Across Comfort Hotels that have completed renovations, revenue per available room has grown nearly 1 percent, and business travel revenue at each property doubled within one quarter of completing renovations. Choice Hotels International is in the midst of a years-long, $2.5 billion refresh of the brand, and nearly 50 percent of the Comfort system has met the elevated brand standards while more than 20 percent have installed signage to signal renovations are complete.
RevPAR for Choice, however, fell 0.7 percent year over year for the first quarter. The company cited three reasons: more hotels under renovation during this period than previously forecasted, the government shutdown, and continued impact from hurricane activity a year prior. The company expects the year-over-year change in domestic RevPAR to range between a 1 percent decline and 1 percent increase and RevPAR to remain flat or increase 1 percent.
Revenue for the first quarter rose 4 percent year over year to $218.3 million. Systemwide average daily rate decreased 0.1 percent to $76.75, while occupancy dropped to 57.5 percent from 58 percent a year earlier. The company added 119 domestic franchised hotels, a 2.1 percent year-over-year increase, with 7,969 rooms, an increase of 1.8 percent. International franchises increased by 33 hotels, a 3 percent rise, with 5,823 rooms, a 5.2 percent increase. That adds to a systemwide room increase of 2.5 percent for the quarter.
Choice also highlighted growth in two segments. Its upscale brand Cambria, which is designed to appeal to "the modern business traveler," reported a RevPAR increase of 3.6 percent and 9.4 percent growth in the number of rooms to 5,797. The company expects to increase the number of Cambria properties from 41 to 50 in 2019. It also noted that the WoodSpring Suites extended-stay brand, which the company acquired in early 2018, is growing rapidly; it signed seven franchise agreements in the first quarter, a 6.4 percent increase in rooms to 30,766. The company anticipated 300 WoodSpring Suites open by the end of 2020, compared to the 256 currently operating.
RELATED: Choice 2018 Q4 earnings