HOST HOTELS & RESORTS, INC. - Annual Report: 2019 (Form 10-K)

UNITED STATES

SECURITIES AND EXCHANGE COMMISSION

Washington, D.C. 20549

Form 10-K

For the fiscal year ended December 31, 2019

OR

Commission File Number: 001-14625 (Host Hotels & Resorts, Inc.)

0-25087 (Host Hotels & Resorts, L.P.)

HOST HOTELS & RESORTS, INC.

HOST HOTELS & RESORTS, L.P.

(Exact Name of Registrant as Specified in Its Charter)

(240) 744-1000

(Registrant’s Telephone Number, Including Area Code)

Securities registered pursuant to Section 12(b) of the Act:

Securities registered pursuant to Section 12(g) of the Act:

Indicate by check mark if the registrant is a well-known seasoned issuer, as defined in Rule 405 of the Securities Act.

Indicate by check mark if the registrant is not required to file reports pursuant to Section 13 or Section 15(d) of the Act.

Indicate by check mark whether the registrant: (1) has filed all reports required to be filed by Section 13 or 15(d) of the Securities Exchange Act of 1934 during the preceding 12 months (or for such shorter period that the registrant was required to file such reports), and (2) has been subject to such filing requirements for the past 90 days.

Indicate by check mark whether the registrant has submitted electronically every Interactive Data File required to be submitted pursuant to Rule 405 of Regulation S-T (§ 232.405 of this chapter) during the preceding 12 months (or for such shorter period that the registrant was required to submit such files).

Indicate by check mark whether the registrant is a large accelerated filer, an accelerated filer, a non-accelerated filer, a smaller reporting company, or an emerging growth company. See the definitions of “large accelerated filer,” “accelerated filer,” “smaller reporting company” and “emerging growth company” in Rule 12b-2 of the Exchange Act.:

Host Hotels & Resorts, Inc.

Host Hotels & Resorts, L.P.

Indicate by check mark whether the registrant is a shell company (as defined in Rule 12b-2 of the Exchange Act).

The aggregate market value of common shares held by non-affiliates of Host Hotels & Resorts, Inc. (based on the closing sale price on the New York Stock Exchange) on June 28, 2019 was $13,135,902,460.

Documents Incorporated by Reference

Portions of Host Hotels & Resorts, Inc.’s definitive proxy statement to be filed with the Securities and Exchange Commission and delivered to stockholders in connection with its annual meeting of stockholders to be held on May 15, 2020 are incorporated by reference into Part III of this Form 10-K.

EXPLANATORY NOTE

This report combines the annual reports on Form 10-K for the fiscal year ended December 31, 2019 of Host Hotels & Resorts, Inc. and Host Hotels & Resorts, L.P. Unless stated otherwise or the context otherwise requires, references to “Host Inc.” mean Host Hotels & Resorts, Inc., a Maryland corporation, and references to “Host L.P.” mean Host Hotels & Resorts, L.P., a Delaware limited partnership, and its consolidated subsidiaries. We use the terms “we” or “our” or “the company” to refer to Host Inc. and Host L.P. together, unless the context indicates otherwise. We use the term Host Inc. to specifically refer to Host Hotels & Resorts, Inc. and the term Host L.P. to specifically refer to Host Hotels & Resorts, L.P. (and its consolidated subsidiaries) in cases where it is important to distinguish between Host Inc. and Host L.P. Host Inc. owns properties and conducts operations through Host L.P., of which Host Inc. is the sole general partner and of which it holds approximately 99% of the partnership interests (“OP units”) as of December 31, 2019. The remaining partnership interests are owned by various unaffiliated limited partners. As the sole general partner of Host L.P., Host Inc. has the exclusive and complete responsibility for Host L.P.’s day-to-day management and control.

We believe combining the annual reports on Form 10-K of Host Inc. and Host L.P. into this single report results in the following benefits:

Management operates Host Inc. and Host L.P. as one enterprise. The management of Host Inc. consists of the same members who direct the management of Host L.P. The executive officers of Host Inc. are appointed by Host Inc.’s board of directors, but are employed by Host L.P. Host L.P. employs everyone who works for Host Inc. or Host L.P. As general partner with control of Host L.P., Host Inc. consolidates Host L.P. for financial reporting purposes, and Host Inc. does not have significant assets other than its investment in Host L.P. Therefore, the assets and liabilities of Host Inc. and Host L.P. are the same on their respective financial statements.

