attract enough employees than has historically been the case, and continued tightness in labor markets could result in continued escalation of labor costs. In addition, we could face some challenges meeting workforce requirements resulting from changes in workforce dynamics, such as higher standards and working remotely or more flexibility, which could result in increased labor costs in the future.
Restrictive covenants in certain of our management and franchise agreements contain provisions limiting or restricting the sale or financing of our hotels, which could have a material and adverse effect on us.
Our management and franchise agreements may contain restrictive covenants that limit or restrict our ability to sell or refinance a hotel without the consent of the management company or franchisor. Some of our franchise agreements provide the franchisor with a right of first offer in the event of certain sales or transfers of a hotel and provide that the franchisor has the right to approve any change in the management company engaged to manage the hotel. Generally, we may not agree to sell, lease or otherwise transfer particular hotels unless the transferee is not a competitor of the management company or franchisor and the transferee assumes the related management and/or franchise agreements. If the management company or franchisor does not consent to the sale or financing of our hotels, we may still sell the hotels, but there could be adverse consequences.
Substantially all of our hotel properties operate under either Marriott, Hilton or Hyatt brands; therefore, we are subject to the risks associated with concentrating our portfolio in just three brand families.
86 of the 98 hotel properties that we owned as of December 31, 2021 utilize brands owned by Marriott, Hilton or Hyatt. As a result, our success is dependent in part on the continued success of Marriott, Hilton or Hyatt and their respective brands. We believe that building brand value is critical to increasing demand and building customer loyalty. Consequently, if market recognition or the positive perception of Marriott and/or Hilton and/or Hyatt is reduced or compromised, the goodwill associated with the Marriott-, Hilton-, or Hyatt-branded hotels in our portfolio may be adversely affected. Furthermore, if our relationship with Marriott, Hilton or Hyatt were to deteriorate or terminate as a result of disputes regarding the management of our hotels or for other reasons, Marriott and/or Hilton and/or Hyatt could, under certain circumstances, terminate our current franchise licenses with them or decline to provide franchise licenses for hotels that we may acquire in the future. If any of the foregoing were to occur, it could have a material adverse effect on us.
The failure to make and integrate acquisitions of additional hotels could materially and adversely impede our growth.
We can provide no assurances that we will be successful in identifying attractive hotel properties or portfolios of hotel properties or that, once identified, we will be successful in consummating an acquisition or integrating the acquired property or portfolio into our business. We face significant competition for attractive investment opportunities from other investors, some of which have greater financial resources, a lower cost of capital and greater access to debt and equity capital than we do. As a result, we may be unable to acquire certain hotel properties or portfolios of hotel properties that we deem attractive or the purchase price may be significantly elevated or other terms may be substantially more onerous. In addition, we expect to finance future acquisitions through a combination of borrowings under our unsecured revolving credit facility or other secured or unsecured borrowings, the use of retained cash flows, and offerings of equity and debt securities, which may not be available on advantageous terms, or at all. Any delay or failure on our part to identify, negotiate, finance on favorable terms, consummate and integrate such acquisitions could materially and adversely impede our growth. Following an acquisition or expansion, we may incur acquisition-related costs and assume potential unknown liabilities and unforeseen increased costs or expenses. The integration of such acquisitions, especially acquisitions of portfolios of hotel properties, may cause disruptions to our business, strain management time and resources and materially and adversely affect our operating results and financial condition.
Any delay in demand growth due to weaker than anticipated economic growth could materially and adversely affect us and our growth prospects.
The operating performance of our hotel properties in various U.S. markets had significantly declined during the COVID-19 pandemic. Our business strategy depends on achieving revenue and net income growth from anticipated improvement in demand for hotel rooms as part of the growth of the U.S. economy as well as the global economy. Accordingly, any delay or weaker than anticipated economic growth could materially and adversely affect us and our growth prospects. Furthermore, even if the U.S. economy and the global economy continue to grow, we cannot provide any assurances that demand for hotel rooms will increase from current levels. If demand does not increase in the near future, or if demand weakens, our future results of operations and our growth prospects could be materially and adversely affected.
Any difficulties in obtaining the capital necessary to make required periodic capital expenditures and to renovate our hotel properties could materially and adversely affect our financial condition and results of operations.
Our hotel properties have an ongoing need for renovations and other capital improvements, including the replacement of furniture, fixtures and equipment ("FF&E"), franchisor-required improvements, and renovation or redevelopment of acquisitions. Our lenders will also likely require that we set aside annual amounts for capital improvements to our hotel properties. The costs of these capital improvements may increase due to ongoing supply-chain disruptions relating to the
COVID-19 pandemic and increased construction costs, and could materially and adversely affect us. In addition, due to the current supply-chain constraints and disruptions, we could face difficulties sourcing the goods and services in a timely manner, which could adversely affect us.
We may not be able to fund the capital improvements to our hotel properties or acquisitions solely from the cash provided from our operating activities because we must distribute annually at least 90% of our REIT taxable income to shareholders in order to maintain our qualification as a REIT. Consequently, we expect to rely upon the availability of debt or equity capital to fund capital improvements and acquisitions. If we are unable to obtain the capital necessary to make the required periodic capital expenditures and to renovate our hotel properties on favorable terms, or at all, our financial condition, liquidity and results of operations could be materially and adversely affected.
Competition from other lodging industry participants in the markets in which we operate could adversely affect occupancy levels and/or ADRs, which could have a material and adverse effect on us.
We face significant competition from owners and operators of other hotels and other lodging industry participants. In addition, we face competition from non-traditional accommodations for travelers, such as online services that market homes and condominiums as an alternative to hotel rooms. Our competitors may have an operating model that enables them to offer accommodations at lower rates than we can, which could result in our competitors increasing their occupancy at our expense and adversely affecting our ADRs. Given the importance of occupancy and ADR at focused-service and compact full-service hotels, this competition could adversely affect our ability to attract prospective guests, which could materially and adversely affect our business, financial condition and results of operations.
At December 31, 2021, we had approximately $2.4 billion of debt outstanding, which could materially and adversely affect our operating performance and put us at a competitive disadvantage.
Required repayments of debt and related interest may materially and adversely affect our operating performance. At December 31, 2021, we had approximately $2.4 billion of outstanding debt. In addition, we may incur substantial additional debt, including secured debt, in the future. After taking into consideration the effect of interest rate swaps, 100.0% of our payments are fixed or effectively fixed. Interest rates are expected to increase as the Federal Reserve acts to address rising inflation; such increases would increase our interest expense on any future fixed and variable rate debt, as well as existing variable rate debt, which could adversely affect our cash flows and our ability to pay distributions to shareholders.
Because we anticipate that our operating cash flow will be adequate to repay only a portion of our debt at maturity, we expect that we will be required to repay debt through debt refinancings and/or offerings of our securities. The amount of our outstanding debt may adversely affect our ability to refinance our debt.
If we are unable to refinance our debt on acceptable terms, or at all, we may be forced to dispose of one or more of our hotels on disadvantageous terms, which may result in losses to us and may adversely affect the cash available for distributions to our shareholders. In addition, if the prevailing interest rates or other factors at the time of refinancing result in higher interest rates upon refinancing, our interest expense would increase, which would adversely affect our future operating results and liquidity.
Our outstanding debt, and any additional debt borrowed in the future, may subject us to many risks, including the risk that:
•our cash flows from operations may be insufficient to make required payments of principal and interest;
•we may be required to use a substantial portion of our cash flows to pay principal and interest, which would reduce the cash available for distributions to our shareholders;
•we may be at a competitive disadvantage compared to our competitors that have less debt;
•we may be vulnerable to economic volatility, particularly if growth were to slow or stall and reduce our flexibility to respond to difficult market, industry, or economic conditions;
•the terms of any refinancing may not be in the same amount or on terms as favorable as the terms of the debt being refinanced; and
•the use of leverage could adversely affect our ability to borrow more money for operations, capital improvements, to finance future acquisitions of hotel properties, to make distributions to our shareholders, to repurchase common shares, and it could adversely affect the market price of our common shares.
Disruptions in the financial markets could adversely affect our ability to obtain sufficient third-party financing for our capital needs on favorable terms, or at all, which could materially and adversely affect us.
In recent years, the U.S. financial markets experienced significant price volatility, dislocations and liquidity disruptions, which caused stock market prices to fluctuate substantially and the spreads on prospective debt financings to widen considerably. Renewed volatility and uncertainty in the financial markets may negatively impact our ability to access additional financing for our capital needs, including growth, acquisition activities and other business initiatives, on favorable terms or at all, which may negatively affect our business. A prolonged downturn in the financial markets may cause us to seek alternative capital sources of potentially less attractive financing and may require us to further adjust our business plan accordingly. These events also may make it more difficult or costly for us to raise capital through the issuance of new equity or the incurrence of additional secured or unsecured debt, which could materially and adversely affect us.
Inflation may adversely affect our financial condition and results of operations.
Inflation poses a risk to us due to the possibility of future increases in interest rates. Such increases would adversely impact us due to our outstanding variable rate debt as well as result in higher interest rates on any new fixed-rate debt. We have entered into interest rate swaps to limit our exposure to interest rate fluctuations related to a portion of our variable rate debt. However, in an increasing interest rate environment the fixed rates we can obtain with such replacement fixed-rate cap and swap agreements or the fixed-rate on new debt will also continue to increase.
In addition, increased inflation may have an adverse effect on our operating expenses, including, but not limited to, labor, supplies, repairs and maintenance, as these costs could increase at a rate higher than our revenues. Inflation could also have an adverse effect on consumer spending which could impact occupancy levels at our hotel properties and, in turn, our own results of operations.
Our existing indebtedness contains covenants and our failure to comply with all covenants in our debt agreements could materially and adversely affect us.
Our existing indebtedness contains customary and financial covenants that may limit our ability to capitalize on business opportunities. These covenants place restrictions on, among other things, our ability to incur additional indebtedness, incur liens on certain assets, engage in certain mergers, liquidations or consolidations, sell certain assets, make restricted payments (including the payment of dividends and other distributions), engage in certain transactions with affiliates, enter into sale and leaseback transactions, make investments and capital expenditures, and acquire real estate assets.
In addition, our ability to borrow under our unsecured revolving credit facility is subject to compliance with our financial and other covenants, including covenants relating to debt service coverage ratios and leverage ratios. During the years ended December 31, 2021 and 2020, we amended our unsecured credit facilities to suspend the testing of all existing financial maintenance covenants for all periods through and including the first quarter of 2022 and provide for less restrictive covenants through the first quarter of 2023. Due to the expected impact of the COVID-19 pandemic into 2022 and beyond, we may not be able to meet the terms of the amended financial covenants once they are effective in 2022. Our failure to comply with covenants in our existing or future indebtedness, as well as our inability to make required principal and interest payments, could cause a default under the applicable debt agreement, which could result in the acceleration of the debt and require us to repay such debt with capital obtained from other sources, which may not be available to us or may be available only on unattractive terms. Furthermore, if we default on secured debt, lenders can take possession of the hotel(s) securing such debt. In addition, debt agreements may contain specific cross-default provisions with respect to specified other indebtedness, giving the lenders the right to declare a default on its debt and to enforce remedies, including accelerating the maturity of such debt upon the occurrence of a default under such other indebtedness. If we default on several of our debt agreements or any significant debt agreement, we could be materially and adversely affected.
Costs associated with, or failure to maintain, franchisor operating standards may materially and adversely affect us.
Under the terms of our franchise license agreements, we are required to meet specified operating standards and other terms and conditions. We expect that our franchisors will periodically inspect our hotel properties to ensure that we and the hotel management companies follow brand standards. Failure by us, or any management company that we engage, to maintain these standards or other terms and conditions could result in a franchise license being canceled or the franchisor requiring us to undertake a costly property improvement program. If a franchise license is terminated 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 will vary by franchisor and by hotel. If the funds required to maintain franchisor operating standards are significant, we could be materially and adversely affected.
In addition, if we were to lose a franchise license, the underlying value of a particular hotel property could decline significantly from the loss of the associated name recognition, marketing support, participation in guest loyalty programs and the centralized reservation system provided by the franchisor, which could require us to recognize an impairment charge on the hotel property. Furthermore, the loss of a franchise license at a particular hotel property could harm our relationship with the franchisor, which could impede our ability to operate other hotels under the same brand, limit our ability to obtain new franchise licenses from the franchisor in the future on favorable terms, or at all, and cause us to incur significant costs to obtain a new franchise license for the particular hotel.
U.S. federal income tax provisions applicable to REITs may restrict our business decisions regarding the potential sale of a hotel property.
The provisions of the Internal Revenue Code of 1986, as amended (the "Code"), applicable to REITs require that we hold our hotel properties for investment, rather than primarily for sale in the ordinary course of business, which may cause us to forego or defer sales of hotel properties that otherwise would be in our best interests. Therefore, we may not be able to vary our portfolio promptly in response to economic or other conditions or on favorable terms, which may materially and adversely affect our cash flows, our ability to make distributions to shareholders and the market price of our common shares.
The U.S. federal income tax provisions applicable to REITs provide that any gain realized by a REIT on the sale of property held as inventory or other property held primarily for sale to customers in the ordinary course of business is treated as income from a "prohibited transaction" that is subject to a 100% excise tax. We intend to hold our hotel properties for investment with a view of long-term appreciation, to engage in the business of acquiring and owning hotel properties, and to make occasional sales of hotel properties consistent with our investment objectives. There can be no assurance, however, that the Internal Revenue Service (the "IRS") might not contend that one or more of these sales are subject to the 100% excise tax. Moreover, the potential to incur this penalty tax could deter us from selling one or more hotel properties even though it would be in the best interests of us and our shareholders for us to do so. There is a statutory safe harbor available for a limited number of sales in a single taxable year of properties that have been owned by a REIT for at least two years, but that safe harbor likely would not apply to all sale transactions that we might otherwise consider.
Joint venture investments could be adversely affected by our lack of sole decision-making authority, our reliance on joint venture partners' financial condition and liquidity and disputes between us and our joint venture partners.
We own certain hotel properties through joint ventures. In the future, we may enter into additional joint ventures to acquire, develop, improve or partially dispose of hotel properties, thereby reducing the amount of capital required by us to make investments and diversifying our capital sources for growth. Such joint venture investments involve risks not otherwise present in a wholly-owned hotel property or a redevelopment project, including the following:
•we may not have exclusive control over the hotel property or the joint venture, which may prevent us from taking actions that are in our best interest but opposed by our partners;
•joint venture agreements often restrict the transfer of a partner's interest or may otherwise restrict our ability to sell the interest when we desire, or on advantageous terms;
•joint venture agreements may contain provisions pursuant to which one partner may initiate procedures requiring the other partner to choose between buying the other partner's interest or selling its interest to that partner;
•a partner may, at any time, have economic or business interests or goals that are, or that may become, inconsistent with our business interests or goals;
•a partner may fail to fund its share of required capital contributions or may become bankrupt, which would mean that we and any other remaining partners generally would remain liable for the joint venture's liabilities; or
•we may, in certain circumstances, be liable for the actions of a partner, and the activities of a partner could adversely affect our ability to qualify as a REIT, even though we do not control the joint venture.
Any of the above might subject a hotel property to liabilities in excess of those contemplated and adversely affect the value of our current and future joint venture investments.
Risks Related to the Lodging Industry
Our ability to make distributions to our shareholders may be adversely affected by various operating risks common to the lodging industry, including competition, over-building and dependence on business travel and tourism.
Our hotel properties have different economic characteristics than many other real estate assets. Unlike other real estate assets, hotels generate revenue from guests that typically stay at the hotel property for only a few nights, which causes the room rate and occupancy levels at each of our hotels to change every day, and results in earnings that can be highly volatile.
