Sotherly Hotels Inc.

Maxims, please go ahead.

Thank you, and good morning, everyone. If you did not receive a copy of the earnings release, you may access it on our website at southerlyhotels.com. In the release, the company has reconciled all non-GAAP financial measures to the most directly comparable GAAP measure in accordance with Reg G requirements. Any statements made during this conference call, which are not historical, may constitute forward-looking statements. Although we believe the expectations reflected in any forward-looking statements are based on reasonable assumptions, we can give no assurance that these expectations will be attained. Factors and risks that can cause actual results to differ materially from those expressed or implied by forward-looking statements are detailed in today's press release and from time to time in the company's filings with the SEC. The company does not undertake a duty to update or revise any forward-looking statements. With that, I'll turn the call over to Scott.

Thanks, Mac. Good morning, everyone. I'll start off today's call to review of our portfolio's key operating metrics for the quarter and for the year. Looking at the fourth quarter results for the same store portfolio compared to 2022, REVPAR increased 3%, driven by a 4.1% increase in occupancy and a 1.2% decrease in ADR. For the full year, REVPAR increased 7% over 2022, driven by a 3.8% increase in occupancy and a 3.2% increase in rate. Looking at the fourth quarter results for the same store portfolio relative to 2019, fourth quarter REVPAR was up 6.6%, driven by ADR growth of 17.7% and occupancy down 9.4%. For the full year, REVPAR was up 5.5% over 2019, driven by a 17% increase in rate and a 9.8% decrease in occupancy. This occupancy gap reflects a significant upside for the portfolio moving forward. Overall, our portfolio's fourth quarter top line results were generally in line with expectations. These results were characterized by occupancy growth, particularly in markets where the group segment makes up a larger proportion of our revenue. Our hotels in Savannah and Wilmington, both of which possess large group components, continued to grow occupancy through substantial group bookings during the quarter. Certain leisure-focused markets also experienced improved results during the quarter, highlighted by our Doubletree Hotel in South Florida, which saw a significant balance in occupancy of nearly 1,400 basis points during the quarter, contributing to year-over-year REVPAR growth of 22%. Despite the improvement in occupancy during the quarter, our portfolio's overall occupancy is still well below the comparable period in 2019, demonstrating their significant organic growth potential. While showing steady improvement, our urban markets generally have the most room for growth within our portfolio. For example, although the Whitehall in Houston improved its occupancy more than 10% year-over-year, primarily through its meeting and banquet business, it has significant opportunity for growth, especially in the business transient and group segments. The Georgian Terrace, meanwhile, is showing positive signs of improvement. Due to the significant impact of the writers and actors' union strikes last year on the hotel's film and production industry business, management shifted its strategy towards growing group bookings. As a result of these efforts, the hotel grew its combined corporate, association, and social group business by 42%, during 2023. Management's renewed focus on group bookings, coupled with the settlement of the actor's strike, should dramatically improve the Georgian Terrace's growth prospects moving forward. Looking at some highlights across the portfolio, the high-centric Arlington, driven by year-over-year growth in the group and corporate segments, continues exceptional performance during the fourth quarter. Group business, in particular, has rapidly surpassed pre-pandemic levels, outperforming the fourth quarter of 2019 by 33%. The property outpaced prior year's REVPAR by 8%, driven by a 2% increase in occupancy and a 6% increase in rent. The property's 6.7% REVPAR growth versus the comparable period in 2019 demonstrates this hotel has reached stabilization, while the gap to pre-pandemic occupancy provides plenty of upside opportunity for this hotel moving forward. The property continued to be the leader in its competitive set, achieving a REVPAR index of over 124% for the quarter. The DeSoto Savannah continued to outperform expectations during the fourth quarter, outpacing both prior year and pre-pandemic levels. Group Business, which outpaced the comparable period in 2019 by 8%, continues to fuel the hotel's strong results. Fourth quarter REVPAR outperformed prior year by 5.6%, with strong occupancy growth. Meanwhile, the DeSoto's REVPAR outpaced the comparable period in 2019 by more than 28%, fueled by a significant rate growth of 25.9%. The property continues to improve its position among its competitive set, gaining 250 basis points in fair share during the quarter. Hotel Ballast in Wilmington, North Carolina, coupled strong group and leisure demand to record impressive results during the quarter. The property outpaced prior year REVPAR by 6.7%, fueled by a 7.9% increase in occupancy. Comparing to the fourth quarter in 2019, the property outpaced pre-pandemic REVPAR by 12.3%, fueled by a 9.5% increase in rate and 2.5% increase in occupancy. The property achieved strong results versus competitive set, achieving a 110.5% REVFAR index while gaining 340 basis points in share over prior year during the quarter. Looking at profitability metrics for the portfolio, while hotel EBITDA margins for the fourth quarter of 2023 were 430 basis points below prior year, There were 350 basis points above the compo period in 2019. The fourth quarter of 2022 included several one-time benefits to profitability that skews the year-over-year comparison. Stripping out these variations, Q4 hotel EBITDA margin declined a more modest 247 basis points over prior year. The increase in expense is attributed to increased property insurance costs as well as additional operating expense due to the expansion of guest amenity and service levels which were not fully rolled out in Q4 2022, as well as increases in hourly wages over prior year. We view these amending and service increases as necessary investments in our hotels, which allow us to remain competitive in our markets while maintaining strong rate growth. Moving forward, we expect margins to stabilize if we've reached normalized staffing, wage, and amending levels at our hotels, and are also optimistic that the property insurance markets will begin trending more favorably in the near term. Turning to corporate activity, last month we announced the company executed a $35 million secure loan with city real estate funding collateralized by Hotel Alba in Tampa, Florida. The interest-only loan matures March of 2029 and carries a fixed interest rate of 8.49%. Proceeds from the loan were used to repay the existing first mortgage and for general corporate purposes. I will now turn the call over to Tony.