Choice Hotels’ Purge: Sheds Weak Properties to Lift Brand Quality
Photo Credit: Everhome new prototype interior rendering Choice Hotels
Skift Take
Choice Hotels is doing something none of its publicly traded rivals are doing right now: getting smaller on purpose.
Choice Hotels reduced its net U.S. room count last year, pruning underperforming hotels while adding properties it said were of higher average quality.
In the fourth quarter, the company kicked out of its system "about 20 hotels" more than it usually does in a quarter, said president and CEO Pat Pacious during a Thursday earnings call.
Choice Hotels took some "very targeted, deliberate and ultimately value-accretive exits," Pacious said. "So the brand quality is getting better."
The company ended the year with 496,979 rooms in the U.S., a drop of 2.9% of net rooms. Globally, the company ended the year with 656,825 rooms, a 1% net increase thanks to international expansion.
The PurgeBy shedding underperformers in the U.S., Choice swapped lower-margin budget hotels for higher-fee ho