In addition, our hotel properties are subject to various operating risks common to the lodging industry, many of which are beyond our control, including, among others, the following:
•seasonality of the lodging industry may cause quarterly fluctuations in our operating results;
•over-building of hotels in the markets in which we operate, which results in an increased supply of hotels that will adversely affect occupancy and revenues at our hotel properties;
•consolidation among companies in the lodging industry may increase the resulting companies' negotiating power relative to ours, and decrease competition among those companies for management and franchise agreements, which could result in higher management or franchise fees;
•increase in the number of brands owned by Marriott, Hilton and Hyatt, which could result in increased competition for our hotels;
•competition from non-traditional accommodations for travelers, such as online services that market homes and condominiums as an alternative to hotel rooms;
•dependence on business and leisure travelers;
•increases in energy costs and other expenses affecting travel, which may affect travel patterns and reduce the number of business and leisure travelers;
•increases in operating costs due to inflation and other factors that may not be offset by increased room rates;
•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;
•adverse effects of international, national, regional and local economic and market conditions;
•adverse effects of worsening conditions in the lodging industry; and
•risks generally associated with the ownership of hotels and real estate, as we discuss in detail below.
The occurrence of any of the foregoing could materially and adversely affect us.
The cyclical nature of the lodging industry may cause fluctuations in our operating performance, which could have a material and adverse effect on us.
The lodging industry historically has been highly cyclical in nature. Fluctuations in lodging demand and, therefore, 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 the lodging industry's performance, and over-building has the potential to further exacerbate the negative impact of an economic recession. Room rates and occupancy, and thus RevPAR, tend to increase when demand growth exceeds supply growth. We can provide no assurances regarding whether, or the extent to which, lodging demand will rebound or whether any such rebound will be sustained. An adverse change in lodging fundamentals could result in returns that are substantially below our expectations or result in losses, which could have a material and adverse effect on us.
Our ownership of hotel properties with ground leases exposes us to the risks that we may be forced to sell such hotel properties for a lower price, we may have difficulties financing such hotel properties, we may be unable to renew a ground lease or we may lose such hotel properties upon breach of a ground lease.
As of December 31, 2021, 13 of our consolidated hotel properties and our unconsolidated hotel property were on land subject to ground leases. Accordingly, we only own a leasehold or similar interest in those 14 hotel properties. Two of the
ground leases expire in 2028 and 2029 and if these leases are not extended, the hotel properties would be turned over to the ground lessor. Our ground lease agreements require the consent of the lessor or sub-lessor prior to transferring our interest in the ground lease. These provisions may impact our ability to sell our hotel properties which, in turn, could adversely impact the price realized from any such sale. In addition, at any given time, investors may be disinterested in buying hotel properties subject to a ground lease and may pay a lower price for such hotel properties than for a comparable hotel property with a fee simple interest or they may not purchase such hotel properties at any price. Secured lenders may be unwilling to lend, or otherwise charge higher interest rates, for loans secured by a leasehold mortgage as compared to loans secured by a fee simple mortgage. If we are found to be in breach of a ground lease, we could lose the right to use the hotel property. In addition, unless we can purchase a fee simple interest in the underlying land and improvements or extend the terms of these leases before their expiration, as to which no assurance can be given, we will lose our right to own these hotel properties and our interest in the improvements upon expiration of the leases. If we were to lose the right to use a hotel property due to a breach or non-renewal of the ground lease, we would be unable to derive income from such hotel property and we would be required to purchase an interest in another hotel property in an attempt to replace that income, which could materially and adversely affect us.
Technology is used in our operations, and any material failure, inadequacy, interruption or security failure of that technology could harm the business.
We, and our hotel managers and franchisors, rely on information technology networks and systems to process, transmit and store electronic information, and to manage or support a variety of business processes. These information technology networks and systems can be vulnerable to threats such as system, network or internet failures; computer hacking or business disruption; cyber-terrorism; viruses, worms or other malicious software programs; and employee error, negligence or fraud. Although we believe we and our hotel managers and franchisors have taken commercially reasonable steps to protect the security of our systems, there can be no assurance that such security measures will prevent failures, inadequacies or interruptions in system services, or that system security will not be breached.
Any failure to maintain proper function, security and availability of information technology networks and systems could interrupt our operations, our financial reporting and compliance, damage our reputation, and subject us to liability claims or regulatory penalties, which could have a material and adverse effect on our business, financial condition and results of operations.
Future terrorist attacks or changes in terror alert levels could materially and adversely affect us.
Historically, terrorist attacks and subsequent terrorist alerts have adversely affected the U.S. travel and hospitality industries, often disproportionately to the effect on the overall economy. The extent of the impact that actual or threatened terrorist attacks in the U.S. or elsewhere could have on domestic and international travel and our business in particular cannot be determined, but any such attacks or the threat of such attacks could have a material and adverse effect on travel and hotel demand and our ability to insure our hotel properties, which could materially and adversely affect us.
We face possible risks associated with natural disasters, weather events, and the physical effects of climate change.
We are subject to the risks associated with natural disasters, weather events, and the physical effects of climate change, any of which could have a material adverse effect on our properties, operations and business. Over time, our hotel properties located in coastal markets and other areas that may be impacted by climate change are expected to experience increases in storm intensity and rising sea-levels causing damage to our hotel properties. As a result, we could become subject to significant losses and/or repair costs that may or may not be fully covered by insurance. Other markets may experience prolonged variations in temperature or precipitation that may limit access to the water needed to operate our hotel properties or significantly increase energy costs, which may subject those properties to additional regulatory burdens, such as limitations on water usage or stricter energy efficiency standards. Weather events and climate change may also affect our business by increasing the cost of (or making unavailable) property insurance on terms we find acceptable in areas most vulnerable to such events, increasing operating costs at our hotel properties, such as the cost of water or energy, and requiring us to expend funds as we seek to repair and protect our hotel properties against such risks. There can be no assurance that natural disasters, weather events, or climate change will not have a material adverse effect on our hotel properties, operations or business.
Risks Related to Our Organization and Structure
The share ownership limits imposed by the Code for REITs and our declaration of trust may restrict share transfers and/or business combination opportunities.
In order for us to maintain our qualification as a REIT under the Code, not more than 50% in value of our outstanding shares may be owned, directly or indirectly, by five or fewer individuals (as defined in the Code to include certain entities) at any time during the last half of each taxable year following our first year of taxation as a REIT. Our declaration of trust, with certain exceptions, authorizes our board of trustees to take the necessary actions to preserve our qualification as a REIT. Unless exempted by our board of trustees, no person or entity (other than a person or entity who has been granted an exception) may directly or indirectly, beneficially or constructively, own more than 9.8% of the aggregate of our outstanding common shares, by value or by number of shares, whichever is more restrictive, or 9.8% of the aggregate of the outstanding preferred shares of any class or series, by value or by number of shares, whichever is more restrictive.
Our board of trustees may, in its sole discretion, grant an exemption to the share ownership limits, subject to certain conditions and the receipt by our board of trustees of certain representations and undertakings. During the time that such waiver is effective, the excepted holders will be subject to an increased ownership limit. As a condition to granting such limited exemptions, the excepted holders are required to make representations and warranties to us, which are intended to ensure that we will continue to meet the REIT ownership requirements. The excepted holders must inform us if any of these representations becomes untrue or is violated, in which case such excepted holder will lose its limited exemption from the share ownership limits.
It may be difficult or impractical to effect a change in our control under circumstances that otherwise could provide the holders of our common shares with the opportunity to realize a premium over the then-prevailing market price of our common shares.
Certain advance notice provisions of our bylaws may inhibit a change in control. These advance notice provisions may have the effect of delaying, deferring or preventing a transaction or a change in control of our company that might involve a premium to the market price of our common stock or otherwise be in our shareholders' best interests.
Termination of the employment agreements with our executive officers could be costly and prevent a change in control. The employment agreements that we entered into with each of our executive officers provide that, if their employment with us terminates under certain circumstances (including upon a change in our control), we are required to pay them severance compensation, including accelerating the vesting of their respective equity awards, thereby making it costly to terminate their employment without cause. Furthermore, these provisions could delay or prevent a transaction or a change in control that might involve a premium paid for our common shares or otherwise be in the best interests of our shareholders.
Our declaration of trust contains provisions that make the removal of our trustees difficult, which could make it difficult for our shareholders to effect changes to our management. Our declaration of trust provides that, subject to the rights of the holders of one or more classes or series of preferred shares to elect or remove one or more trustees, a trustee may be removed only for cause and only by the affirmative vote of the holders of at least two-thirds of the votes entitled to be cast in the election of trustees and that our board of trustees has the exclusive power to fill vacant trusteeships, even if the remaining trustees do not constitute a quorum. These provisions make it more difficult to change our management by removing and replacing trustees and it may delay or prevent a change in control that is in the best interests of our shareholders.
Our rights and the rights of our shareholders to take action against our trustees and officers are limited, which could limit our shareholders' recourse in the event of actions not in our shareholders' best interests.
Under Maryland law, generally, a trustee is required to perform his or her duties in good faith, in a manner he or she reasonably believes to be in our best interest and with the care that an ordinarily prudent person in a like position would use under similar circumstances. Under Maryland law, trustees are presumed to have acted with this standard of care. In addition, our declaration of trust limits the liability of our trustees and officers to us and our shareholders for monetary damages, except for liability resulting from the:
•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 and bylaws obligate us, to the fullest extent permitted by Maryland law in effect from time to time, to indemnify and to pay or reimburse reasonable expenses in advance of the final disposition of a proceeding to any present or former trustee or officer who is made or threatened to be made a party to the proceeding by reason of his or her service to us in that capacity. In addition, we may be obligated to advance 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.
If we fail to maintain an effective system of internal control over financial reporting, we may not be able to accurately report our financial results.
To monitor the accuracy and reliability of our financial reporting, we have established an internal audit function that oversees our internal controls. In addition, we have developed policies and procedures with respect to company-wide business processes and cycles in order to implement an effective system of internal control over financial reporting. We have established, or caused our third-party management companies to establish, controls and procedures designed to ensure that hotel revenues and expenses are properly recorded at our hotels. We cannot be certain that we will be successful in maintaining effective internal control over financial reporting and we may determine in the future that our existing internal controls need improvement. If we fail to maintain an effective system of internal control, we could be materially harmed or we could fail to meet our reporting obligations. In addition, the existence of a material weakness in our internal controls could result in errors to our financial statements that could require a restatement, cause us to fail to meet our reporting obligations, result in increased costs to remediate any deficiencies, attract regulatory scrutiny or lawsuits and cause investors to lose confidence in our reported financial information, any of which could lead to a substantial decline in the market price of our common shares.
Risks Related to the Real Estate Industry
The illiquid nature of real estate investments could significantly impede our ability to respond to changing economic, financial, and investment conditions or changes in the operating performance of our hotel properties, which could materially and adversely affect our cash flows and results of operations.
Real estate investments, including the focused-service and compact full-service hotels in our portfolio, are relatively illiquid. As a result, we may not be able to sell a hotel or hotels quickly or on favorable terms in response to the changing economic, financial and investment conditions or changes in the hotel's operating performance when it otherwise may be prudent to do so. We cannot predict whether we will be able to sell any hotel property we desire to sell 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 may be required to expend funds to correct defects or to make improvements before a hotel can be sold, and we cannot provide any assurances that we will have the funds available to correct such defects or to make such improvements. Our inability to dispose of assets at opportune times or on favorable terms could materially and adversely affect our cash flows and results of operations.
In some cases, we may be restricted from disposing of properties contributed to us in the future in exchange for our OP units under tax protection agreements with contributors unless we incur additional costs related to indemnifying those contributors.
Uninsured and underinsured losses at our hotel properties could materially and adversely affect us.
We maintain comprehensive property insurance on all of our hotel properties and we intend to maintain comprehensive property insurance on any hotels that we acquire in the future, including fire, terrorism, and extended coverage. Our comprehensive property insurance program has a $250,000 deductible per claim. In addition to the comprehensive property insurance, we maintain general liability insurance at all of our hotel properties. Our general liability insurance program has no deductible. Certain types of catastrophic losses, such as windstorms, earthquakes, floods, and losses from foreign and domestic terrorist activities may not be insurable or may not be economically insurable. Even when insurable, these policies may have high deductibles and/or high premiums. Our coastal hotel properties each have a deductible of 5% of total insured value for a named storm. Our lenders may require such insurance and our failure to obtain such insurance could constitute a default under the loan agreements, which could have a material and adverse effect on us.
In the event of a substantial loss, our insurance coverage may not be sufficient to cover the full current market value or replacement cost of our lost investment, which could have a material and adverse effect on us. Should an uninsured loss or a loss in excess of insured limits occur, or should we be unsuccessful in obtaining coverage from an insurance carrier, 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 hotel
property. In that event, we might nevertheless remain obligated for any mortgage debt or other financial obligations related to the hotel property.
We could incur significant costs related to government regulation and litigation with respect to environmental matters, which could have a material and adverse effect on us.
Our hotel properties are subject to various U.S. federal, state and local environmental, health and safety laws and regulations that impose liability for contamination. Under these laws, governmental entities have the authority to require us, as the current owner of a hotel property, to perform or pay for the clean-up of contamination at, on, under or emanating from the hotel and to pay for natural resource damages arising from such contamination. Because these laws also impose liability on persons who owned or operated a property at the time it became contaminated, it is possible we could incur cleanup costs or other environmental liabilities even after we sell or no longer operate the hotel properties.
The liabilities and the costs associated with environmental contamination at our hotel properties, defending against the claims related to alleged or actual environmental issues, or complying with environmental, health and safety laws could be material and could materially and adversely affect us. The discovery of material environmental liabilities at our hotel properties could subject us to unanticipated costs, which could significantly reduce or eliminate our profitability and the cash available for distribution to our shareholders.
We may from time to time be subject to litigation that could expose us to uncertain or uninsured costs.
As owners of hotel properties, we may from time to time face potential claims, litigation and threatened litigation from guests, visitors to our hotel properties, contractors, sub-contractors and others. These claims and proceedings are inherently uncertain and their costs and outcomes cannot be predicted with certainty. Some of these claims may result in defense costs, settlements, fines or judgments against us, and some of which are not, or cannot be, covered by insurance. Payment of any such costs, settlements, fines or judgments that are not insured could have a material and adverse impact on our financial position and results of operations. In addition, certain litigation or the resolution of certain litigation may affect the availability or cost of some of our insurance coverage, which could materially and adversely impact our results of operations and cash flows, expose us to increased risks that would be uninsured, and/or adversely impact our ability to attract officers and trustees.
Risks Related to Our Status as a REIT
If we do not qualify as a REIT, or if we fail to remain qualified as a REIT, we will be subject to U.S. federal income tax and potentially state and local taxes, which would reduce our earnings and the amount of cash available for distribution to our shareholders.
If we were to fail to qualify as a REIT in any taxable year and any available relief provisions do not apply, we would be subject to U.S. federal and state corporate income tax, and dividends paid to our shareholders would not be deductible by us in computing our taxable income. Unless we were entitled to statutory relief under certain Code provisions, we also would be disqualified from taxation as a REIT for the four taxable years following the year in which we failed to qualify as a REIT.
Any determination that we do not qualify as a REIT would have a material adverse effect on our results of operations and could materially reduce the value of our common shares. Our additional tax liability could be substantial and would reduce our net earnings available for investment, debt service or distributions to shareholders.
REIT distribution requirements could adversely affect our ability to execute our business plan or require us to make distributions of our shares or other securities.