There are a few differences between Host Inc. and Host L.P., which are reflected in the disclosure in this report. We believe it is important to understand the differences between Host Inc. and Host L.P. in the context of how Host Inc. and Host L.P. operate as an interrelated consolidated company. Host Inc. is a real estate investment trust, or REIT, and its only material asset is its ownership of partnership interests of Host L.P. As a result, Host Inc. does not conduct business itself, other than acting as the sole general partner of Host L.P., and issuing public equity from time to time, the proceeds from which are contributed to Host L.P. in exchange for OP units. Host Inc. itself does not issue any indebtedness and does not guarantee the debt or obligations of Host L.P. Host L.P. holds substantially all of our assets and holds the ownership interests in our joint ventures. Host L.P. conducts the operations of the business and is structured as a limited partnership with no publicly traded equity. Except for net proceeds from public equity issuances by Host Inc., Host L.P. generates the capital required by our business through Host L.P.’s operations, by Host L.P.’s direct or indirect incurrence of indebtedness, or through the issuance of OP units.

The substantive difference between the filings of Host Inc. and Host L.P. is that Host Inc. is a REIT with public stock, while Host L.P. is a partnership with no publicly traded equity. In the financial statements, this difference primarily is reflected in the equity (or partners’ capital for Host L.P.) section of the consolidated balance sheets and in the consolidated statements of equity (or partners’ capital) and in the consolidated statements of operations and comprehensive income (loss) with respect to the manner in which income is allocated to non-controlling interests. Income allocable to the holders of approximately 1% of the OP units is reflected as income allocable to non-controlling interests at Host Inc. and within net income at Host L.P. Also, earnings per share generally will be slightly less than the earnings per OP unit, as each Host Inc. common share is the equivalent of .97895 OP units (instead of 1 OP unit). Apart from these differences, the financial statements of Host Inc. and Host L.P. are nearly identical.

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To help investors understand the differences between Host Inc. and Host L.P., this report presents the following separate sections or portions of sections for each of Host Inc. and Host L.P.:

This report also includes separate Item 9A. Controls and Procedures sections and separate Exhibit 31 and 32 certifications for each of Host Inc. and Host L.P. in order to establish that the Chief Executive Officer and the Principal Financial Officer of Host Inc. and the Chief Executive Officer and the Principal Financial Officer of Host Inc. as the general partner of Host L.P. have made the requisite certifications and that Host Inc. and Host L.P. are compliant with Rule 13a-15 or Rule 15d-15 of the Securities Exchange Act of 1934 and 18 U.S.C. §1350.

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HOST HOTELS & RESORTS, INC. AND HOST HOTELS & RESORTS, L.P.

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PART I

Forward Looking Statements

Our disclosure and analysis in this 2019 Annual Report on Form 10-K and in Host Inc.’s 2019 Annual Report to Stockholders contain some forward-looking statements that set forth anticipated results based on management’s plans and assumptions. From time to time, we also provide forward-looking statements in other materials we release to the public. Such statements give our current expectations or forecasts of future events; they do not relate strictly to historical or current facts. We have tried, wherever possible, to identify each such statement by using words such as “anticipate,” “estimate,” “expect,” “project,” “intend,” “plan,” “believe,” “will,” “target,” “forecast” and similar expressions in connection with any discussion of future operating or financial performance. In particular, these forward-looking statements include those relating to future actions, future acquisitions or dispositions, future capital expenditures plans, future performance or results of current and anticipated expenses, interest rates, foreign exchange rates or the outcome of contingencies, such as legal proceedings.

We cannot guarantee that any future results discussed in any forward-looking statements will be realized, although we believe that we have been prudent in our plans and assumptions. Achievement of future results is subject to risks, uncertainties and potentially inaccurate assumptions, including those discussed in Item 1A “Risk Factors.” Should known or unknown risks or uncertainties materialize, or should underlying assumptions prove inaccurate, actual results could differ materially from past results and those results anticipated, estimated or projected. You should bear this in mind as you consider forward-looking statements.

We undertake no obligation to publicly update forward-looking statements, whether because of new information, future events or otherwise. You are advised, however, to consult any additional disclosures we make or related subjects in our reports on Form 10-Q and Form 8-K that we file with the Securities and Exchange Commission (“SEC”). Also note that, in our risk factors, we provide a cautionary discussion of risks, uncertainties and possibly inaccurate assumptions relevant to our business. These are factors that, individually or in the aggregate, we believe could cause our actual results to differ materially from past results and those results anticipated, estimated or projected. We note these factors for investors as permitted by the Private Securities Litigation Reform Act of 1995. It is not possible to predict or identify all such risk factors. Consequently, you should not consider the discussion of risk factors to be a complete discussion of all the potential risks or uncertainties that could affect our business.

