Choice Hotels Had a Rough First Quarter
Photo Credit: A model of the "Scenic Dreams" guest room at the Sleep Inn brand, part of Choice Hotels. Choice Hotels
Skift Take
Why did Choice Hotels underperform against competitors in every type of hotel during the best quarterly demand backdrop in recent memory?
The U.S. hotel industry just posted its strongest first-quarter demand since the pandemic, with average occupancy at its highest level since 2019. Choice Hotels' performance fell short of that upbeat vibe, and its stock price fell about 15% on a day when the market was up on average.
Consider the key industry metric of revenue per available room (RevPAR). CoStar data showed U.S. RevPAR up just under 4% year over year. But Choice came in at -2.3%.
"We cannot recall a diversified branded franchisor underperforming the U.S. industry to this degree," wrote Truist Securities analyst Patrick Scholes and G