We generally must distribute to our shareholders annually at least 90% of our "REIT taxable income," subject to certain adjustments and excluding any net capital gain. From time to time, we may generate taxable income greater than our cash flow. In addition we may be subject to limitations on the ability to use our net operating loss carryovers to offset taxable income that we do not distribute. If we do not have other funds available in these situations we could be required to (i) borrow funds on unfavorable terms, (ii) sell investments at disadvantageous prices, (iii) distribute amounts that would otherwise be invested in future acquisitions, or (iv) make a taxable distribution of our common shares as part of a distribution in which shareholders may elect to receive our common shares or (subject to a limit measured as a percentage of the total distribution) cash to make distributions sufficient to enable us to pay out enough of our REIT taxable income to satisfy the REIT distribution requirements. These alternatives could increase our costs or reduce our shareholders' equity. Thus, compliance with the REIT distribution requirements may hinder our ability to grow, which could adversely affect the value of our shares.
If our leases are not respected as true leases for U.S. federal income tax purposes, we would likely fail to qualify as a REIT.
To qualify as a REIT, we must satisfy two gross income tests, pursuant to which specified percentages of our gross income must be passive income, such as rent. For the rent paid pursuant to the hotel leases with our TRSs, which we currently expect will continue to constitute substantially all of our gross income, to qualify for purposes of the gross income tests, the leases must be respected as true leases for U.S. federal income tax purposes and must not be treated as service contracts, joint ventures or some other type of arrangement. We believe that the leases will be respected as true leases for U.S. federal income tax purposes. There can be no assurance, however, that the IRS will agree with this characterization. If the leases were not respected as true leases for U.S. federal income tax purposes, we would not be able to satisfy either of the two gross income tests applicable to REITs and would likely lose our REIT status. Additionally, we could be subject to a 100% excise tax for any adjustment to our leases.
To comply with the restrictions imposed on REITs, we may have to conduct certain activities and own certain assets through TRSs, which will be subject to normal corporate income tax, and we could be subject to a 100% penalty tax on certain income if those transactions are not conducted on arm's-length terms.
A TRS is a corporation in which a REIT directly or indirectly holds stock and which has elected, with the REIT to be taxable as a regular corporation, at regular corporate income tax rates. As a REIT, we cannot own certain assets or conduct certain activities directly, without risking failing the income or asset tests that apply to REITs. We can, however, hold these assets or undertake these activities through a TRS.
As noted, the income earned through our TRSs will be subject to corporate income taxes. In addition, a 100% excise tax will be imposed on certain transactions between us and our TRSs that are not conducted on an arm’s length basis.
If our TRSs fail to qualify as "taxable REIT subsidiaries" under the Code, we would likely fail to qualify as a REIT.
Rent paid by a lessee that is a "related party tenant" will not be qualifying income for purposes of the gross income tests applicable to REITs. We currently lease and expect to continue to lease substantially all of our hotels to our TRSs, which will not be treated as "related party tenants" so long as they qualify as "taxable REIT subsidiaries" under the Code. To qualify as such, most significantly, a TRS cannot engage in the operation or management of hotels. We believe that our TRSs qualify to be treated as "taxable REIT subsidiaries" for U.S. federal income tax purposes. There can be no assurance, however, 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 TRSs from treatment as a "taxable REIT subsidiary," it is likely 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 tests or the gross income tests, we would likely lose our REIT status.
If any management companies that we engage do not qualify as "eligible independent contractors," or if our hotel properties are not "qualified lodging facilities," we would likely fail to qualify as a REIT.
Rent paid by a lessee that is a "related party tenant" of ours generally will not be qualifying income for purposes of the gross income tests applicable to REITs. An exception is provided, however, for leases of "qualified lodging facilities" to a TRS so long as the hotels are managed by an "eligible independent contractor" and certain other requirements are satisfied. We currently lease and expect to continue to lease all or substantially all of our hotels to TRS lessees and we currently engage and expect to continue to engage management companies that are intended to qualify as "eligible independent contractors." In addition, for a management company to qualify as an eligible independent contractor, (i) the management company must not own, directly or through its shareholders, more than 35% of our outstanding shares, and no person or group of persons can own more than 35% of our outstanding shares and the shares (or ownership interest) of the management company and (ii) such company or a related person must be actively engaged in the trade or business of operating "qualified lodging facilities" (as defined below) for one or more persons not related to the REIT or its TRSs at each time that such company enters into a management contract with a TRS or its TRS lessee. Finally, each hotel with respect to which our TRS lessees pay rent must be a "qualified lodging facility." A "qualified lodging facility" is a hotel, motel, or other establishment in which more than one-half of the dwelling units are used on a transient basis, including customary amenities and facilities, provided that no wagering activities are conducted at or in connection with such facility by any person who is engaged in the business of accepting wagers and who is legally authorized to engage in such business at or in connection with such facility. As of the date hereof, we believe the management companies operate qualified lodging facilities for certain persons who are not related to us or our TRS. As of the date hereof, we believe that all of the hotels leased to our TRS lessees will be qualified lodging facilities. Although we intend to monitor future acquisitions and improvements of hotels, the REIT provisions of the Code provide only limited guidance for making determinations under the requirements for qualified lodging facilities, and there can be no assurance that these requirements will be satisfied in all cases.
Complying with REIT requirements may force us to forgo and/or liquidate otherwise attractive investment opportunities.
To qualify as a REIT, we must ensure that we meet the gross income tests annually and that at the end of each calendar quarter, at least 75% 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% of the outstanding voting securities of any one issuer or more than 10% of the total value of the outstanding securities of any one issuer. In addition, in general, no more than 5% 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% of the value of our total assets can be represented by securities of one or more TRSs, and no more than 25% of the value of our total assets may be represented by debt instruments issued by publicly offered REITs that are "nonqualified" (i.e., not secured by real property or interests in real property). 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 from our portfolio, or contribute to a TRS, otherwise attractive investments in order to maintain our qualification as a REIT. These actions could have the effect of reducing our income and amounts available for distribution to our shareholders. In addition, we may be required to make distributions to shareholders at disadvantageous times or when we do not have funds readily available for distribution, and may be unable to pursue investments that would otherwise be advantageous to us. Thus, compliance with the REIT requirements may hinder our ability to make, and, in certain cases, maintain ownership of, certain attractive investments.
We would incur adverse tax consequences if FelCor Lodging Trust Incorporated ("FelCor") failed to qualify as a REIT for U.S. federal income tax purposes prior to our merger with FelCor.
In connection with the closing of the merger with FelCor on the acquisition date, FelCor received an opinion of counsel to the effect that it qualified as a REIT for U.S. federal income tax purposes under the Code through the acquisition date. FelCor, however, did not request a ruling from the IRS that it qualified as a REIT. If, notwithstanding this opinion, FelCor’s REIT status prior to the acquisition date were successfully challenged, we would face serious tax consequences that would substantially reduce our core funds from operations, and cash available for distribution, including cash available to pay dividends to our shareholders, because:
•FelCor, would be subject to U.S. federal, state and local income tax on its net income at regular corporate rates for the years that it did not qualify as a REIT (and, for such years, would not be allowed a deduction for dividends paid to shareholders in computing its taxable income) and we would succeed to the liability for such taxes;
•the deemed sale of assets by FelCor on the acquisition date would be subject to U.S. federal, state and local income tax at regular corporate rates (and FelCor would not be allowed a deduction for dividends paid for the deemed liquidating distribution paid to its shareholders) and we would succeed to the liability for such taxes; and
•we would succeed to any earnings and profits accumulated by FelCor, as applicable, for the tax periods that FelCor did not qualify as a REIT and we would have to pay a special dividend and/or employ applicable deficiency dividend procedures (including interest payments to the IRS) to eliminate such earnings and profits to maintain our REIT qualification.
As a result of these factors, FelCor’s failure to qualify as a REIT prior to the acquisition date could impair our ability to expand our business and raise capital and could materially adversely affect the value of our stock. In addition, even if FelCor qualified as a REIT for the duration of its existence, if there is an adjustment to FelCor’s taxable income or dividends-paid deductions, we could be required to elect to use the deficiency dividend procedure to maintain FelCor’s REIT status. That deficiency dividend procedure could require us to make significant distributions to our shareholders and pay significant interest to the IRS.
Risks Related to Our Common Shares
Our cash available for distribution to shareholders may not be sufficient to pay distributions at expected or required levels, and we may need to borrow funds or rely on other external sources in order to make such distributions, or we may not be able to make such distributions at all, which could cause the market price of our common shares to decline significantly.
We intend to continue to pay regular quarterly distributions to holders of our common shares. All distributions will be made at the discretion of our board of trustees and will depend on our historical and projected results of operations, EBITDA, FFO, liquidity and financial condition, REIT qualification, debt service requirements, capital expenditures and operating expenses, prohibitions and other restrictions under financing arrangements and applicable law and other factors as our board of
trustees may deem relevant from time to time. No assurance can be given that our projections will prove to be accurate or that any level of distributions or particular yield will be made or sustained. We may not be able to make distributions in the future or we may need to fund such distributions through borrowings or other external financing sources, which may be available only at unattractive terms, if at all. Any of the foregoing could cause the market price of our common shares to decline significantly.
Future issuances of debt securities, which would rank senior to our common shares upon our liquidation, and future issuances of equity securities (including OP units), which would dilute the holdings of our existing common shareholders and may be senior to our common shares for the purposes of making distributions, periodically or upon liquidation, may negatively affect the market price of our common shares.
In the future, we may issue debt or equity securities or incur additional borrowings. Upon our liquidation, holders of our debt securities and other loans and preferred shares will receive a distribution of our available assets before common shareholders. If we incur debt in the future, our future interest costs could increase, and adversely affect our liquidity, FFO and results of operations. We are not required to offer any additional equity securities to existing common shareholders on a preemptive basis. Therefore, additional common share issuances, directly or through convertible or exchangeable securities (including OP units), warrants or options, will dilute the holdings of our existing common shareholders, and such issuances or the perception of such issuances may reduce the market price of our common shares. Our preferred shares, if issued, would likely have a preference on distribution payments, periodically or upon liquidation, which could eliminate or otherwise limit our ability to make distributions to common shareholders. Because our decision to issue debt or equity securities or incur additional borrowings in the future will depend on market conditions and other factors beyond our control, we cannot predict or estimate the amount, timing, nature or success of any future capital raising efforts. Thus, the common shareholders bear the risk that our future issuances of debt or equity securities or our incurrence of additional borrowings will negatively affect the market price of our common shares.

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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
Our Hotel Properties
The following table provides a comprehensive list of our hotel properties as of December 31, 2021:
State Hotel Property Name Rooms State Hotel Property Name Rooms
Alabama Indiana
Embassy Suites Birmingham 242 Courtyard Indianapolis @ The Capitol 124
Arizona Residence Inn Indianapolis Downtown On The Canal 134
Embassy Suites Phoenix - Biltmore 232 Residence Inn Merrillville 78
California Kentucky
Courtyard San Francisco 166 Marriott Louisville Downtown 620
Embassy Suites Irvine Orange County 293 Residence Inn Louisville Downtown 140
Embassy Suites Los Angeles Downey 220 Louisiana
Embassy Suites Los Angeles - International Airport South 349 Chateau LeMoyne - French Quarter, New Orleans (1) 171
Embassy Suites Mandalay Beach - Hotel & Resort 250 Hilton Garden Inn New Orleans Convention Center 286
Embassy Suites Milpitas Silicon Valley 267 Hotel Indigo New Orleans Garden District 132
Embassy Suites San Francisco Airport - South San Francisco 316 Wyndham New Orleans - French Quarter 374
Embassy Suites San Francisco Airport - Waterfront 340 Massachusetts
Hilton Garden Inn Los Angeles Hollywood 160 AC Hotel Boston Downtown 205
Hilton Garden Inn San Francisco Oakland Bay Bridge 303 Embassy Suites Boston Waltham 275
Hyatt House Cypress Anaheim 142 Wyndham Boston Beacon Hill 304
Hyatt House Emeryville San Francisco Bay Area 234 Maryland
Hyatt House San Diego Sorrento Mesa 193 Residence Inn Bethesda Downtown 188
Hyatt House San Jose Silicon Valley 164 Residence Inn National Harbor Washington DC 162
Hyatt House San Ramon 142 Minnesota
Hyatt House Santa Clara 150 Embassy Suites Minneapolis - Airport 310
State Hotel Property Name Rooms State Hotel Property Name Rooms
Hyatt Place Fremont Silicon Valley 151 New York
Residence Inn Palo Alto Los Altos 156 Courtyard New York Manhattan Upper East Side 226
San Francisco Marriott Union Square 401 Hampton Inn Garden City 143
Wyndham San Diego Bayside 600 The Knickerbocker New York (2) 330
Wyndham Santa Monica At The Pier 132 North Carolina
Colorado Hyatt House Charlotte Center City 163
Fairfield Inn & Suites Denver Cherry Creek 134 Oregon
Marriott Denver Airport @ Gateway Park 238 Courtyard Portland City Center 256
Marriott Denver South @ Park Meadows 279 SpringHill Suites Portland Hillsboro 106
Moxy Denver Cherry Creek 170 Pennsylvania
Renaissance Boulder Flatiron Hotel 232 Hilton Garden Inn Pittsburgh University Place 202
SpringHill Suites Denver North Westminster 164 Renaissance Pittsburgh Hotel 300
District of Columbia Wyndham Philadelphia Historic District 364
Fairfield Inn & Suites Washington DC Downtown 198 Wyndham Pittsburgh University Center 251
Homewood Suites Washington DC Downtown 175 South Carolina
Hyatt Place Washington DC Downtown K Street 164 Courtyard Charleston Historic District 176
Florida The Mills House Wyndham Grand Hotel 216
DoubleTree Grand Key Resort 216 Texas
DoubleTree Suites by Hilton Orlando - Lake Buena Vista 229 Courtyard Austin Downtown Convention Center 270
Embassy Suites Deerfield Beach - Resort & Spa 244 Courtyard Houston By The Galleria 190
Embassy Suites Fort Lauderdale 17th Street 361 Courtyard Houston Downtown Convention Center 191
Embassy Suites Fort Myers Estero 150 DoubleTree by Hilton Houston Medical Center Hotel & Suites 287
Embassy Suites Miami - International Airport 318 DoubleTree Suites by Hilton Austin 188
Embassy Suites Orlando - International Drive South/Convention Center 244 Embassy Suites Dallas - Love Field 248
Embassy Suites Tampa Downtown Convention Center 360 Hyatt Centric The Woodlands 72
Embassy Suites West Palm Beach Central 194 Residence Inn Austin Downtown Convention Center 179
Fairfield Inn & Suites Key West 106 Residence Inn Houston By The Galleria 146
Hilton Cabana Miami Beach 231 Residence Inn Houston Downtown Convention Center 171
Renaissance Fort Lauderdale West Hotel 250 SpringHill Suites Houston Downtown Convention Center 167
Georgia Washington
Courtyard Atlanta Buckhead 181 Homewood Suites Seattle Lynnwood 170
Embassy Suites Atlanta - Buckhead 326 Wisconsin
Hampton Inn and Suites Atlanta Midtown 186 Hyatt Place Madison Downtown 151
Hyatt Centric Midtown Atlanta 194
Residence Inn Atlanta Midtown Historic 90
Hawaii
Courtyard Waikiki Beach 404
Illinois
Courtyard Chicago Downtown Magnificent Mile 306
Courtyard Midway Airport 174
Fairfield Inn & Suites Chicago Midway Airport 114
Hampton Inn Chicago Midway Airport 170
Hilton Garden Inn Chicago Midway Airport 174
Holiday Inn Express & Suites Midway Airport 104
Marriott Chicago Midway 200
Sleep Inn Midway Airport 121
(1)We own an indirect 50% ownership interest in this hotel property and we account for the ownership interest using the equity method of accounting. This hotel property is operated without a lease.
(2)We own a 95.0% controlling ownership interest in this hotel property.