Host Inc. was incorporated as a Maryland corporation in 1998 and operates as a self-managed and self-administered REIT. Host Inc. owns properties and conducts operations through Host L.P., of which Host Inc. is the sole general partner and of which it holds approximately 99% of the partnership interests (“OP units”) as of December 31, 2019. The remaining partnership interests are owned by various unaffiliated limited partners. Host Inc. has the exclusive and complete responsibility for Host L.P.’s day-to-day management and control.

As of February 20, 2020, our consolidated lodging portfolio consists of 80 primarily luxury and upper-upscale hotels containing approximately 46,500 rooms, with the majority located in the United States, and with five of the hotels located outside of the U.S. in Brazil and Canada. In addition, we own non-controlling interests in five domestic and one international joint venture that own hotels and in a timeshare joint venture in Hawaii.

Business Strategy

Our goal is to be the preeminent owner of high-quality lodging real estate in growing markets in the U.S. and to generate superior long-term returns for our stockholders throughout all phases of the lodging cycle through a combination of appreciation in asset values, growth in earnings and dividend distributions. The pillars of our strategy to achieve this objective include:

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Geographically Diverse Portfolio.

We seek to have a geographically diversified portfolio in top U.S. major markets and premier resort destinations. We primarily focus on acquisitions and, occasionally, new development opportunities to enhance our portfolio. We focus generally on the following types of assets:

As one of the largest owners of Marriott and Hyatt properties, our hotels primarily are operated under brand names that are among the most respected and widely recognized in the lodging industry. Within these brands, we have focused predominantly on the upper-upscale and luxury asset classes, as we believe these classes have a broad appeal for both individual and group leisure and business customers. In addition, we own several unbranded or soft-branded hotels that appeal to distinctive customer profiles in certain select submarkets.

Strong Scale and an Integrated Platform

Enterprise Analytics Platform. Due to the scale of our asset management and business intelligence platform, we believe we are in a unique position to implement value-added real estate decisions and to assist managers in driving operating performance. The size and composition of our portfolio and our affiliation with most of the leading brands and operators in the industry allow our enterprise analytics team to benchmark similar hotels and identify best practices and efficiencies that can improve long-term profitability. We perform independent underwriting of return on investment (“ROI”) projects and potential acquisitions, as well as revenue management analysis of ancillary revenue opportunities. Our goal is to continue to differentiate our assets within their competitive markets, drive operating performance and enhance the overall value of our real estate through the following:

Disciplined Capital Allocation. Guided by a disciplined approach to capital allocation, we are aligned to make investment decisions that seek to deliver the greatest value and returns to stockholders. Our goal is to allocate capital to enhance and improve our portfolio, while balancing the importance of prudently returning capital to stockholders.

For 2020, we will continue our disciplined approach to capital allocation and intend to take advantage of our strong balance sheet and overall scale. We constantly are evaluating both single hotel and hotel portfolio transactions to acquire iconic upper-upscale and luxury properties that we believe have sustainable competitive advantages. Similarly, we intend to continue our capital recycling program with strategic and opportunistic dispositions. This may include the sale of assets where we believe the potential for growth is constrained or properties with significant capital expenditure requirements that we do not believe would generate an adequate return.

We may acquire additional properties or dispose of properties through various structures, including transactions involving single assets, portfolios, joint ventures, mergers and acquisitions of the securities or assets of other REITs or distributions of hotel properties to our stockholders. We anticipate that any acquisitions may be funded by, or through a combination of, proceeds from the sales of hotels, equity offerings of Host Inc., issuances of OP units by Host L.P., incurrence of debt, available cash or advances under our credit facility. We note, however, that the nature and supply of these assets make acquisitions inherently difficult to predict. For these reasons, we can make no assurances that we will be successful in purchasing any one or more hotels that we are reviewing currently, or may in the future review, bid on or negotiate to buy.

