Braemar Hotels & Resorts Inc.

Welcome to the Braemar Hotels and Resorts Incorporated third quarter 2019 results conference call. At this time, all participants are in listen-only mode. A question and answer session will follow the formal presentation. If anyone should require operator assistance during the conference, please press star zero on your telephone keypad. Please note that this conference is being recorded. I will now turn the conference over to your host, Jordan Jennings. You may begin, ma'am.

Good morning, and welcome to today's call to review results for Braymore Hotels and Resorts for the third quarter of 2019, and to update you on recent development. On the call today will be Richard Stockton, President and Chief Executive Officer, Derek Eubanks, Chief Financial Officer, and Jeremy Welter, Chief Operating Officer. Your results as well as notice of the accessibility of this conference call on a listen-only basis over the Internet were distributed yesterday in a press release that has been covered by the financial media. At this time, let me remind you that certain statements and assumptions in this conference call contain or are based upon forward-looking information and are being made pursuant to the safe harbor provisions of the Federal Securities Regulations. Such forward-looking statements are subject to numerous assumptions and certainties and known or unknown risk, which could cause actual results to differ materially from those anticipated. These factors are more fully discussed in the company's filings with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The forward-looking statements included in this conference call are only made as of the date of this call, and the company is not obligated to publicly update or revise them. Certain terms used in this call are non-GAAP financial measures, reconciliations of which are provided, an accompanying earnings release, and accompanying tables or schedules, which have been filed on Form 8K with the SEC on October 30, 2019, and may also be accessed through the company's website at www.bhreit.com. Each listener is encouraged to review those reconciliations provided in the earnings release together with all other information provided in the release. I will now turn the call over to Richard Stockton. Please go ahead, Richard.

Good morning. Welcome to our third quarter 2019 earnings call. I will begin by giving a brief overview of our quarterly financial results. I'll then provide an update on our major capital expenditure projects. Finally, I will conclude with an update on our investor outreach efforts. After that, Derek will provide a more detailed review of our financial results, and Jeremy will provide an update on our asset management activity. Afterwards, we will open the call for Q&A. For the third quarter, comparable rent par for all hotels declined by 2%, while comparable rent par for hotels not under renovation decreased 1.4%. We reported adjusted EBITDA RE of $28.6 million and ASFO per share of 29 cents for the quarter. Our overall portfolio trailing 12-month comparable rent par of $230 continues to be the highest in the lodging REIT sector. During the quarter, We continue to make good progress on reopening the Ritz-Carlton St. Thomas after the damage caused by Hurricane Irma approximately two years ago. We are working closely with our insurers to both seek recoveries for physical damage to the hotel, as well as to minimize the impact of the property's P&L through BI insurance recoveries, which totaled $4 million in the quarter. The hotel is planned to reopen to transient guests on November 22nd. The new property will be fantastic. We have completely renovated all 180 guest rooms, And there are new F&B outlets, new pre-function space, and a new family pool. The St. Thomas Hotel market has lost approximately 35% of its inventory, which positions our property for a ramp-up. Board booking rates are already 10% higher than they were pre-hurricane. We are very excited about the prospects for the Ritz-Carlton St. Thomas and believe it is well-positioned going into 2020. We're also pleased with the progress we have made on our strategy to up-brand our Courtyard Philadelphia and Courtyard San Francisco properties to autograph collection hotels. In July, we announced the completion of the conversion of the Philadelphia property to the Notary Hotel. Located in downtown Philadelphia, the property underwent a spectacular $20 million renovation. Additionally, in July, we announced the rebranding of the Courtyard San Francisco to the Clancy. That conversion is expected to be completed in early 2020. The Clancy is ideally situated in San Francisco's vibrant south of Marks District, which has established itself as a hub for international visitors, regional day trippers, and locals enjoying music, art, multimedia, and a technology-driven culture. Year-to-date, we reported 8.7% Red Park growth at the hotel even while the property was under renovation, which when combined with only modest supply growth and the recent reopening of the expanded Moscone Convention Center near the hotel, continues to fuel our excitement for the upcoming repositioning of this property. Thus far, we have spent approximately $44 million on these conversions and anticipate spending an additional $15 million during the remainder of 2019 and the first quarter of 2020. Finally, in October, we announced the opening of the Maple Grove Presidential Villa at the Bartisano Hotel and Spa in Yachtville, California. The new 3,705 square foot presidential villa is available at a published rate of $9,000 per night and offers guests secluded space with elite experiences that enable us to provide guests with an unforgettable Napa Valley stay. The Presidential Villa is also available as three separate luxury suites. Each has a distinctive gray room, stately king bedroom, spa bathrooms, and courtyard. We're excited about the prospects for the Presidential Villa at the Bar de Sonos. as we are seeing strong forward bookings and expected to generate significant incremental annual EBITDA in excess of $1 million per year. On the capital markets front, during the quarter we amended and extended our mortgage loan secured by the Ritz-Carlton St. Thomas and more recently refinanced our mortgage loan for the Pier House Resort and Spa in Key West, Florida. Derek will discuss these in more detail, but we are happy with the execution of these transactions as they were excellent opportunities to address our upcoming debt maturities while both lowering the spread and increasing our cash balance. All of our debt continues to be non-recourse, and as a result of our financing activity over the last year, we have a very attractive maturity schedule with no final debt maturities until 2022. We have also been active on the investor relations front. Over the past few months, we have attended several bank and industry conferences and participated in numerous investor meetings. Additionally, we recently held a well-attended Investor Day in New York. During the remainder of 2019, we will continue to get out on the road to meet with investors to communicate our strategy and the attractiveness of an investment in Braemar. We believe we have made great progress executing on our strategy this past quarter. We are optimistic about the upcoming performance of the portfolio. We also continue to believe there are several unique stories in our portfolio that could result in red-par performance in excess of the broader market. I will now turn the call over to Darren.