Management Agreements
In order to qualify as a REIT, we cannot directly or indirectly operate any of our hotel properties. We lease all but one of our hotel properties to TRS lessees, which in turn engage hotel property management companies to manage our hotel properties. All of our hotel properties are operated pursuant to a management agreement with one of 15 independent management companies. 29 of our hotel properties receive the benefits of a franchise agreement pursuant to a management agreement with Hilton, Hyatt, or Marriott.
As of December 31, 2021, Aimbridge was the management company for 30 of our hotel properties. Our remaining 68 hotel properties were managed by 14 other management companies, including Hilton, Hyatt and Marriott.
The management agreements have initial terms that range from one to 25 years, and some provide for one or two automatic extension periods ranging from one to 10 years each.
Each management company receives a base management fee between 1.75% and 3.5% of hotel revenues. The management agreements that include the benefits of a franchise agreement incur a base management fee between 2.0% and 7.0% of hotel revenues.
The management companies are also eligible to receive an incentive management fee upon the achievement of certain financial thresholds as set forth in each applicable management agreement. The incentive management fee is generally calculated as a percentage of hotel net operating income after we have received a priority return on our investment in the hotel.
Each of the management agreements provides us with a right to terminate such management agreement if the management company fails to reach certain performance targets (as provided in the applicable management agreement). Certain management agreements also provide us with a right to terminate the management agreement in our sole and absolute discretion. In addition, certain management agreements give us the right to terminate the management agreement upon the sale of the hotel property or for any reason upon payment of a stipulated termination fee. Subject to certain qualifications and applicable cure periods, the management agreements are generally terminable by either party upon material casualty, or condemnation of the hotel property, or the occurrence of certain customary events of default. Certain management agreements also stipulate that in the event that a management company elects to terminate a management agreement due to an event of default by us, the management company may elect to recover a termination fee, as liquidated damages, equal to 2.5 times the actual base management fee and incentive management fee earned by the management company under that management agreement in the fiscal year immediately preceding the fiscal year in which such termination occurred.
Many of our Aimbridge and White Lodging Services ("WLS") management agreements state that we cannot sell the applicable hotel property to any unrelated third party or engage in certain change of control actions (1) if we are in default under the management agreement, or (2) with or to a person or entity that is known in the community as being of bad moral character or has been convicted of a felony or is in control of or controlled by persons convicted of a felony or would be in violation of any franchise agreement requirements applicable to us. In addition, those Aimbridge and WLS management agreements further require that any future owner of the applicable hotel property, at the option of the management company, assume the management agreement or enter into a new management agreement for such hotel property.
Franchise Agreements
As of December 31, 2021, 68 of our hotels operated under franchise agreements with Marriott, Hilton, Hyatt or other hotel brands. This excludes 29 hotel properties that receive the benefits of a franchise agreement pursuant to management agreements with Hilton, Hyatt, or Marriott. In addition, The Knickerbocker is not operated with a hotel brand so the hotel does not have a franchise agreement.
The franchisors provide a variety of benefits to the franchisees, including centralized reservation systems, national advertising, marketing programs and publicity designed to increase brand awareness, personnel training and operational quality at the hotels across the brand system. The franchise agreements generally specify management, operational, record-keeping, accounting, reporting and marketing standards and procedures, all of which our TRS lessees, as the franchisees, must follow. The franchise agreements require our TRS lessees to comply with the franchisors' standards and requirements, including the training of operational personnel, safety, maintaining specified insurance, the types of services and products ancillary to guest room services that may be provided by the TRS lessee, the display of signage and the type, quality and age of furniture, fixtures and equipment included in the guest rooms and the nature of the lobbies and other common areas. The franchise agreements have initial terms ranging from one to 30 years. Each of our franchise agreements require that we pay a royalty fee between 3.0% and 6.0% of room revenue, plus additional fees for marketing, central reservation systems and other franchisor costs
between 1.0% and 4.3% of room revenue. Certain hotels are also charged a royalty fee between 1.5% and 3.0% of food and beverage revenues.
The franchise agreements also provide for termination at the applicable franchisor's option upon the occurrence of certain events, including the failure to pay royalties and fees, the failure to perform our obligations under the franchise license, bankruptcy and the abandonment of the franchise, or a change in control. The TRS lessee is responsible for making all payments under the applicable franchise agreement to the franchisor; however, we are required to guarantee the obligations under each of the franchise agreements. In addition, many of our existing franchise agreements provide the franchisor with a right of first offer in the event of certain sales or transfers of a hotel and provide the franchisor the right to approve a change in the management company who manages the hotel.
TRS Leases
In order for us to qualify as a REIT, neither our company nor any of our subsidiaries may directly or indirectly operate any of our hotels. The subsidiaries of the Operating Partnership, as the lessors, lease our hotels to our TRS lessees, which, in turn, are the parties to the existing management agreements with the third-party management companies at each of our hotels. The TRS leases contain the provisions that are described below. For the hotels that are acquired in the future, we intend for the leases to contain substantially similar provisions as to those described below; however, we may, in our discretion, alter any of these provisions with respect to any particular lease.
Lease Terms
Our TRS leases have initial terms of generally three years and a majority of the leases can be renewed by our TRS lessees for three successive three-year renewal terms unless the lessee is in default at the expiration of the then-current term. In addition, our TRS leases are subject to early termination by us in the event that we sell the hotel to an unaffiliated party, a change in control occurs or the applicable provisions of the Code are amended to permit us to operate our hotels. Our TRS leases are also subject to early termination upon the occurrence of certain events of default and/or other contingencies described in the lease.
Amounts Payable under the Leases
During the term of each TRS lease, our TRS lessees are obligated to pay us a fixed annual base rent plus a percentage rent and certain other additional charges that our TRS lessees agree to pay under the terms of the respective TRS lease. The percentage rent is calculated based on the revenues generated from the rental of guest rooms, food and beverage sales, and certain other sources, including meeting room rentals.
The TRS leases require our TRS lessees to pay rent, all costs and expenses, management fees, franchise fees, personal property taxes, certain insurance policies and all utility and other charges incurred in the operation of the hotels. The leases also provide for rent reductions and abatements in the event of damage to, destruction, or a partial taking of, any hotel. All of the above mentioned intercompany transactions eliminate in consolidation.
Maintenance and Modifications
Under each TRS lease, the TRS lessee may, at its expense, make additions, modifications or improvements to the hotel that it deems desirable, and that we approve. In addition, our TRS lessees are required, at their expense, to maintain the hotels in good order and repair, except for ordinary wear and tear, and to make repairs that may be necessary and appropriate to keep the hotel in good order and repair. Under the TRS lease, we are responsible for maintaining, at our cost, any underground utilities or structural elements, including the exterior walls and the roof of the hotel (excluding, among other things, windows and mechanical, electrical and plumbing systems). Each TRS lessee, when and as required to meet the standards of the applicable management agreement, any applicable hotel franchise agreement, or to satisfy the requirements of any lender, must establish an FF&E reserve in an amount equal to up to 5% of gross revenue for the purpose of periodically repairing, replacing or refurbishing the furnishings and equipment.
Events of Default
The events of default under each of the leases include, among others: the failure by a TRS lessee to pay rent when due; the breach by a TRS lessee of a covenant, condition or term under the lease, subject to the applicable cure period; the bankruptcy or insolvency of a TRS lessee; cessation of operations by a TRS lessee of the leased hotel for more than 30 days, except as a result of damage, destruction, or a partial or complete condemnation; or the default by a TRS lessee under a franchise agreement subject to any applicable cure period.
Termination of Leases on Disposition of the Hotels or Change of Control
In the event that we sell a hotel to a non-affiliate or a change of control occurs, we generally have the right to terminate the lease by paying the applicable TRS lessee a termination fee to be governed by the terms and conditions of the lease.
Ground Leases
As of December 31, 2021, 13 of our consolidated hotel properties and our unconsolidated hotel property were subject to ground lease agreements that cover the land under the respective hotel properties. Additional information on the ground leases can be found in Note 11 to our accompanying consolidated financial statements.

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ITEM 3. LEGAL PROCEEDINGS
Item 3. Legal Proceedings
The nature of the operations of our hotels exposes our hotel properties, us and the Operating Partnership to the risk of claims and litigation in the normal course of business. Other than routine litigation arising out of the ordinary course of business, we are not presently subject to any material litigation nor, to our knowledge, is any material litigation threatened against us.

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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
Our common shares are traded on the New York Stock Exchange ("NYSE") under the symbol "RLJ." For each quarterly period during the years ended December 31, 2021 and 2020, we paid a cash dividend of $0.01 per common share.
On December 31, 2021 and February 17, 2022, the closing price of our common shares as reported on the NYSE was $13.93 and $15.22, respectively.
Share Return Performance
The graph and the table set forth below assume $100 was invested on December 31, 2016 in RLJ Lodging Trust's common shares. The graph and the table compare the total shareholder return of our common shares against the cumulative total returns of the Standard & Poor's 500 Index ("S&P 500 Index") and the Dow Jones U.S. Select Real Estate Hotels Index ("Dow Jones US REIT Hotels Index") between December 31, 2016 and December 31, 2021. The graph assumes an initial investment of $100.00 in our common shares and in each of the indices, and it also assumes the reinvestment of dividends.
Name Initial Investment at December 31, 2016 Value of Initial
Investment at
December 31, 2017 Value of Initial
Investment at
December 31, 2018 Value of Initial
Investment at
December 31, 2019 Value of Initial
Investment at
December 31, 2020 Value of Initial
Investment at
December 31, 2021
RLJ Lodging Trust $ 100.00 $ 95.34 $ 76.07 $ 88.56 $ 71.01 $ 70.10
S&P 500 Index $ 100.00 $ 121.83 $ 116.49 $ 153.18 $ 181.36 $ 233.43
Dow Jones US REIT Hotels Index $ 100.00 $ 105.07 $ 100.27 $ 126.18 $ 116.63 $ 166.85
This performance graph shall not be deemed to be "filed" for the purposes of Section 18 of the Securities Exchange Act of 1934, as amended, or incorporated by reference into any filing by us under the Securities Act of 1933, as amended, or the Securities Exchange Act, except as shall be expressly set forth by specific reference in such filing.
Shareholder Information
At February 17, 2022, we had 191 holders of record of our common shares. However, because many of our common shares are held by brokers and other institutions on behalf of shareholders, we believe there are substantially more beneficial holders of our common shares than holders of record. At February 17, 2022, there were 12 holders (other than our company) of our OP units. Our OP units are redeemable for cash or, at our election, for our common shares.
In order to comply with certain requirements related to our qualification as a REIT, our declaration of trust provides that, subject to certain exceptions, no person or entity (other than a person or entity who has been granted an exception) may directly or indirectly, beneficially or constructively, own more than 9.8% of the aggregate of our outstanding common shares, by value or by number of shares, whichever is more restrictive, or 9.8% of the aggregate of the outstanding preferred shares of any class or series, by value or by number of shares, whichever is more restrictive.
Distribution Information
We intend, over time, to make quarterly distributions to our common shareholders. In order to qualify and maintain our qualification for taxation as a REIT, we intend to make annual distributions to our shareholders of at least 90% of our REIT taxable income, determined without regard to the deduction for dividends paid and excluding any net capital gain.
The credit agreements governing our $600.0 million unsecured revolving credit facility (the "Revolver") and our unsecured term loans (the "Term Loans") limit our ability to pay dividends under certain circumstances. If an event of default exists, we may only pay cash dividends in an aggregate amount with respect to any fiscal year not to exceed the greater of (a) the minimum amount required for us to maintain our status as a REIT under Sections 856 through 860 of the Code, or (b) the amount necessary to avoid income or excise tax under the Code. However, if the event of default is a payment default or bankruptcy related, we may not make any cash dividend payments. So long as no event of default exists, the credit agreements do not restrict our ability to pay cash dividends.
The terms of our outstanding preferred stock prohibit us from paying dividends on our common shares unless all accrued preferred dividends then payable have been paid.
Any future distributions will be at the sole discretion of our board of trustees, and their form, timing and amount, if any, will depend upon a number of factors, including our actual and projected financial condition, liquidity, EBITDA, FFO and results of operations, the revenue we actually receive from our properties, our operating expenses, our debt service requirements, our capital expenditures, prohibitions and other limitations under our financing arrangements, as described above, our REIT taxable income, the annual REIT distribution requirements, applicable law and such other factors as our board of trustees deems relevant. To the extent that our cash available for distribution is less than 90% of our REIT taxable income, we may consider various means to cover any such shortfall, including borrowing under the Revolver or other loans, selling certain of our assets, or using a portion of the net proceeds we receive from offerings of equity, equity-related or debt securities or declaring taxable share dividends.
Unregistered Sales of Equity Securities
The Company did not sell any securities during the fiscal year ended December 31, 2021 that were not registered under the Securities Act of 1933, as amended (the "Securities Act").
Issuer Purchases of Equity Securities
The following table summarizes all of the share repurchases during the quarter ended December 31, 2021:
Period Total number
of shares
purchased (1) Average price
paid per share Total number of
shares purchased
as part of publicly
announced plans
or programs Maximum number
of shares that may
yet be purchased
under the plans or
programs
October 1, 2021 through October 31, 2021 - $ - - N/A
November 1, 2021 through November 30, 2021 6,612 $ 13.88 - N/A
December 1, 2021 through December 31, 2021 - $ - - N/A
Total 6,612 -
(1)Includes surrendered common shares owned by certain employees to satisfy their statutory minimum federal and state tax obligations associated with the vesting of restricted common shares of beneficial interest issued under the RLJ Lodging Trust 2021 Equity Incentive Plan ("2021 Plan").

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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 our accompanying consolidated financial statements, the related notes included thereto, and Item 1A., "Risk Factors", all of which appear elsewhere in this Annual Report on Form 10-K.
Overview
We are a self-advised and self-administered Maryland REIT that owns primarily premium-branded, high-margin, focused-service and compact full-service hotels. Our hotels are concentrated in markets that we believe exhibit multiple demand generators and attractive long-term growth prospects. We believe premium-branded, focused-service and compact full-service hotels with these characteristics generate high levels of RevPAR, strong operating margins and attractive returns. Focused-service and compact full-service hotels typically generate most of their revenue from room rentals, have limited food and beverage outlets and meeting space and require fewer employees than traditional full-service hotels. We believe these types of hotels have the potential to generate attractive returns relative to other types of hotels due to their ability to achieve RevPAR levels at or close to those achieved by traditional full-service hotels, while achieving higher profit margins due to their more efficient operating model and less volatile cash flows.
COVID-19
The global outbreak of COVID-19 and the public health measures that have been undertaken in response have had, and will likely continue to have, a material adverse impact on the global economy and all aspects of our business. Significant events affecting travel, including the COVID-19 pandemic, typically have an impact on booking patterns, with the full extent of the impact generally determined by the duration of the event and its impact on travel decisions. The effects of the COVID-19 pandemic could have lasting changes in consumer behavior that could create headwinds for our hotel properties. Since we cannot estimate when the COVID-19 pandemic and the responsive measures to combat it will end, we cannot estimate the ultimate operational and financial impact of the COVID-19 pandemic on our business.
The effects of the COVID-19 pandemic have significantly impacted our operations, and combined with macroeconomic trends such as reduced business spending, including on travel, and a labor shortage, which has led to higher labor costs, lead us to believe that the ongoing effects of the COVID-19 pandemic on our operations will continue to have an adverse impact on our financial results.
For more information, see "Part I - Item 1A. Risk Factors" included elsewhere in this Annual Report on Form 10-K.
Our Customers
The majority of our hotels consist of premium-branded, focused-service and compact full-service hotels. As a result of this property profile, the majority of our customers are transient in nature. Transient business typically represents individual business or leisure travelers. The majority of our hotels are located in business districts within major metropolitan areas. Accordingly, business travelers represent the majority of the transient demand at our hotels. As a result, the effects of COVID-19 and other factors impacting business travel have a greater effect on our business than factors impacting leisure travel.