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We also seek to create and mine value from our existing portfolio through value enhancement initiatives and ROI projects. We believe those investments provide a significant opportunity to achieve returns well in excess of our cost of capital. We work closely with our managers to attempt to schedule these projects to minimize operational disruption and environmental impact. Value enhancement initiatives seek to maximize the value of real estate within our existing portfolio through the highest and best use of our real estate. These projects may include hotel expansion, timeshare, office space or condominium units on excess land, redevelopment or expansion of existing retail space, and the acquisition of development entitlements. ROI projects are designed to improve the positioning of our hotels within their markets and competitive set. These projects include extensive renovations, including guest rooms, lobbies, food and beverage outlets; expansions and/or extensive renovation of ballroom and meeting rooms; major mechanical system upgrades; and green building initiatives and certifications. It also includes projects focused on increasing space profitability or lowering net operating costs, such as converting unprofitable or underutilized space into meeting space, adding guestrooms, and implementing energy and water conservation measures such as LED lighting, high-efficiency mechanical, electrical and plumbing equipment and fixtures, solar power, energy management systems, guestroom water efficient fixtures, and building automation systems.

Renewal and replacement capital expenditures are designed to maintain the quality and competitiveness of our hotels. Typically, renovations occur at intervals of approximately seven to ten years, but the timing may vary based on the type of property, function of area being renovated, hotel occupancy and other factors. These renovations generally are divided into the following types: soft goods, case goods, bathroom and architectural and engineering systems. Soft goods include items such as carpeting, textiles and wall finishes, which may require more frequent updates in order to maintain brand quality standards. Case goods include dressers, desks, couches, restaurant and meeting room tables and chairs, which generally are not replaced as frequently. Bathroom renovations include the refurbishment or replacement of tile, vanity, lighting and plumbing fixtures. Architectural and engineering systems include the physical plant of the hotel, including the roof, elevators/escalators, façade, heating, ventilation, and air conditioning and fire systems.

Throughout the lodging cycle, to the extent that we are unable to find appropriate investment opportunities that meet our return requirements, we will focus on returning capital to stockholders through dividends or common stock repurchases. Significant factors we review to determine the level and timing of the returns to stockholders include our current stock price compared to our determination of the underlying value of our assets, current and forecast operating results and the completion of hotel sales.  

Investment Grade Balance Sheet  

Our goal is to maintain a flexible capital structure that allows us to execute our strategy throughout the lodging cycle. To maintain its qualification as a REIT, Host Inc. is required to distribute 90% of its taxable income (other than net capital gain) to its stockholders each year and, as a result, generally relies on external sources of capital, as well as cash from operations, to finance growth.

Management believes that a strong balance sheet is a key competitive advantage that affords us a lower cost of capital and positions us for external growth. While we may issue debt at any time, we will target a net debt-to-earnings before interest, taxes, depreciation and amortization (“EBITDA”) ratio, (or “Leverage Ratio,” as defined in our credit facility) that allows us to maintain an investment grade rating on our senior unsecured debt. We believe an investment grade rating will give us the most consistent access to capital throughout the business cycle.

We seek to structure our debt profile to maintain financial flexibility and a balanced maturity schedule with access to different forms of financing, consisting primarily of senior notes and exchangeable debentures, as well as mortgage debt. Generally, we look to minimize the number of assets that are encumbered by mortgage debt, minimize near-term maturities and maintain a balanced maturity schedule. Depending on market conditions, we also may utilize variable rate debt which can provide greater protection during a decline in the lodging industry.

Corporate Responsibility

Our corporate responsibility strategic framework follows three themes to inform the integration of sustainability into the business and to guide our engagement with key stakeholders and communities:

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In October 2018, the Sustainability Accounting Standards Board (“SASB”) issued the Real Estate Sustainability Accounting Standard. The standard outlines disclosure topics and accounting metrics for the real estate industry. The energy and water management metrics that best correlate with our industry include energy consumption data coverage as a percentage of floor area (“Energy Intensity”); total energy consumed by portfolio area (“Total Energy Consumption”); water withdrawal as a percentage of total floor area, or number of units (for our calculation we use occupied rooms) (“Water Intensity”); and total water withdrawn by portfolio area (“Total Water Consumption”). The energy and water data we use is collected and reviewed by third-parties who compile the data from property utility statements. These metrics enable us to track the effectiveness of water and energy reduction ROI projects.

We reference key aspects and metrics of our sustainability efforts through the Global Reporting Initiative (“GRI”) Index, in accordance with the GRI framework and, beginning in 2015, we contracted with a third-party to provide further verification of our energy and water consumption data. The charts below detail our Energy Intensity, Total Energy Consumption, Water Intensity and Total Water Consumption for 2016 through 2018, the last three fiscal years for which data is available⁽¹⁾⁽²⁾:

Our 2019 Corporate Responsibility report, which provides a summary of results and progress over the last reporting year, along with future commitments, was issued in October 2019.  

