DiamondRock Hospitality Company (NYSE:DRH) Q2 2023 Earnings Call Transcript

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Chris Darling: Right. That’s all very helpful. Thank you.

Operator: Thank you. One moment please. Our next question comes from the line of Michael Bellisario of RW Baird. Your lines is open.

Michael Bellisario: Thanks. Good evening, guys. Just a quick first follow-up on the transaction front. Was Chico set up as a reverse 1031? Any pressing need to sell something on the back end of this one?

Mark Brugger: It was not set up as a reverse 1031.

Michael Bellisario: Got it. Okay. And then just on the transaction, maybe can you give us a little bit of background on who the customer is? Maybe what states people are coming from? And then any percentage if you have it just on a number of repeat guests that come to the property?

Mark Brugger: Yes, this is an institution. The clientele obviously changes depending on the time of the year. It is remarkable because of the hot springs how year-around this asset really is. Obviously, in the peak season when people are going to Yellowstone, this is close to an entrance to the Yellowstone. You get in the summer, you get more out of greater than 50%, but you got a fair amount of repeat folks. And then in the rest of the year, it is kind of the local draw. It’s probably the best restaurant within 20 miles of the location. So it’s got kind of a great local following from Livingston in other areas. But probably on average, it’s about 50% from out in other states from all over the country — all over the U.S.

Justin Leonard: Michael, I’d add, it’s a very popular hang out with locals, even just to go to the saloon and take a soak in the hot spring.

Michael Bellisario: I won’t ask if you guys did that too on your tour.

Justin Leonard: Thank you.

Michael Bellisario: And in your one page that you put out the other day, you referenced a 40 plus or minus percentage point RevPAR delta. What is your underwriting assumed in that Chico does versus the comp set and maybe how long does it take to get there?

Mark Brugger: Yes. I mean, I think to sum it up, though, is the gap is going to be both on putting in the revenue system and having the revenue gains, but there’s probably things we can do in productivity and best practices that we can implement on the expense side that just haven’t been done there. So it’s going to be on both of those. But if you think about it, we started in 8.1% NOI cap rate and getting to 10% is not a — we don’t have to bridge very much at that gap to get there over time. So the comp set a little bit — it’s pretty broad in that area because there’s — you’ve got to go down the Gardiner and Livingston, — so it’s kind of a broad comp set. But you’ll probably see more ability to move rate over time in the summer than other seasons.

Michael Bellisario: Helpful. Thank you.

Operator: Thank you. I’m showing no further questions at this time. I’d like to turn the call back over to Mark Brugger for any closing remarks.

Mark Brugger: Well, thank you, everyone, for tuning in to our call, and we look forward to updating you on our earnings next quarter. Take care, and have a great evening.

Operator: Thank you. Ladies and gentlemen, this does conclude today’s conference. Thank you all for participating. You may now disconnect. Have a great day.

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