Group business is typically defined as a minimum of 10 guestrooms booked together as part of the same piece of business. Group business may or may not use the meeting space at any given hotel. Given the limited meeting space at the majority of our hotels, group business that utilizes meeting space represents a small component of our customer base.
A number of our hotel properties are affiliated with brands marketed toward extended-stay customers. Extended-stay customers are generally defined as those staying five nights or longer.
Key Indicators of Operating Performance
We use a variety of operating, financial and other information to evaluate the operating performance of our business. These key indicators include financial information that is prepared in accordance with accounting principles generally accepted in the United States of America ("GAAP") as well as other financial measures that are non-GAAP measures. In addition, we use other information that may not be financial in nature, including industry standard statistical information and comparative data. We use this information to measure the operating performance of our individual hotels, groups of hotels and/or business as a whole. We also use these metrics to evaluate the hotels in our portfolio and potential acquisition opportunities to determine each hotel's contribution to cash flow and its potential to provide attractive long-term total returns. The key indicators include:
•Average Daily Rate - ADR represents the total hotel room revenues divided by the total number of rooms sold in a given period. ADR measures the average room price attained by a hotel and ADR trends provide useful information concerning the pricing environment and the nature of the customer base at a hotel or group of hotels. We use ADR to assess the pricing levels that we are able to generate, as changes in rates have a greater impact on operating margins and profitability than changes in occupancy.
•Occupancy - Occupancy represents the total number of hotel rooms sold in a given period divided by the total number of rooms available. Occupancy measures the utilization of our hotels' available capacity. We use occupancy to measure demand at a specific hotel or group of hotels in a given period. Additionally, occupancy levels help us determine the achievable ADR levels.
•Revenue Per Available Room - RevPAR is the product of ADR and occupancy. RevPAR does not include non-room revenues, such as food and beverage revenue or other revenue. We use RevPAR to identify trend information with respect to room revenues from comparable hotel properties and to evaluate hotel performance on a regional basis.
RevPAR changes that are primarily driven by changes in occupancy have different implications for overall revenues and profitability than the changes that are driven primarily by changes in ADR. For example, an increase in occupancy at a hotel would lead to additional variable operating costs (including housekeeping services, utilities and room supplies) and could also result in an increase in other revenue and other operating expense. Changes in ADR typically have a greater impact on operating margins and profitability as they only have a limited effect on variable operating costs.
ADR, Occupancy and RevPAR are commonly used measures within the lodging industry to evaluate operating performance. RevPAR is an important statistic for monitoring operating performance at the individual hotel property level and across our entire business. We evaluate individual hotel RevPAR performance on an absolute basis with comparisons to budget and prior periods, as well as on a regional and company-wide basis. ADR and RevPAR include only room revenue. Room revenue comprised approximately 85.0% of our total revenues for the year ended December 31, 2021, and it is dictated by demand (as measured by occupancy), pricing (as measured by ADR) and our available supply of hotel rooms.
We also use non-GAAP measures such as FFO, Adjusted FFO, EBITDA, EBITDAre and Adjusted EBITDA to evaluate the operating performance of our business. For a more in depth discussion of the non-GAAP measures, please refer to the "Non-GAAP Financial Measures" section.
Principal Factors Affecting Our Results of Operations
The principal factors affecting our operating results include the overall demand for lodging compared to the supply of available hotel rooms and other lodging options, and the ability of our third-party management companies to increase or maintain revenues while controlling expenses.
•Demand - The demand for lodging, especially business travel, generally fluctuates with the overall economy. Historically, periods of declining demand are followed by extended periods of relatively strong demand, which typically occurs during the growth phase of the lodging cycle.
•Supply - The development of new hotels is driven largely by construction costs, the availability of financing, the expected performance of existing hotels and other lodging options.
We expect that our ADR, Occupancy and RevPAR performance will be impacted by macroeconomic factors such as regional and local employment growth, government spending, personal income and corporate earnings, office vacancy rates, business relocation decisions, airport activity, business and leisure travel demand, new hotel construction and the pricing strategies of our competitors. In addition, our ADR, Occupancy and RevPAR performance are dependent on the continued success of the Marriott, Hilton and Hyatt hotel brands.
•Revenues - Substantially all of our revenues are derived from the operation of hotels. Specifically, our revenues are comprised of:
◦Room revenue - Occupancy and ADR are the major drivers of room revenue. Room revenue accounts for the majority of our total revenues.
◦Food and beverage revenue - Occupancy, the nature of the hotel property and the type of customer staying at the hotel are the major drivers of food and beverage revenue (i.e., group business typically generates more food and beverage revenue through catering functions as compared to transient business, which may or may not utilize the hotel's food and beverage outlets).
◦Other revenue - Occupancy and the nature of the hotel property are the main drivers of other ancillary revenue, such as parking fees, resort fees, gift shop sales and other guest service fees. Some hotels, due to the limited focus of the services offered and size or space limitations at the hotel, may not have the type of facilities that generate other revenue.
•Property Operating Expenses - The components of our property operating expenses are as follows:
◦Room expense - These expenses include housekeeping and front office wages and payroll taxes, reservation systems, room supplies, laundry services and other room-related costs. Like room revenue, occupancy is the major driver of room expense. These costs can increase based on an increase in salaries and wages, as well as the level of service and amenities that are provided at the hotel property.
◦Food and beverage expense - These expenses primarily include food, beverage and labor costs. Occupancy and the type of customer staying at the hotel (i.e., catered functions are generally more profitable than restaurant, bar, and other food and beverage outlets that are located on the hotel property) are the major drivers of food and beverage expense, which correlates closely with food and beverage revenue.
◦Management and franchise fee expense - A base management fee is computed as a percentage of gross hotel revenues. An incentive management fee is typically paid when the hotel's operating income exceeds certain thresholds, and it is generally calculated as a percentage of hotel operating income after we have received a priority return on our investment in the hotel. A franchise fee is computed as a percentage of room revenue, plus an additional percentage of room revenue for marketing, central reservation systems and other franchisor costs. Certain hotels will also pay an additional franchise fee which is computed as a percentage of food and beverage revenue. For a more in depth discussion of the management and franchise fees, please refer to the "Our Hotel Properties - Management Agreements" and "Our Hotel Properties - Franchise Agreements" sections.
◦Other operating expense - These expenses include labor and other costs associated with the sources of our other revenue, as well as the labor and other costs associated with the administrative departments, sales and marketing, repairs and maintenance, and utility costs at the hotel properties.
Most categories of variable operating expenses, including labor costs, fluctuate with changes in occupancy. Increases in occupancy are accompanied by increases in most categories of variable operating expenses, while increases in ADR typically only result in increases in certain categories of operating costs and expenses, such as management fees, franchise fees, travel agency commissions, and credit card processing fees, all of which are based on hotel revenues. Therefore, changes in ADR have a more significant impact on operating margins than changes in occupancy.
2021 Significant Activities
Our significant activities reflect our commitment to creating long-term shareholder value through enhancing our hotel portfolio's quality, recycling capital and maintaining a flexible capital structure. During the year ended December 31, 2021, the following significant activities took place:
•We issued $500.0 million aggregate principal amount of 2029 Senior Notes (as defined below) that bear interest at a rate of 4.00% per annum. We used the net proceeds of the offering to redeem all of the outstanding 2025 Senior Notes (as defined below).
•We issued $500.0 million aggregate principal amount of 2026 Senior Notes (as defined below) that bear interest at a rate of 3.75% per annum. We used the net proceeds of the offering to repay $335.5 million of our Term Loans (as defined below) and $142.2 million of our mortgage loans.
•We amended our Revolver (as defined below) and Term Loans, which included a waiver of quarterly financial covenants through the first quarter of 2022. The amendments also included adding a one-year extension option on approximately $225.0 million on our two 2023 maturing term loans.
•We extended the maturity of $100.0 million of our $150.0 million Term Loan (as defined below) from January 2022 to June 2023, with an additional one-year extension option to June 2024.
•We sold seven hotel properties in seven separate transactions for a combined sales price of approximately $208.5 million.
•We acquired the 186-room Hampton Inn and Suites Atlanta Midtown, 205-room AC Hotel Boston Downtown, and 170-room Moxy Denver Cherry Creek for $58.0 million, $89.0 million, and $51.3 million, respectively.
Results of Operations
At December 31, 2021 and 2020, we owned 98 and 103 hotel properties, respectively. Based on when a hotel property is acquired, sold, or otherwise disposed, the operating results for certain hotel properties are not comparable for the years ended December 31, 2021 and 2020. For the comparison between the years ended December 31, 2021 and 2020, the non-comparable properties include nine hotels that were sold or otherwise disposed and three hotels acquired between January 1, 2020 and December 31, 2021.
For similar operating and financial data and discussion of our results for the year ended December 31, 2020 compared to our results for the year ended December 31, 2019, refer to Item 7, “Management’s Discussion and Analysis of Financial Condition and Results of Operations” under Part II of our annual report on Form 10-K for the year ended December 31, 2020, which was filed with the SEC on February 26, 2021 and is incorporated herein by reference.
COVID-19
Beginning in March 2020, we experienced a significant decline in occupancy and RevPAR due to the COVID-19 pandemic. In response to the government-mandated stay-in-place orders and the significant reduction in demand due to the COVID-19 pandemic, we initially suspended operations at 57 hotels. As stay-in-place restrictions were lifted, we developed a framework to open hotels in a socially and financially responsible manner. Based on this framework, we began reopening hotels during the quarter ended June 30, 2020. During the year ended December 31, 2021, we benefited from significant growth in demand as a result of increased vaccine distribution, easing of government restrictions and pent-up leisure demand. These trends, combined with our reopening strategy and continuing stringent cost containment initiatives, led to a significant improvement in our results of operations for the year ended December 31, 2021 as compared to the same period in 2020.
Comparison of the year ended December 31, 2021 to the year ended December 31, 2020
For the year ended December 31,
2021 2020 $ Change
(amounts in thousands)
Revenues
Operating revenues
Room revenue $ 667,853 $ 397,754 $ 270,099
Food and beverage revenue 58,994 40,384 18,610
Other revenue 58,817 34,949 23,868
Total revenues 785,664 473,087 312,577
Expenses
Operating expenses
Room expense 177,365 124,063 53,302
Food and beverage expense 41,790 35,220 6,570
Management and franchise fee expense 53,276 21,057 32,219
Other operating expense 239,092 211,216 27,876
Total property operating expenses 511,523 391,556 119,967
Depreciation and amortization 187,778 194,168 (6,390)
Impairment losses 144,845 - 144,845
Property tax, insurance and other 88,852 103,470 (14,618)
General and administrative 47,526 41,141 6,385
Transaction costs 94 (158) 252
Total operating expenses 980,618 730,177 250,441
Other (expense) income, net (7,614) 1,941 (9,555)
Interest income 996 4,237 (3,241)
Interest expense (106,366) (100,169) (6,197)
(Loss) gain on sale of hotel properties, net (2,378) 2,703 (5,081)
Gain on extinguishment of indebtedness, net 893 - 893
Loss before equity in loss from unconsolidated joint ventures (309,423) (348,378) 38,955
Equity in loss from unconsolidated joint ventures (477) (8,454) 7,977
Loss before income tax expense (309,900) (356,832) 46,932
Income tax expense (1,188) (51,970) 50,782
Net loss (311,088) (408,802) 97,714
Net loss attributable to noncontrolling interests:
Noncontrolling interest in consolidated joint ventures 4,384 2,327 2,057
Noncontrolling interest in the Operating Partnership 1,536 2,034 (498)
Net loss attributable to RLJ (305,168) (404,441) 99,273
Preferred dividends (25,115) (25,115) -
Net loss attributable to common shareholders $ (330,283) $ (429,556) $ 99,273
Revenues
Total revenues increased $312.6 million to $785.7 million for the year ended December 31, 2021, from $473.1 million for the year ended December 31, 2020. The increase was a result of a $270.1 million increase in room revenue, a $18.6 million increase in food and beverage revenue, and a $23.9 million increase in other revenue.
Room Revenue
Room revenue increased $270.1 million to $667.9 million for the year ended December 31, 2021, from $397.8 million for the year ended December 31, 2020. The increase was the result of a $275.7 million increase in room revenue attributable to the comparable properties, which was partially offset by a $5.6 million decrease in room revenue attributable to the non-comparable properties. The increase in room revenue from the comparable properties was attributable to an increase in RevPAR primarily resulting from an increase in demand as a result of increased vaccine distribution, easing of government restrictions, and pent-up demand for leisure travel. Though RevPAR increased over the comparable period in 2020 due to these factors, it remained below the comparable period in 2019.
The following are the key hotel operating statistics for the comparable properties:
For the year ended December 31,
2021 2020 2019
Occupancy 57.6 % 34.2 % 78.7 %
ADR $ 148.48 $ 144.20 $ 183.71
RevPAR $ 85.52 $ 49.35 $ 144.64
Food and Beverage Revenue
Food and beverage revenue increased $18.6 million to $59.0 million for the year ended December 31, 2021, from $40.4 million for the year ended December 31, 2020. The increase was the result of a $19.5 million increase in food and beverage revenue attributable to the comparable properties, which was partially offset by a $0.5 million decrease in food and beverage revenue attributable to the non-comparable properties. The increase in food and beverage revenue attributable to the comparable properties was primarily due to an increase in demand as a result of increased vaccine distribution, easing of government restrictions, and pent-up demand for leisure travel.
Other Revenue
Other revenue, which includes revenue derived from ancillary sources such as parking fees, resort fees, gift shop sales and other guest service fees, increased $23.9 million to $58.8 million for the year ended December 31, 2021, from $34.9 million for the year ended December 31, 2020. The increase in other revenue was primarily due to an increase in demand as a result of increased vaccine distribution, easing of government restrictions, and pent-up demand for leisure travel.
Property Operating Expenses
Property operating expenses increased $120.0 million to $511.5 million for the year ended December 31, 2021, from $391.6 million for the year ended December 31, 2020. The increase was due to a $139.5 million increase in property operating expenses attributable to the comparable properties, which was partially offset by a $19.4 million decrease in property operating expenses attributable to the non-comparable properties. The reasons underlying such changes are illustrated in the following chart and accompanying paragraph.
The components of our property operating expenses for the comparable properties owned at December 31, 2021 and 2020, respectively, were as follows (in thousands):
For the year ended December 31,
2021 2020 $ Change
Room expense $ 172,404 $ 112,671 $ 59,733
Food and beverage expense 41,703 33,467 8,236
Management and franchise fee expense 51,693 18,782 32,911
Other operating expense 228,814 190,216 38,598
Total property operating expenses $ 494,614 $ 355,136 $ 139,478
The increase in property operating expenses attributable to the comparable properties was due to an increase in occupancy over the prior period due to an increase in demand as a result of increased vaccine distribution, easing of government restrictions, and pent-up demand for leisure travel. The occupancy-related increase in property operating expenses was partially offset by continuing stringent cost containment initiatives. Management and franchise fee expense for the years ended December 31, 2021 and 2020 included a reduction in management and franchise fee expense of $14.1 million and $17.8 million, respectively, related to the recognition of the Wyndham termination payment.
Depreciation and Amortization
Depreciation and amortization expense decreased $6.4 million to $187.8 million for the year ended December 31, 2021, from $194.2 million for the year ended December 31, 2020. The decrease was the result of a $5.2 million decrease in depreciation and amortization expense attributable to the comparable properties and a $1.2 million decrease in depreciation and amortization expense attributable to the non-comparable properties. The decrease in depreciation and amortization expense
attributable to the comparable properties was primarily related to furniture, fixtures and equipment that were fully depreciated in 2020, partially offset by an increase in depreciation and amortization expense related to recently acquired and recently renovated hotels.