The Lodging Industry

The lodging industry in the United States consists of private and public entities that operate in a diversified market under a variety of brand names. The lodging industry has several key participants:

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The hotel manager is responsible for the day-to-day operations of the hotel, including the employment of hotel staff, the determination of room rates, the development of sales and marketing plans, the preparation of operating and capital expenditures budgets and the preparation of financial reports for the owner. The hotel manager typically receives fees based on the revenues and profitability of the hotel.

Supply and Demand. Our industry is influenced by the cyclical relationship between the supply of and demand for hotel rooms. Lodging demand growth typically is related to the vitality of the overall economy, in addition to local market factors that stimulate travel to specific destinations. Trends in economic indicators such as gross domestic product (“GDP”) growth, business investment, corporate profits and employment growth are key indicators of the relative strength of lodging demand. Lodging demand also will be affected by changes to international travel patterns.

Lodging supply growth generally is driven by overall lodging demand, as extended periods of strong demand growth tend to encourage new development. However, the rate of supply growth also is influenced by several additional factors, including the availability of capital, interest rates, construction costs and unique market considerations. The relatively long lead-time required to complete the development of hotels makes supply growth easier to forecast than demand growth, but increases the volatility of the cyclical behavior of the lodging industry, as new supply may be planned during an upcycle but such supply may open for business in a weaker economy. Therefore, as illustrated in the charts below for the U.S. lodging industry, at different points in the cycle, demand growth may accelerate when supply growth is very low, or supply may accelerate while demand growth is slowing. A recent source of supply for the industry has been the rapid growth of online short-term rentals, including as a flexible option for apartment buildings. Though not reported through official industry statistics, the impact on the hotel industry and the availability of these outlets is more variable than typical changes in supply from hotel construction and tends to be very market specific. Local legislation has the potential to limit supply growth for these online short-term rentals in many top markets, though the growth of professional management for legal rentals remains a key trend.

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Our portfolio primarily consists of upper upscale and luxury hotels and, accordingly, its performance is best understood in comparison to the upper upscale category rather than the entire industry. The charts below detail the historical supply, demand and revenue per available room (“RevPAR”) growth for the U.S. lodging industry and for the U.S. luxury and upper upscale categories for 2015 to 2019 and forecast data for 2020:  

U.S. Lodging Industry Supply, Demand and RevPAR Growth

Source: Historical data - STR, 2020 Forecast - CBRE Hotels’ Americas Research

U.S. Luxury and Upper Upscale Supply, Demand and RevPAR Growth

Source: Historical data - STR, 2020 Forecast - CBRE Hotels’ Americas Research

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Managers and Operational Agreements

All our hotels are managed by third parties pursuant to management or operating agreements, with some of such hotels also subject to separate franchise or license agreements addressing matters pertaining to operations under the designated brand. Under these agreements, the managers have sole responsibility and exclusive authority for all activities necessary for the day-to-day operation of the hotels, including establishing room rates, securing and processing reservations, procuring inventories, supplies and services, providing periodic inspection and consultation visits to the hotels by the managers’ technical and operational experts and promoting and publicizing the hotels. The managers employ all managerial and other employees for the hotels, review hotel operations with a focus on improving revenues and managing expenses, review the maintenance of the hotels, prepare reports, budgets and projections, and provide other administrative and accounting support services to the hotels. These support services include planning and policy services, divisional financial services, product planning and development, employee staffing and training, corporate executive management and certain in-house legal services. We have certain approval rights over budgets, capital expenditures, significant leases and contractual commitments, and various other matters.

General Terms and Provisions – Agreements governing our hotels that are managed by brand owners (Marriott, Hyatt, Hilton and AccorHotels) typically include the terms described below:

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In addition to hotels managed by brand owners, we have both branded hotels and non-branded hotels operated by independent managers. Our management agreements with independent managers, while similar in operational scope to agreements with our brand managers, typically have shorter initial terms, no renewal rights, more flexible termination rights, and more limited system-wide services. However, while we have additional flexibility with respect to these operators, certain of those hotels remain subject to underlying franchise or licensing agreements. These franchise or licensing agreements allow us to engage independent managers to operate our hotels under the applicable brand names and to participate in the brands’ reservation and loyalty-rewards systems. Under these agreements, we pay the brand owners a franchise or licensing fee equal to a specified percentage of gross room revenues, as well as other system fees and reimbursements. In addition, we are obligated to maintain applicable brand standards at our franchised hotels.  

