Braemar Hotels & Resorts Inc.

Director of Investor Relations to begin the call. Jordan, over to you.

Good morning and welcome to today's call to review results for Braemar Hotels and Resorts for the fourth quarter and full year 2023 and to update you on recent developments. On the call today will be Richard Stockton, President and Chief Executive Officer, Derek Eubanks, Chief Financial Officer, and Chris Nixon, Executive Vice President and Head of Asset Management. The results as well as notice of accessibility of this conference call on a listen-only basis over the Internet were distributed yesterday in a press release. 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, uncertainties, and known or unknown risks 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 after the date of this call and the company is not obligated to publicly update or revise them. Statements made during this call do not constitute an offer to sell or a solicitation as an offer to buy any securities. Securities will be offered only by means of a registration statement and prospectus, which can be found at www.sec.gov. In addition, certain terms used in this call are non-GAAP financial measures, reconciliations of which are provided in the company's earnings release and in company tables or schedules, which have been filed on Form 8K with the SEC on February 29, 2024, and may also be accessed through the company's website at www.bhreap.com. Each listener is encouraged to review those reconciliations provided in the earnings release together with all other information provided in the release. Also, unless otherwise stated, all reported results discussed in this call compare the fourth quarter and full year ended December 31st, 2023, with the fourth quarter and full year ended December 31st, 2022. I'll now turn the call over to Richard Stockton. Please go ahead, Richard.

Good morning. Welcome to our 2023 fourth quarter earnings conference call. I'll begin today's call by providing an overview of our business and an update on our portfolio. Then, Derek will provide a review of our financial results. and Chris will provide an update on our asset management activity. Afterwards, we will open the call for Q&A. We have a few key themes for today's call. First, we continue to be pleased with the continued momentum of our urban hotels, which afford a comparable hotel of $11 million in the fourth quarter. Second, our two most recent acquisitions, the Ritz-Carlton Reserve Dorado Beach and the Four Seasons Resort Scottsdale at True North, are each performing well and continue to exceed our original underwriting. And third, as we continue to diligently work through our refinancing program, we have refinanced or extended almost all of our 2024 debt maturities, including the recent refinance of the Capital Health in Washington, D.C., extension of our Pier House Resort and Spa in Key West loan, extension of our Ritz-Carlton St. Thomas loan, extension of our Ritz-Carlton Lake Tahoe loan, and extension on our Hilton La Jolla Torrey Pines loan. Turning to our fourth quarter results, our portfolio delivered solid results with fourth quarter comparable hotel EBITDA of $45.1 million. Our resort properties continue to outpace 2019 results, and our urban properties continue to recover. Turning to rev par for all hotels in the portfolio, our fourth quarter rev par result of $288 reflects a decrease of 4.4% over the prior year quarter. I'd like to point out that while the performance at our luxury resorts experienced a decrease compared to historically high 2022 levels, we're very pleased with their overall performance, especially when you take into account that, A, both demand and rates remain solid versus historical comparisons, and B, their performance is still far outperforming 2019 results. We're also encouraged by January REVPAR results for our portfolio, which reflected growth of 2.9%. compared to the prior year. Taking a closer look at our best in class luxury portfolio, many of our hotels are well located in attractive high barrier to entry leisure markets. 10 of our 16 hotels are considered resort destinations and this luxury resort portfolio continues to deliver strong performance with combined hotel EBITDA of $34 million during the quarter. Regarding our urban assets, our fourth quarter performance remains solid and continue to exhibit strong growth, generating $11 million of comparable hotel EBITDA. Looking ahead, we remain very encouraged by the continued momentum for this segment, and as we've emphasized before, demand continues to return to our cities, and Braemar's urban hotels continue to ramp up. This return continues to be driven by corporate transient, as well as recent strength in corporate group demand, as expected to accelerate during 2024, which Chris will discuss in greater detail shortly. Overall, as demonstrated by our results, our urban portfolio is in solid shape, and we continue to believe our urban hotels will be the primary driver of growth for our portfolio in the coming quarters. Next, we remain very excited about our recent acquisition of the Four Seasons Resort Scottsdale at Troon North, which continues to surpass our expectations. Acquired in early December 2022 with cash on hand and with no common equity issued to fund the acquisition, It fit perfectly with our strategy of owning high rep part luxury hotels and resorts. Financially, it's also been a great addition to our portfolio as demonstrated by its strong fourth quarter and full year performance. We also continue to analyze the optimal solution for the nearly six acre development parcel we acquired as part of the acquisition. Additionally, Braemar's other 2022 acquisition continues to perform very well. For the fourth quarter, rent par for the Ritz-Carlton Reserve Dorado Beach was $1,551, based on 58% occupancy and an ADR of $2,679. This rent par result reflected growth of 8.9% over the prior year quarter. For the full year 2023, the Ritz-Carlton Reserve Dorado Beach achieved a 9.8% yield on cost, while the Four Seasons Scottsdale achieved a 7.3% yield on cost. Both of these luxury assets have outpaced our underwriting, and looking ahead to the next several quarters, we remain very encouraged about the prospects for these well-positioned properties. Turning to Braymar's capital position, our balance sheet remains strong, and we continue to emphasize balance sheet flexibility. During the fourth quarter, we extended our Ritz-Carlton Lake Tahoe loan. As the hotel debt capital markets continue to improve, we also refinanced or extended almost all of our 2024 debt maturities. Derek will discuss those in more detail in a minute. But taking a quick look, we extended the loan secured by the Pure House Resort and Spa. We also extended the loan secured by the Ritz Carlton St. Thomas. And we refinanced the Capital Hilton in Washington, D.C. with a new $110.6 million mortgage loan. Additionally, the Hilton La Jolla Torrey Pines remains encumbered by the original mortgage loan, which now has been partially paid down to a remaining balance of $66.6 million. While we consider all... or alternatives regarding financing of this loan, or potentially selling the asset. Our lender has provided a six-month forbearance agreement. Further, regarding dispositions, if favorable opportunities present themselves, we would consider raising capital through selected asset sales. We're being prudent in our approach, and for now, are testing the markets on their front. As we look ahead, Braymar has a unique, well-positioned portfolio and a solid liquidity position. In summary, we believe Braemar is on firm footing to perform well in both the near term and the long term. I'll now turn the call over to Derek to take you through our financials in more detail.