Impairment Losses
During the year ended December 31, 2021, we recorded impairment losses of $144.8 million. The impairment losses included $5.9 million related to two hotel properties that were sold in May 2021 and $138.9 million related to the DoubleTree
Metropolitan New York City that was sold in December 2021.
Property Tax, Insurance and Other
Property tax, insurance and other expense decreased $14.6 million to $88.9 million for the year ended December 31, 2021, from $103.5 million for the year ended December 31, 2020. The decrease was attributable to a $13.0 million decrease in property tax, insurance and other expense attributable to the comparable properties and a $1.6 million decrease in property tax, insurance and other expense attributable to the non-comparable properties. The decrease in property tax, insurance and other expense attributable to the comparable properties was primarily attributable to a decrease in real estate tax assessments, including final assessments of certain of our California hotels acquired in our merger with FelCor Lodging Trust, which resulted in a benefit of $5.4 million that was recorded during the year ended December 31, 2021. The decrease in real estate tax assessments was partially offset by an increase in insurance premiums and an increase in percentage rent obligations for certain of our ground leases.
General and Administrative
General and administrative expense increased $6.4 million to $47.5 million for the year ended December 31, 2021, from $41.1 million for the year ended December 31, 2020. The increase in general and administrative expense was primarily attributable to an increase in compensation-related expenses, primarily from non-cash compensation expense related to share-based awards granted during 2021, and an increase in debt modification, legal, and other costs outside the normal course of operations.
Other (Expense) Income, net
Other expense increased $9.6 million to $7.6 million for the year ended December 31, 2021, from income of $1.9 million for the year ended December 31, 2020. The increase was primarily attributable to the reclassification of unrealized losses from accumulated other comprehensive loss due to the termination of certain interest rate swap agreements that were previously designated against debt that was repaid with proceeds from the issuance of our 2026 Senior Notes.
Interest Expense
The components of our interest expense for the years ended December 31, 2021 and 2020 were as follows (in thousands):
For the year ended December 31,
2021 2020 $ Change
Senior Notes $ 34,079 $ 23,767 $ 10,312
Revolver and Term Loans 53,097 55,413 (2,316)
Mortgage loans 13,306 16,949 (3,643)
Amortization of deferred financing costs 5,884 4,416 1,468
Undesignated interest rate swaps - (376) 376
Total interest expense $ 106,366 $ 100,169 $ 6,197
Interest expense increased $6.2 million to $106.4 million for the year ended December 31, 2021, from $100.2 million for the year ended December 31, 2020. Interest expense was impacted by the $1.0 billion in gross proceeds from the issuance of new senior notes, the $484.4 million redemption of the existing senior notes, $356.3 million in repayment of term loans, $200.0 million in repayment on the Revolver, and $149.2 million in repayment of mortgage loans during year ended December 31, 2021. Additionally, interest expense on our variable rate debt increased due to higher effective interest rates after taking into account the impact of interest rate swaps in each of the periods.
(Loss) Gain on Sale of Hotel Properties, net
During the year ended December 31, 2021, we sold seven hotel properties for an aggregate sales price of approximately
$208.5 million and recorded a net loss on sales of $2.4 million. During the year ended December 31, 2020, we sold one hotel property for a sale price of approximately $4.9 million and recorded a net gain on sale of $2.7 million.
Equity in Loss from Unconsolidated Joint Ventures
Equity in loss from unconsolidated joint ventures decreased $8.0 million to $0.5 million for the year ended December 31, 2021 from $8.5 million for the year ended December 31, 2020. The decrease is primarily attributable to an impairment loss of $6.5 million in one of our unconsolidated joint ventures in 2020 that did not recur in 2021, and an increase in demand as compared to the prior period.
Income Taxes
As part of our structure, we own TRSs that are subject to U.S. federal and state income taxes. Income tax expense decreased $50.8 million to $1.2 million for the year ended December 31, 2021, from $52.0 million for the year ended December 31, 2020. The decrease in income tax expense was primarily due to recording a valuation allowance on 100% of our net deferred tax assets during the year ended December 31, 2020.
Non-GAAP Financial Measures
We consider the following non-GAAP financial measures useful to investors as key supplemental measures of our performance: (1) FFO, (2) Adjusted FFO, (3) EBITDA, (4) EBITDAre and (5) Adjusted EBITDA. These non-GAAP financial measures should be considered along with, but not as alternatives to, net income as a measure of our operating performance. FFO, Adjusted FFO, EBITDA, EBITDAre, and Adjusted EBITDA, as calculated by us, may not be comparable to FFO, Adjusted FFO, EBITDA, EBITDAre and Adjusted EBITDA as reported by other companies that do not define such terms exactly as we define such terms.
Funds From Operations
We calculate funds from operations ("FFO") in accordance with standards established by the National Association of Real Estate Investment Trusts ("NAREIT"), which defines FFO as net income or loss, excluding gains or losses from sales of real estate, impairment, the cumulative effect of changes in accounting principles, plus depreciation and amortization, 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 real estate industry investors consider FFO to be helpful in evaluating a real estate company’s operations. We believe that the presentation of FFO provides useful information to investors regarding our operating performance and can facilitate comparisons of operating performance between periods and between REITs, even though FFO does not represent an amount that accrues directly to common shareholders. Our calculation of FFO may not be comparable to measures calculated by other companies who do not use the NAREIT definition of FFO or do not calculate FFO per diluted share in accordance with NAREIT guidance. Additionally, FFO may not be helpful when comparing us to non-REITs. We present FFO attributable to common shareholders, which includes our OP units, because our OP units may be redeemed for common shares. We believe it is meaningful for the investor to understand FFO attributable to all common shares and OP units.
We further adjust FFO for certain additional items that are not in NAREIT’s definition of FFO, such as hotel transaction costs, pre-opening costs, non-cash income tax expense or benefit, the amortization of share-based compensation, and certain other income or expenses that we consider outside the normal course of operations. We believe that Adjusted FFO provides useful supplemental information to investors regarding our ongoing operating performance that, when considered with net income and FFO, is beneficial to an investor’s understanding of our operating performance.
The following table is a reconciliation of our GAAP net loss to FFO attributable to common shareholders and unitholders and Adjusted FFO attributable to common shareholders and unitholders for the years ended December 31, 2021 and 2020 (in thousands):
For the year ended December 31,
2021 2020
Net loss $ (311,088) $ (408,802)
Preferred dividends (25,115) (25,115)
Depreciation and amortization 187,778 194,168
Impairment losses 144,845 -
Loss (gain) on sale of hotel properties, net 2,378 (2,703)
Noncontrolling interest in consolidated joint ventures 4,384 2,327
Adjustments related to consolidated joint ventures (1) (2,780) (298)
Adjustments related to unconsolidated joint ventures (2) 1,168 8,299
FFO 1,570 (232,124)
Transaction costs 94 (158)
Gain on extinguishment of indebtedness, net (893) -
Amortization of share-based compensation 17,054 12,200
Non-cash income tax expense (40) 51,486
Unrealized gain on discontinued cash flow hedges - (376)
Corporate and property-level severance (3) 904 8,653
Derivative losses in accumulated other comprehensive loss reclassified to earnings (4) 10,658 -
Other expenses (income) (5) 2,086 (1,125)
Adjusted FFO $ 31,433 $ (161,444)
(1)Includes depreciation and amortization expense, impairment loss and loss on sale of hotel allocated to the noncontrolling interest in the consolidated joint ventures.
(2)Includes our ownership interest in the depreciation and amortization expense and impairment loss of the unconsolidated joint ventures.
(3)The year ended December 31, 2021 includes severance for associates at hotels operating under collective bargaining agreements. The year ended December 31, 2020 includes $6.7 million related to severance for associates at our New York City hotels operating under collective bargaining agreements.
(4)Reclassification of unrealized losses from accumulated other comprehensive loss due to the termination of certain interest rate swap agreements that were previously designated against debt that was repaid with proceeds from the issuance of our 2026 Senior Notes.
(5)Represents income and expenses outside of the normal course of operations including debt modification costs, legal and other costs, and hurricane-related costs that were not reimbursed by insurance. Other income for the year ended December 31, 2020 includes a benefit of $1.8 million due to the reversal of an excess accrued liability related to a labor matter.
EBITDA and EBITDAre
Earnings before interest, taxes, depreciation and amortization ("EBITDA") is defined as net income or loss excluding: (1) interest expense; (2) provision for income taxes, including income taxes applicable to sales of assets; and (3) depreciation and amortization. We consider EBITDA useful to an investor in evaluating and facilitating comparisons of our operating performance between periods and between REITs by removing the impact of our capital structure (primarily interest expense) and asset base (primarily depreciation and amortization) from our operating results. In addition, EBITDA is used as one measure in determining the value of hotel acquisitions and disposals.
In addition to EBITDA, we present EBITDAre in accordance with NAREIT guidelines, which defines EBITDAre as net income or loss excluding interest expense, income tax benefit or expense, depreciation and amortization expense, gains or losses from sales of real estate, impairment, and adjustments for unconsolidated joint ventures. We believe that the presentation of EBITDAre provides useful information to investors regarding our operating performance and can facilitate comparisons of operating performance between periods and between REITs.
We also present Adjusted EBITDA, which includes additional adjustments for items such as gains or losses on extinguishment of indebtedness, transaction costs, the amortization of share-based compensation, pre-opening costs, and certain other income or expenses that we consider outside the normal course of operations. We believe that Adjusted EBITDA provides useful supplemental information to investors regarding our ongoing operating performance that, when considered with net income, EBITDA and EBITDAre, is beneficial to an investor’s understanding of our operating performance.
The following table is a reconciliation of our GAAP net loss to EBITDA, EBITDAre and Adjusted EBITDA for the years ended December 31, 2021 and 2020 (in thousands):
For the year ended December 31,
2021 2020
Net loss $ (311,088) $ (408,802)
Depreciation and amortization 187,778 194,168
Interest expense, net 105,370 95,932
Income tax expense 1,188 51,970
Adjustments related to unconsolidated joint ventures (1) 1,633 2,237
EBITDA (15,119) (64,495)
Loss (gain) on sale of hotel properties, net 2,378 (2,703)
Impairment losses 144,845 -
Impairment loss of unconsolidated joint ventures (2) - 6,546
EBITDAre
132,104 (60,652)
Transaction costs 94 (158)
Gain on extinguishment of indebtedness, net (893) -
Amortization of share-based compensation 17,054 12,200
Corporate and property-level severance (3) 904 8,653
Derivative losses in accumulated other comprehensive loss reclassified to earnings (4) 10,658 -
Other expenses (income) (5) 2,086 (1,125)
Adjusted EBITDA $ 162,007 $ (41,082)
(1)Includes our ownership interest in the interest, depreciation, and amortization expense of the unconsolidated joint ventures.
(2)Includes our ownership interest in the impairment loss of one of our unconsolidated joint ventures.
(3)The year ended December 31, 2021 includes severance for associates at hotels operating under collective bargaining agreements. The year ended December 31, 2020 includes $6.7 million related to severance for associates at our New York City hotels operating under collective bargaining agreements.
(4)Reclassification of unrealized losses from accumulated other comprehensive loss due to the termination of certain interest rate swap agreements that were previously designated against debt that was repaid with proceeds from the issuance of our 2026 Senior Notes.
(5)Represents income and expenses outside of the normal course of operations including debt modification costs, legal and other costs, and hurricane-related costs that were not reimbursed by insurance. Other income for the year ended December 31, 2020 includes a benefit of $1.8 million due to the reversal of an excess accrued liability related to a labor matter.
Liquidity and Capital Resources
As of December 31, 2021, we had $713.9 million of cash, cash equivalents, and restricted cash reserves as compared to $934.8 million at December 31, 2020. In addition, we had $400.0 million available on our $600.0 million Revolver at December 31, 2021. In February 2022, we paid off the outstanding balance on the Revolver using cash on hand.
Our principal uses of capital for the year ended December 31, 2021 were our purchases of three hotel properties, redemption of the 2025 Senior Notes (as defined below), repayment of a portion of our Revolver, and repayment of certain term loans and mortgages. Our principal sources of capital for the year ended December 31, 2021 was cash generated from operations, the sale of seven hotel properties, and the issuance of the senior notes.
Material Cash Requirements
Our expected material cash requirements for the twelve months ending 2022 and thereafter are comprised of (i) contractually obligated expenditures; and (ii) other essential cash requirements.
Contractually Obligated Expenditures
We are party to various contractual obligations involving commitments to make payments to third parties. These obligations impact our short-term and long-term liquidity and capital resource needs. Our material short and long-term cash commitments primarily consist of debt obligations, and ground lease payments related to certain of our hotel properties.
As of December 31, 2021, we had approximately $2.4 billion in debt outstanding with a weighted average interest rate of 3.94%, of which $200.0 million is scheduled to become due in the succeeding 12 months, excluding available extension options. As of December 31, 2021, our total future minimum lease payments were $600.1 million, of which $11.5 million is scheduled to become due in the succeeding 12 months. For details regarding our indebtedness and lease obligations, refer to Note 8, Debt, and Note 11, Commitments and Contingencies, to the consolidated financial statements included elsewhere in this Annual Report on Form 10-K.
Other Essential Cash Requirements
Our other short-term cash requirements consist primarily of the funds necessary to pay for operating expenses and other expenditures directly associated with our hotel properties, including:
•recurring maintenance and capital expenditures necessary to maintain our hotel properties in accordance with brand standards;
•operating shortfalls in hotel properties with low occupancy;
•distributions necessary to qualify for taxation as a REIT; and
•corporate and other general and administrative expenses.
We expect to meet our short-term cash requirements generally through the net cash provided by operations, existing cash balances, short-term borrowings under our Revolver, proceeds from the sale of hotel properties, proceeds from financings, and proceeds from public offerings of common shares.
Our other long-term cash requirements consist primarily of the funds necessary to pay for costs of acquiring additional hotel properties, renovations and other capital expenditures that need to be made periodically with respect to our hotel properties, and any other value enhancing projects.
During the year ended December 31, 2021, we entered into two amendments to our Revolver and Term Loans. The amendment suspends the testing of all existing financial maintenance covenants under the Revolver and the Term Loan
agreements for all periods through and including the fiscal quarter ending March 31, 2022 (the “Covenant Relief Period”). In addition, for the five quarterly reporting periods following the Covenant Relief Period, the amendments modify certain covenant thresholds. We are also subject to various restrictions such as the ability to incur additional indebtedness, repurchase shares, dividends and distributions limitations, and limitations around capital expenditures and acquisitions.
Sources and Uses of Cash
Cash flows from Operating Activities
The net cash flow provided by operating activities totaled $43.0 million and the net cash flow used in operating activities totaled $168.7 million for the years ended December 31, 2021 and 2020, respectively. The cash flows provided by or used in operating activities generally consist of the net cash generated by or operating shortfalls from our hotel operations, cash paid for corporate expenses and other working capital changes. Refer to the "Results of Operations" section for further discussion of our operating results for the years ended December 31, 2021 and 2020.
Cash flows from Investing Activities
The net cash flow used in investing activities totaled $24.6 million for the year ended December 31, 2021 primarily due to $174.7 million used to purchase three hotel properties and $48.3 million in routine capital improvements and additions to our hotel properties. These were partially offset by $198.6 million of net cash proceeds from the sale of seven hotel properties.
The net cash flow used in investing activities totaled $66.7 million for the year ended December 31, 2020 primarily due to $73.3 million in routine capital improvements and additions to our hotel properties, partially offset by $5.2 million of net cash proceeds from the sale of a hotel property.