Operating Structure

Host Inc. operates through an umbrella partnership structure in which substantially all its assets are owned by Host L.P., of which Host Inc. is the sole general partner and holds approximately 99% of the OP units as of December 31, 2019. A REIT is a corporation that has elected to be treated as a REIT under the Internal Revenue Code of 1986, as amended (the “Code”), and that meets certain ownership, organizational and operating requirements set forth under the Code. In general, by payments of dividends to stockholders, a REIT is permitted to reduce or eliminate federal income taxes at the corporate level. Each OP unit owned by unaffiliated limited partners other than Host Inc. is redeemable, at the option of the limited partner, for an amount of cash equal to the market value of one share of Host Inc. common stock multiplied by the current conversion factor of 1.021494. Host Inc. has the right to acquire any OP unit offered for redemption directly from the limited partner in exchange for 1.021494 shares of Host Inc. common stock instead of Host L.P. redeeming such OP unit for cash. Additionally, for every share of common stock issued by Host Inc., Host L.P. will issue .97895 OP units to Host Inc. in exchange for the consideration received from the issuance of the common stock. As of December 31, 2019, unaffiliated limited partners owned 7.5 million OP units, which were convertible into 7.6 million Host Inc. common shares. Assuming that all OP units held by unaffiliated limited partners were converted into common shares, there would have been 721.0 million common shares of Host Inc. outstanding at December 31, 2019.

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Our operating structure is as follows:

As a REIT, certain tax laws limit the amount of “non-qualifying” income that Host Inc. and Host L.P. can earn, including income derived directly from the operation of hotels. As a result, we lease substantially all our consolidated hotels to certain of our subsidiaries designated as taxable REIT subsidiaries (“TRS”) for federal income tax purposes. Our TRS are subject to income tax and are not limited as to the amount of non-qualifying income they can generate, but they are limited in terms of their value as a percentage of the total value of our assets. Our TRS enter into agreements with third parties to manage the operations of the hotels. Our TRS also may own assets engaging in activities that produce non-qualifying income, such as the development of timeshare or condominium units, subject to certain restrictions. The difference between the hotels’ net operating cash flow and the aggregate rents paid to Host L.P. is retained by our TRS as taxable income. Accordingly, the net effect of the TRS leases is that a portion of the net operating cash flow from our hotels is subject to federal, state and, if applicable, foreign corporate income tax.

Our Consolidated Hotel Portfolio

As of February 20, 2020, we owned a portfolio of 80 hotels, of which 75 are in the United States and five are located in Brazil and Canada. Our consolidated hotels located outside the United States collectively have approximately 1,500 rooms. Approximately 2% of our revenues were attributed to the operations of these five foreign hotels in each of 2019, 2018 and 2017.

The lodging industry is viewed as consisting of six different categories, each of which caters to a discrete set of customer tastes and needs: luxury, upper upscale, upscale, upper midscale, midscale and economy. Our portfolio primarily consists of luxury and upper upscale properties, which are operated under internationally recognized brand names such as Marriott, Westin, Ritz-Carlton, Hyatt and Hilton. There also has been a trend towards specialized, smaller boutique hotels that are customized towards a particular customer profile. Generally, these hotels will be operated by an independent third party and either will have no brand affiliation, or will be associated with a major brand, while maintaining most of its independent identity (which we refer to as “soft-branded” properties).

Revenues earned at our hotels consist of three broad categories: rooms, food and beverage, and other revenues. While approximately 63% of our revenues in 2019 are generated from room sales, the majority of our properties feature a variety of amenities that help drive demand and profitability. Our hotels typically include meeting and banquet facilities, a variety of restaurants and lounges, swimming pools, exercise facilities and/or spas, gift shops and parking facilities, the combination of which enable them to serve business, leisure and group travelers.  

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Our top 40 hotels by RevPAR represent approximately 70% of our total revenues. Additionally, 33 of our consolidated hotels have more than 500 rooms. The average age of our properties is 35 years, although substantially all of them have benefited from significant renovations or major additions, as well as regularly scheduled renewal and replacement expenditures and other capital improvements.

By Brand. The following table details our consolidated hotel portfolio by brand as of February 20, 2020:

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By Location. The following table details the locations of and number of rooms at our consolidated hotels as of February 20, 2020:

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By Market Location: With our geographically diverse portfolio, no individual market represents more than 10% of total revenues. The following chart summarizes the composition of our consolidated hotels as of February 20, 2020 by each market location based on its percentage of 2019 revenues:  

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Other Real Estate Interests

We own non-controlling interests in several entities that, as of February 20, 2020, owned, or owned an interest in, 10 hotels. The operations of the properties owned by these entities are not consolidated and are included in equity in earnings in our consolidated results of operations. See Part II Item 8. “Financial Statements and Supplementary Data – Note 4. Investments in Affiliates.”