Cash flows from Financing Activities
The net cash flow used in financing activities totaled $239.3 million for the year ended December 31, 2021 primarily due to the $484.4 million redemption of the 2025 Senior Notes, $356.3 million in repayment of term loans, $200.0 million in repayment on the Revolver, $149.2 million in repayment of mortgage loans, $31.8 million in distributions to shareholders and unitholders, $14.8 million in deferred financing cost payments, $2.5 million paid to repurchase common shares, and $1.5 million in scheduled mortgage loan principal payments. The net cash flow used in financing activities was partially offset by $1.0 billion in gross proceeds from the issuances of the senior notes.
The net cash flow provided by financing activities totaled $243.0 million for the year ended December 31, 2020 primarily due to $400.0 million in borrowings on our revolving credit facility. This was offset by $86.5 million in distributions to shareholders and unitholders, $64.2 million paid to repurchase common shares, $4.1 million in deferred financing cost payments, and $3.4 million in scheduled mortgage loan principal payments.
Capital Expenditures and Reserve Funds
We maintain each of our hotel properties in good repair and condition and in conformity with applicable laws and regulations, franchise agreements and management agreements. The cost of all such routine improvements and alterations are paid out of FF&E reserves, which are funded by a portion of each hotel property’s gross revenues. Routine capital expenditures are administered by the property management companies. However, we have approval rights over the capital expenditures as part of the annual budget process for each of our hotel properties.
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 guestrooms, public space, meeting space, and/or restaurants, in order to better compete with other hotels and alternative lodging options in our markets. In addition, upon acquisition of a hotel property we often are required to complete a property improvement plan in order to bring the hotel up to the respective franchisor’s standards. If permitted by the terms of the management agreement, funding for a renovation will first come from the FF&E reserves. To the extent that the FF&E reserves are not available or sufficient to cover the cost of the renovation, we will fund all or the remaining portion of the renovation with cash and cash equivalents on hand, our Revolver and/or other sources of available liquidity.
With respect to some of our hotels that are operated under franchise agreements with major national hotel brands and for some of our hotels subject to first mortgage liens, we are obligated to maintain FF&E reserve accounts for future capital expenditures at these hotels. The amount funded into each of these reserve accounts is generally determined pursuant to the management agreements, franchise agreements and/or mortgage loan documents for each of the respective hotels, and typically
ranges between 3.0% and 5.0% of the respective hotel’s total gross revenue. As of December 31, 2021, approximately $26.6 million was held in FF&E reserve accounts for future capital expenditures.
Critical Accounting Estimates
The preparation of the financial statements in conformity with GAAP requires management to make estimates and assumptions that affect the reported amount of assets and liabilities at the date of our financial statements and the reported amounts of revenues and expenses during the reporting period. We consider our accounting policies over investment in hotel properties and revenue recognition to be our critical accounting estimates. See Note 2 to our consolidated financial statements for further descriptions of such accounting policies. We have set forth below the accounting policies that we believe require material subjective or complex judgments and have the most significant impact on our financial condition and results of operations. It is possible that the actual amounts may differ significantly from these estimates and assumptions. We evaluate our estimates, assumptions and judgments on an ongoing basis, based on information that is available to us, our business and industry experience, and various other matters that we believe are reasonable and appropriate for consideration under the circumstances.
Impairment
We assess the carrying value of our investments in hotel properties whenever events or changes in circumstances indicate that the carrying amounts may not be recoverable. Hotel property recoverability is measured by comparing the carrying amount to the projected undiscounted future cash flows expected to be generated from the operation and the eventual disposition of the hotel properties over the estimated hold period, which take into account current market conditions and our intent with respect to holding or disposing of the hotel properties. If our analysis indicates that the carrying value is not recoverable on a projected undiscounted cash flow basis, we will recognize an impairment loss for the amount by which the carrying value exceeds the fair value. The determination of fair value is subjective and is based in part on assumptions and estimates that could differ materially from actual results in future periods. The fair value is determined through various valuation techniques, including internally developed discounted cash flow models, comparable market transactions, third-party appraisals, the net sales proceeds from pending offers, or the net sales proceeds from transactions that closed subsequent to the end of the reporting period. The use of projected future cash flows is based on assumptions that are consistent with a market participant’s future expectations for the travel industry and the economy in general, including discount rates, sales proceeds in the reversion year, average daily rates, occupancy rates, operating expenses and capital expenditures, and our intent with respect to holding or disposing of the underlying hotel properties. Fair value may also be based on assumptions including, but not limited to, room revenue multiples and comparable sales adjusted for capital expenditures, if necessary.
Purchase Price Allocation
Our acquisitions generally consist of land, land improvements, buildings, building improvements, furniture, fixtures and equipment, inventory, and assumed debt. We allocate the purchase price among the assets acquired and the liabilities assumed based on their respective fair values at the date of acquisition. We estimate the fair values of the assets acquired and the liabilities assumed by using a combination of the market, cost and income approaches. We determine the fair value by using market data and independent appraisals available to us and making numerous estimates and assumptions, such as estimates of future income growth, replacement cost per unit, value per acre or buildable square foot, capitalization rates, discount rates, borrowing rates, market rental rates, capital expenditures and cash flow projections at the respective hotel properties. The determination of fair value is subjective and is based in part on assumptions and estimates that could differ materially from actual results in future periods.

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ITEM 7A. QUANTITATIVE AND QUALITATIVE DISCLOSURES ABOUT MARKET RISK
Item 7A. Quantitative and Qualitative Disclosures About Market Risk
Market risk includes the risks that arise from changes in interest rates, equity prices and other market changes that affect market sensitive instruments. Our primary market risk exposure is to changes in interest rates on our variable rate debt. As of December 31, 2021, we had approximately $1.4 billion of total variable rate debt outstanding (or 57.7% of total indebtedness) with a weighted-average interest rate of 3.97% per annum.
Our interest rate risk objectives are to limit the impact of interest rate fluctuations on earnings and cash flows and to lower our overall borrowing costs. To achieve these objectives, we manage our exposure to fluctuations in market interest rates through the use of fixed rate debt instruments to the extent that reasonably favorable rates are obtainable. We have entered into derivative financial instruments such as interest rate swaps to mitigate our interest rate risk or to effectively lock the interest rate on a portion of our variable rate debt. We do not enter into derivative or interest rate transactions for speculative purposes. After taking into consideration the effect of interest rate swaps, 100.0% of our total indebtedness was fixed or effectively fixed. As of December 31, 2021, if market interest rates on our variable rate debt not subject to interest rate swaps were to increase by 1.00%, or 100 basis points, interest expense would have no impact on future earnings and cash flows, taking into account our existing contractual hedging arrangements.
The following table provides information about our financial instruments that are sensitive to changes in interest rates. For debt obligations outstanding as of December 31, 2021, the following table presents the principal repayments and related weighted-average interest rates by contractual maturity dates (in thousands):
2022 2023 2024 2025 2026 Thereafter Total
Fixed rate debt (1) $ - $ - $ - $ - $ 500,000 $ 525,000 $1,025,000
Weighted-average interest rate -% -% -% -% 3.75% 4.05% 3.90%
Variable rate debt (1) $ 200,000 $ 418,662 $ 381,000 $ 400,000 $ - $ - $1,399,662
Weighted-average interest rate (2) 3.30% 4.59% 3.13% 4.45% -% -% 3.97%
Total (3) $200,000 $418,662 $381,000 $400,000 $500,000 $525,000 $2,424,662
(1)Excludes $13.1 million, $3.7 million and $1.1 million of net deferred financing costs on the senior notes, Term Loans and mortgage loans, respectively.
(2)The weighted-average interest rate gives effect to interest rate swaps, as applicable.
(3)Excludes a $2.6 million fair value adjustment on debt.
Our ultimate realized gain or loss with respect to interest rate fluctuations will depend on the exposures that arise during future periods, prevailing interest rates, and our hedging strategies at that time.
Changes in market interest rates on our fixed rate debt impact the fair value of our debt, but such changes have no impact to our consolidated financial statements. As of December 31, 2021, the estimated fair value of our fixed rate debt was $1.0 billion, which is based on having the same debt service requirements that could have been borrowed at the date presented, at prevailing current market interest rates. If interest rates were to rise by 1.00%, or 100 basis points, and our fixed rate debt balance remained constant, we expect the fair value of our debt would decrease by approximately $42.5 million.

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ITEM 8. FINANCIAL STATEMENTS AND SUPPLEMENTARY DATA
Item 8. Financial Statements and Supplementary Data
Refer to the Index to Financial Statements 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 Disclosures
None.

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ITEM 9A. CONTROLS AND PROCEDURES
Item 9A. Controls and Procedures
Evaluation of Disclosure Controls and Procedures
The Company's management, under the supervision and with the participation of the Company's Chief Executive Officer and the Chief Financial Officer, has evaluated the effectiveness of the Company's disclosure controls and procedures (as defined in Rules 13a-15(e) and 15d-15(e) under the Securities Exchange Act of 1934, as amended, or the Exchange Act), as required by paragraph (b) of Rules 13a-15 and 15d-15 of the Exchange Act. Based on this evaluation, the Company's Chief Executive Officer and Chief Financial Officer have concluded that as of December 31, 2021, the Company's disclosure controls and procedures were effective to ensure that the information we are required to disclose in reports filed or submitted with the Securities and Exchange Commission (i) is recorded, processed, summarized and reported within the time periods specified in the Securities and Exchange Commission's rules and forms, and (ii) is accumulated and communicated to our management,
including our Chief Executive Officer and Chief Financial Officer, as appropriate to allow timely decisions regarding disclosure.
Management's Annual Report on Internal Control over Financial Reporting
The Company's management is responsible for establishing and maintaining adequate internal control over financial reporting (as defined in Rule 13a-15(f) and 15d-15(f) of the Exchange Act). The Company's internal control over financial reporting is a process designed to provide reasonable assurance regarding the reliability of financial reporting and the preparation of financial statements for external purposes in accordance with accounting principles generally accepted in the United States of America.
Because of its inherent limitations, internal control over financial reporting may not prevent or detect misstatements. Also, projections of any evaluations of effectiveness to future periods are subject to the risk that controls may become inadequate because of changes in conditions, or that the degree of compliance with the policies or procedures may deteriorate.
The Company's management assessed the effectiveness of its internal control over financial reporting as of December 31, 2021. In making this assessment, management used the criteria set forth by the Committee of Sponsoring Organizations of the Treadway Commission ("COSO") in Internal Control - Integrated Framework (2013). Based on this assessment, management has concluded that, as of December 31, 2021, our internal control over financial reporting is effective based on those criteria.
The effectiveness of the Company's internal control over financial reporting as of December 31, 2021 has been audited by PricewaterhouseCoopers LLP, an independent registered public accounting firm, as stated in their report which appears on page of this Annual Report on Form 10-K.
Changes in Internal Control over Financial Reporting
There have been no changes in the Company’s internal control over financial reporting (as defined in Rule 13a-15 and 15d-15 of the Exchange Act) during the period ended December 31, 2021 that have materially affected, or are reasonably likely to materially affect, the Company’s internal control over financial reporting.

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ITEM 9B. OTHER INFORMATION
Item 9B. Other information
None.
PART III

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ITEM 10. DIRECTORS, EXECUTIVE OFFICERS AND CORPORATE GOVERNANCE
Item 10. Directors, Executive Officers and Corporate Governance
The information called for by this Item is contained in our definitive Proxy Statement for our 2022 Annual Meeting of Shareholders, and is incorporated herein by reference.

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ITEM 11. EXECUTIVE COMPENSATION
Item 11. Executive Compensation
The information called for by this Item is contained in our definitive Proxy Statement for our 2022 Annual Meeting of Shareholders, and is incorporated herein by reference.

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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 called for by this Item is contained in our definitive Proxy Statement for our 2022 Annual Meeting of Shareholders, or in Item 5 of this Annual Report on Form 10-K for the year ended December 31, 2021, and is incorporated herein by reference.

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ITEM 13. CERTAIN RELATIONSHIPS AND RELATED TRANSACTIONS
Item 13. Certain Relationships and Related Transactions and Director Independence
The information called for by this Item is contained in our definitive Proxy Statement for our 2022 Annual Meeting of Shareholders, and is incorporated herein by reference.

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ITEM 14. PRINCIPAL ACCOUNTING FEES AND SERVICES
Item 14. Principal Accountant Fees and Services
The information called for by this Item is contained in our definitive Proxy Statement for our 2022 Annual Meeting of Shareholders, and is incorporated herein by reference.
PART IV

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ITEM 15. EXHIBITS, FINANCIAL STATEMENT SCHEDULES
Item 15. Exhibits and Financial Statement Schedules
The following is a list of documents filed as a part of this report:
(1) Financial Statements - Refer to the Index to Financial Statements on page
(2) Financial Statement Schedules - The following financial statement schedule is included herein on pages through:
Schedule III - Real Estate and Accumulated Depreciation for RLJ Lodging Trust
All other schedules for which a provision is made in Regulation S-X are either not required to be included herein under the related instructions, are inapplicable, or the related information is included in the footnotes to the applicable financial statement and, therefore, have been omitted.
(3) Exhibits - The exhibits required to be filed by Item 601 of Regulation S-K are noted below:
Exhibit Index
Exhibit
Number Description of Exhibit
3.1 Articles of Amendment and Restatement of Declaration of Trust of RLJ Lodging Trust (incorporated by reference to Exhibit 3.1 to Amendment No. 4 to the Registrant’s Registration Statement on Form S-11 (File No. 333-172011) filed on May 5, 2011)
3.2 Articles of Amendment to Articles of Amendment and Restatement of Declaration of Trust of RLJ Lodging Trust (incorporated by reference to Exhibit 3.1 to the Registrant's Current Report on Form 8-K filed on May 7, 2015)
3.3 Articles of Amendment to Articles of Amendment and Restatement of Declaration of Trust of RLJ Lodging Trust (incorporated by reference to Exhibit 3.1 to the Registrant's Current Report on Form 8-K filed on May 5, 2016)
3.4 Articles Supplementary to Articles of Amendment and Restatement of Declaration of Trust (incorporated by reference to Exhibit 3.1 to the Registrant's Current Report on Form 8-K filed on February 26, 2015)
3.5 Articles Supplementary designating RLJ Lodging Trust's $1.95 Series A Cumulative Convertible Preferred Shares, par value $0.01 per share (incorporated by reference to Exhibit 3.5 to the Registrant's Form 8-A filed on August 30, 2017)
3.6 Third Amended and Restated Bylaws of RLJ Lodging Trust (incorporated by reference to Exhibit 3.2 to the Registrant's Current Report on Form 8-K filed on May 5, 2016)
4.1 Form of Specimen Common Share Certificate (incorporated by reference to Exhibit 4.1 to the Registrant’s Registration Statement on Form S-11/A (File. No. 333-172011) filed on April 29, 2011)
4.2 Form of stock certificate evidencing the $1.95 Series A Cumulative Convertible Preferred Shares, par value $0.01 per share (incorporated by reference to Exhibit 4.2 to the Registrant's Form 8-A filed on August 30, 2017)
4.3 Registration Rights Agreement, dated May 16, 2011, by and among RLJ Lodging Trust and the persons listed on Schedule I thereto (incorporated by reference to Exhibit 10.2 to the Registrant’s Current Report on Form 8-K filed on May 19, 2011)
4.4 Registration Rights Agreement, dated May 16, 2011, by and among RLJ Lodging Trust and the persons listed on Schedule I thereto (incorporated by reference to Exhibit 10.3 to the Registrant’s Current Report on Form 8-K filed on May 19, 2011)
4.5 Second Supplemental Indenture with respect to FelCor Lodging Limited Partnership's 6.000% Senior Notes due 2025, dated as of August 31, 2017, by and among FelCor Lodging Limited Partnership, Rangers Sub I, LLC, the other guarantors party thereto and U.S. Bank National Association (incorporated by reference to Exhibit 4.2 to the Registrant's Current Report on Form 8-K filed on September 1, 2017)
4.6 Indenture, dated as of June 17, 2021, among dated as of June 17, 2021, among RLJ Lodging Trust, RLJ Lodging Trust, L.P., the subsidiary guarantors party thereto and the U.S. Bank National Association, as trustee (incorporated by reference to Exhibit 4.1 to the Registrant's Current Report on Form 8-K filed on June 17, 2021)
4.7 Indenture, dated as of September 13, 2021, among RLJ Lodging Trust, RLJ Lodging Trust, L.P., the subsidiary guarantors party thereto and the U.S. Bank National Association, as trustee (incorporated by reference to Exhibit 4.1 to the Registrant's Current Report on Form 8-K filed on September 16, 2021)
4.8 Description of Registered Securities
10.1 Amended and Restated Agreement of Limited Partnership, dated May 13, 2011 (incorporated by reference to Exhibit 10.1 to the Registrant’s Current Report on Form 8-K filed on May 19, 2011)
10.2 Amendment No. 1 to Amended and Restated Agreement of Limited Partnership, dated August 31, 2017 (incorporated by reference to Exhibit 10.3 to the Registrant’s Current Report on Form 8-K filed on September 1, 2017)
10.3 Indemnification Agreement, dated May 16, 2011, between RLJ Lodging Trust and Evan Bayh (incorporated by reference to Exhibit 10.5 to the Registrant’s Current Report on Form 8-K filed on May 19, 2011)
10.4 Indemnification Agreement, dated May 16, 2011, between RLJ Lodging Trust and Nathaniel Davis (incorporated by reference to Exhibit 10.7 to the Registrant’s Current Report on Form 8-K filed on May 19, 2011)
10.5 Indemnification Agreement, dated May 16, 2011, between RLJ Lodging Trust and Leslie D. Hale (incorporated by reference to Exhibit 10.8 to the Registrant’s Current Report on Form 8-K filed on May 19, 2011)
10.6 Indemnification Agreement, dated May 16, 2011, between RLJ Lodging Trust and Robert L. Johnson (incorporated by reference to Exhibit 10.9 to the Registrant’s Current Report on Form 8-K filed on May 19, 2011)
10.7 Indemnification Agreement, dated May 16, 2011, between RLJ Lodging Trust and Robert M. La Forgia (incorporated by reference to Exhibit 10.10 to the Registrant’s Current Report on Form 8-K filed on May 19, 2011)
10.8 Indemnification Agreement, dated May 16, 2011, between RLJ Lodging Trust and Glenda McNeal (incorporated by reference to Exhibit 10.11 to the Registrant’s Current Report on Form 8-K filed on May 19, 2011)
10.9 RLJ Lodging Trust 2021 Equity Incentive Plan (incorporated by reference to Exhibit 10.3 to the Registrant’s Quarterly Report on Form 10-Q filed on August 6, 2021)
10.10 Form of Restricted Share Agreement (incorporated by reference to Exhibit 10.4 to the Registrant’s Quarterly Report on Form 10-Q filed on August 6, 2021)
10.11 Form of Performance Share Unit Award Agreement (incorporated by reference to Exhibit 10.5 to the Registrant’s Quarterly Report on Form 10-Q filed on August 6, 2021)
10.12 Amended and Restated Employment Agreement, dated as of November 1, 2021, by and among RLJ Lodging Trust, RLJ Lodging Trust, L.P. and Robert L. Johnson (incorporated by reference to Exhibit 10.1 to the Registrant’s Current Report on Form 8-K filed on November 5, 2021)
10.13 Employment Agreement, dated as of February 14, 2020 by and among RLJ Lodging Trust, RLJ Lodging Trust, L.P. and Leslie D. Hale (incorporated by reference to Exhibit 10.1 to the Registrant's Current Report on Form 8-K filed on February 20, 2020)
10.14 Amended and Restated Employment Agreement, dated as of November 1, 2021, by and among RLJ Lodging Trust, RLJ Lodging Trust, L.P. and Sean M. Mahoney (incorporated by reference to Exhibit 10.2 to the Registrant’s Current Report on Form 8-K filed on November 5, 2021)
10.15 Third Amended and Restated Credit Agreement, dated as of December 18, 2019, by and among RLJ Lodging Trust, L.P., RLJ Lodging Trust, Wells Fargo Bank National Association, as Administrative Agent and a lender, and the other agents and lenders party thereto (incorporated by reference to Exhibit 10.1 to the Registrant's Current Report on Form 8-K filed on December 19, 2019)
10.16 Third Amended and Restated Guaranty, dated as of December 18, 2019, by and among RLJ Lodging Trust, certain subsidiaries of RLJ Lodging Trust party thereto and Wells Fargo Bank National Association, as Administrative Agent (incorporated by reference to Exhibit 10.2 to the Registrant's Current Report on Form 8-K filed on December 19, 2019)
10.17 First Amendment to Third Amended and Restated Credit Agreement, dated as of June 24, 2020, by and among RLJ Lodging Trust, L.P., RLJ Lodging Trust, Wells Fargo Bank, National Association, as Administrative Agent and a lender, and the other lenders party thereto (incorporated by reference to Exhibit 10.1 to the Registrant’s Current Report on Form 8-K filed on June 29, 2020)
10.18 Second Amendment to Third Amended and Restated Credit Agreement, dated as of December 10, 2020, by and among RLJ Lodging Trust, L.P., RLJ Lodging Trust, Wells Fargo Bank, National Association, as Administrative Agent and a lender, and the other lenders party thereto (incorporated by reference to Exhibit 10.1 to the Registrant’s Current Report on Form 8-K filed on December 14, 2020)
10.19 Third Amendment to Third Amended and Restated Credit Agreement, dated as of June 10, 2021, by and among RLJ Lodging Trust, L.P., RLJ Lodging Trust, Wells Fargo Bank, National Association, as Administrative Agent and a lender, and the other lenders party thereto incorporated by reference to Exhibit 10.1 to the Registrant's Current Report on Form 8-K filed on June 10, 2021)
10.20 Fourth Amendment to Third Amended and Restated Credit Agreement, dated as of September 16, 2021, by and among RLJ Lodging Trust, L.P., RLJ Lodging Trust, certain subsidiaries of RLJ Lodging Trust, L.P. party thereto, Wells Fargo Bank, National Association, as Administrative Agent and a lender, and the other lenders party thereto (incorporated by reference to Exhibit 10.1 to the Registrant's Current Report on Form 8-K filed on September 16, 2021)
10.21 Term Loan Agreement, dated as of November 20, 2012, by and among RLJ Lodging Trust, L.P., RLJ Lodging Trust, Wells Fargo Bank, National Association, as Administrative Agent, PNC Bank, National Association, as Syndication Agent, Capital One, N.A., as Documentation Agent, Raymond James, as Managing Agent, Wells Fargo Securities LLC and PNC Capital Markets LLC, as Joint Lead Arrangers and Joint Bookrunners and the lenders party thereto (incorporated by reference to Exhibit 10.1 to the Registrant’s Current Report on Form 8-K filed on September 3, 2013)
10.22 First Amendment to Term Loan Agreement, dated as of August 27, 2013, by and among RLJ Lodging Trust, L.P., RLJ Lodging Trust, Wells Fargo Bank, National Association, as Administrative Agent, PNC Bank, National Association, as Syndication Agent, and the lenders party thereto (incorporated by reference to Exhibit 10.2 to the Registrant’s Current Report on Form 8-K filed on September 3, 2013)
10.23 Second Amendment to Term Loan Agreement, dated as of June 1, 2015, by and between RLJ Lodging Trust, L.P., RLJ Lodging Trust and Wells Fargo Bank, National Association, as Administrative Agent, and the lenders party thereto (incorporated by reference to Exhibit 10.28 to the Registrant's Annual Report on Form 10-K filed on February 25, 2016)
10.24 Third Amendment to Term Loan Agreement, dated as of November 12, 2015, by and between RLJ Lodging Trust, L.P., RLJ Lodging Trust and Wells Fargo Bank, National Association, as Administrative Agent, and the lenders party thereto (incorporated by reference to Exhibit 10.29 to the Registrant's Annual Report on Form 10-K filed on February 25, 2016)
10.25 Fourth Amendment to Term Loan Agreement and First Amendment to Guaranty, dated as of April 22, 2016, by and among RLJ Lodging Trust, L.P., RLJ Lodging Trust, certain subsidiaries of RLJ Lodging Trust party thereto, Wells Fargo Bank, National Association, as Administrative Agent and a lender, and the other lenders party thereto (incorporated by reference to Exhibit 10.3 to the Registrant's Current Report on Form 8-K filed on April 28, 2016)
10.26 Fifth Amendment to Term Loan Agreement, dated August 31, 2017, by and among RLJ Lodging Trust, RLJ Lodging Trust, L.P., certain subsidiaries of RLJ Lodging Trust party thereto, Wells Fargo Bank, National Association, as administrative agent and a lender, and the other lenders party thereto (incorporated by reference to Exhibit 10.2 to the Registrant's Current Report on Form 8-K filed on September 1, 2017)
10.27 Sixth Amendment to Term Loan Agreement, dated January 25, 2018, by and among RLJ Lodging Trust, RLJ Lodging Trust, L.P., certain subsidiaries of RLJ Lodging Trust party thereto, Wells Fargo Bank, National Association, as administrative agent and a lender, and the other lenders party thereto (incorporated by reference to Exhibit 10.2 to the Registrant's Current Report on Form 8-K filed on January 31, 2018)
10.28 Seventh Amendment to Term Loan Agreement, dated as of December 18, 2019, by and among RLJ Lodging Trust, L.P., RLJ Lodging Trust, certain subsidiaries of RLJ Lodging Trust party thereto, Wells Fargo Bank National Association, as Administrative Agent and a lender, and the other lenders party thereto (incorporated by reference to Exhibit 10.3 to the Registrant's Current Report on Form 8-K filed on December 19, 2019)
10.29 Eighth Amendment to Term Loan Agreement, dated as of June 24, 2020, by and among RLJ Lodging Trust, L.P., RLJ Lodging Trust, certain subsidiaries of RLJ Lodging Trust party thereto, Wells Fargo Bank, National Association, as Administrative Agent and a lender, and the other lenders party thereto (incorporated by reference to Exhibit 10.2 to the Registrant’s Current Report on Form 8-K filed on June 29, 2020)
10.30 Ninth Amendment to Term Loan Agreement, dated as of December 10, 2020, by and among RLJ Lodging Trust, L.P., RLJ Lodging Trust, certain subsidiaries of RLJ Lodging Trust party thereto, Wells Fargo Bank, National Association, as Administrative Agent and a lender, and the other lenders party thereto (incorporated by reference to Exhibit 10.2 to the Registrant’s Current Report on Form 8-K filed on December 14, 2020)
10.31 Tenth Amendment to Term Loan Agreement, dated as of June 10, 2021, by and among RLJ Lodging Trust, L.P., RLJ Lodging Trust, certain subsidiaries of RLJ Lodging Trust party thereto, Wells Fargo Bank, National Association, as Administrative Agent and a lender, and the other lenders party thereto (incorporated by reference to Exhibit 10.2 to the Registrant's Current Report on Form 8-K filed on June 10, 2021)
10.32 Eleventh Amendment to Term Loan Agreement, dated as of September 16, 2021, by and among RLJ Lodging Trust, L.P., RLJ Lodging Trust, certain subsidiaries of RLJ Lodging Trust party thereto, Wells Fargo Bank, National Association, as Administrative Agent and a lender, and the other lenders party thereto (incorporated by reference to Exhibit 10.2 to the Registrant's Current Report on Form 8-K filed on September 16, 2021)
10.33 Additional Lender Supplement, dated as of August 27, 2013, by and among RLJ Lodging Trust, L.P., RLJ Lodging Trust, Wells Fargo Bank, National Association, as Administrative Agent, and the lenders party thereto (incorporated by reference to Exhibit 10.3 to the Registrant’s Current Report on Form 8-K filed on September 3, 2013)
10.34 Guaranty, dated as of November 20, 2012, by RLJ Lodging Trust and certain subsidiaries of RLJ Lodging Trust party thereto (incorporated by reference to Exhibit 10.4 to the Registrant’s Current Report on Form 8-K filed on September 3, 2013)
10.35 Term Loan Agreement, dated as of August 27, 2013, by and among RLJ Lodging Trust, L.P., RLJ Lodging Trust, Wells Fargo Bank, National Association, as Administrative Agent, PNC Bank, National Association, as Syndication Agent, Bank of America, N.A., Barclays Bank PLC, Compass Bank, an Alabama Banking Corporation, and U.S. Bank National Association, as Documentation Agents, and Wells Fargo Securities LLC and PNC Capital Markets LLC, as Joint Lead Arrangers and Joint Bookrunners and the lenders party thereto (incorporated by reference to Exhibit 10.5 to the Registrant’s Current Report on Form 8-K filed on September 3, 2013)
10.36 Guaranty, dated as of August 27, 2013, by RLJ Lodging Trust and certain subsidiaries of RLJ Lodging Trust party thereto (incorporated by reference to Exhibit 10.6 to the Registrant’s Current Report on Form 8-K filed on September 3, 2013)
10.37 First Amendment to Term Loan Agreement, dated as of June 1, 2015, by and between RLJ Lodging Trust, L.P., RLJ Lodging Trust and Wells Fargo Bank, National Association, as Administrative Agent, and the lenders party thereto (incorporated by reference to Exhibit 10.34 to the Registrant's Annual Report on Form 10-K filed on February 25, 2016)
10.38 Second Amendment to Term Loan Agreement, dated as of November 12, 2015, by and between RLJ Lodging Trust, L.P., RLJ Lodging Trust and Wells Fargo Bank, National Association, as Administrative Agent, and the lenders party thereto (incorporated by reference to Exhibit 10.35 to the Registrant's Annual Report on Form 10-K filed on February 25, 2016)
10.39 Additional Term Loan Lender Supplement, dated as of March 20, 2014, by and among RLJ Lodging Trust, L.P., RLJ Lodging Trust, Wells Fargo Bank, National Association, as Administrative Agent, and the lenders party thereto (incorporated by reference to Exhibit 10.2 to the Registrant’s Current Report on Form 8-K filed on March 25, 2014)
10.40 Additional Lender Supplement, dated as of March 20, 2014, by and among RLJ Lodging Trust, L.P., RLJ Lodging Trust, Wells Fargo Bank, National Association, as Administrative Agent, and the lenders party thereto (incorporated by reference to Exhibit 10.3 to the Registrant’s Current Report on Form 8-K filed on March 25, 2014)
21.1* List of subsidiaries of RLJ Lodging Trust
23.1* Consent of PricewaterhouseCoopers LLP
31.1* Certification of Chief Executive Officer pursuant to Rule 13a-14(a)/15d-14(a) of the Securities Exchange Act of 1934, as amended, 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) of the Securities Exchange Act of 1934, as amended, as adopted pursuant to Section 302 of the Sarbanes-Oxley Act of 2002
32.1* Certification of Chief Executive Officer and Chief Financial Officer pursuant to 18 U.S.C. 1350, as adopted pursuant to Section 906 of the Sarbanes-Oxley Act of 2002
101.INS Inline XBRL Instance Document Submitted electronically with this report
101.SCH Inline XBRL Taxonomy Extension Schema Document Submitted electronically with this report
101.CAL Inline XBRL Taxonomy Calculation Linkbase Document Submitted electronically with this report
101.DEF Inline XBRL Taxonomy Extension Definition Linkbase Document Submitted electronically with this report
101.LAB Inline XBRL Taxonomy Label Linkbase Document Submitted electronically with this report
101.PRE Inline XBRL Taxonomy Presentation Linkbase Document Submitted electronically with this report
104 Cover Page Interactive Data File (formatted as Inline XBRL and included in Exhibit 101)
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*Filed herewith