Competition

The lodging industry is highly competitive. Competition often is specific to individual markets and is based on several factors, including location, brand, guest facilities and amenities, level of service, room rates and the quality of accommodations. The lodging industry is viewed as consisting of six different categories, each of which caters to a discrete set of customer tastes and needs: luxury, upper upscale, upscale, upper midscale, midscale and economy. The classification of a hotel is based on lodging industry standards, which take into consideration many factors, such as guest facilities and amenities, level of service and quality of accommodations. Most of our hotels operate in urban and resort markets either as luxury properties under such brand names as Andaz^®, Fairmont^®, Grand Hyatt^®, JW Marriott^®, Ritz-Carlton^®, St. Regis^®, The Luxury Collection^® and W^®, or as upper upscale properties under such brand names as Embassy Suites^®, Hilton^®, Hyatt^®,  Marriott^®, Marriott Marquis^®, Autograph Collection^®, Curio – A Collection by Hilton^®, Marriott Suites^®, Pullman^®, Sheraton^®, Swissôtel^® and Westin^®. ⁽¹⁾  While our hotels compete primarily with other hotels in the luxury and upper upscale category, they also may compete with hotels in other lower-tier categories. A recent source of supply for the lodging industry has been the rapid growth of online short-term rentals, including as a flexible option for apartment buildings. Our hotels also may compete with these short-term rentals in certain markets. In addition, many management contracts for our hotels do not prohibit our managers from converting, franchising or developing other hotels in our markets. As a result, our hotels compete with other hotels that our managers may own, invest in, manage or franchise.  

We also compete with other REITs and other public and private investors for the acquisition of new properties and investment opportunities as we attempt to position our portfolio to best take advantage of changes in markets and travel patterns of our customers.

Seasonality

Our hotel sales traditionally have experienced moderate seasonality, which varies based on the individual hotel and the region. Hotel sales for our consolidated portfolio were approximately 26%, 27%, 23% and 24% for the first, second, third and fourth calendar quarters, respectively, in 2019.

Environmental and Regulatory Matters

Under various federal, state and local environmental laws, ordinances and regulations, a current or previous owner or operator of real property may be liable for the costs of removal or remediation of hazardous or toxic substances. These laws may impose liability whether or not the owner or operator knew of, or was responsible for, the presence of such hazardous or toxic substances. In addition, certain environmental laws and common law principles could be used to impose liability for release of hazardous or toxic materials, and third parties may seek recovery from owners or operators of real properties for personal injury associated with exposure to released hazardous or toxic materials. Environmental laws also may impose restrictions on the way property may be used or businesses may be operated, and these restrictions may require corrective or other expenditures. In connection with our current or prior ownership or operation of hotels, we potentially may be liable for various environmental costs or liabilities. Although currently we are not aware of any material environmental claims pending or threatened against us, we can offer no assurance that a material environmental claim will not be asserted against us in the future.

Employees

As of February 20, 2020, we had 175 employees, all of which work in the United States, including our regional offices in Miami and San Diego. None of Host’s employees are covered by collective bargaining agreements. The employees at all of our U.S. and Canadian hotels are employees of our third-party hotel managers, who are responsible for hiring and maintaining employees. The number of employees referenced above does not include the hotel employees of our three hotels in Brazil, which, while technically Host employees, are under the direct supervision and control of our third-party hotel managers. Although we do not manage employees at our consolidated hotels, we still are subject to many of the costs and risks generally associated with the hotel labor force, particularly those hotels with unionized labor. For a discussion of these relationships, see Part I Item 1A. “Risk Factors—We are subject to risks associated with the employment of hotel personnel, particularly with hotels that employ unionized labor.”

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Employees at certain of our third-party managed hotels are covered by collective bargaining agreements that are subject to review and renewal on a regular basis. For a discussion of these relationships, see Part I Item 1A. “Risk Factors—We are subject to risks associated with the employment of hotel personnel, particularly with hotels that employ unionized labor.”  

Where to Find Additional Information

The address of our principal executive office is 4747 Bethesda Avenue, Suite 1300, Bethesda, Maryland, 20814. Our phone number is (240) 744-1000. We maintain an internet website at: www.hosthotels.com. Through our website, we make available free of charge as soon as reasonably practicable after they are filed electronically with, or furnished to, the SEC, our annual reports on Form 10-K, quarterly reports on Form 10-Q, current reports on Form 8-K and amendments to those reports filed or furnished pursuant to Section 13(a) or 15(d) of the Securities Exchange Act of 1934, as amended (the “Exchange Act”). The SEC also maintains an Internet site that contains reports, proxy and information statements, and other information regarding issuers at http://www.sec.gov.

Our website also is a key source of important information about us. We routinely post to the Investor Relations section of our website important information about our business, our operating results and our financial condition and prospects, including, for example, information about material acquisitions and dispositions, our earnings releases and certain supplemental financial information to our earnings releases. We also post to our website copies of investor presentations, which also contain important information about us, and we update those presentations periodically. The website has a Governance page in the Our Company section that includes, among other things, copies of our Bylaws, our Code of Business Conduct and Ethics, our Corporate Governance Guidelines and the charters for each standing committee of Host Inc.’s Board of Directors, which currently include the Audit Committee, the Compensation Policy Committee and the Nominating and Corporate Governance Committee. Copies of these charters and policies, Host Inc.’s Bylaws and Host L.P.’s partnership agreement also are available in print to stockholders and unitholders upon request to Host Hotels & Resorts, Inc., 4747 Bethesda Avenue, Suite 1300, Bethesda, Maryland 20814, Attn: Secretary. Please note that the information contained on our website is not incorporated by reference in, or considered to be a part of, any document, unless expressly incorporated by reference therein.

For an enterprise as large and complex as we are, a wide range of factors could materially affect future results and performance. The statements in this section describe the major risks to our business and should be considered carefully. In addition, these statements constitute our cautionary statements under the Private Securities Litigation Reform Act of 1995.

Financial Risks and Risks of Operation

Our revenues and the value of our hotels are subject to conditions affecting the lodging industry.

The performance of the lodging industry traditionally has been affected by the strength of the general economy and, specifically, growth in gross domestic product (“GDP”). Because lodging industry demand typically follows the general economy, the lodging industry is highly cyclical, which contributes to potentially large fluctuations in our financial condition and our results of operations. Changes in travel patterns of both business and leisure travelers, particularly during periods of economic contraction or low levels of economic growth, may create difficulties for the industry over the long-term and adversely affect our results of operations.

In addition, the majority of our hotels are classified as luxury or upper upscale and generally target business and high-end leisure travelers. In periods of economic difficulties, business and leisure travelers may seek to reduce travel costs by limiting travel or seeking to reduce the cost of their trips. Consequently, our hotels may be more susceptible to a decrease in revenues during an economic downturn, as compared to hotels in other categories that have lower room rates.  For instance, reductions in overall travel and reductions in travel to luxury and upper upscale hotels during the recession in 2008 and 2009 significantly affected our results of operations.

Other circumstances affecting the lodging industry which may affect our performance and the forecasts we make include:

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We cannot assure you that adverse changes in the general economy or other circumstances that affect the lodging industry will not have an adverse effect on the hotel revenues or earnings at our hotels. A reduction in our revenues or earnings because of the above risks may reduce our working capital, impact our long-term business strategy and impact the value of our assets and our ability to meet certain covenants in our existing debt agreements. In addition, we may incur impairment expense in the future, which expense will affect negatively our results of operations. We can provide no assurance that any impairment expense recognized will not be material to our results of operations.

In addition to general economic conditions affecting the lodging industry, new hotel room supply is an important factor that can affect the lodging industry’s performance and overbuilding has the potential to further exacerbate the negative impact of an economic downturn.  Room rates and occupancy, and thus RevPAR, tend to increase when demand growth exceeds supply growth.  A reduction or slowdown in the growth of lodging demand or increased growth in lodging supply could result in returns that are substantially below expectations or result in losses which could materially and adversely affect our revenues and profitability as well as limit or slow our future growth.

We depend on external sources of capital for future growth; therefore, any disruption to our ability to access capital at times, and on terms reasonably acceptable to us, may affect adversely our business and results of operations.

Since we have elected REIT status, Host Inc. must finance its growth and fund debt repayments largely with external sources of capital because it is required to pay dividends to its stockholders in an amount equal to at least 90% of its taxable income (other than net capital gain) each year in order to qualify as a REIT. Funds used by Host Inc. to make required dividends are provided by distributions from Host L.P. Our ability to access external capital could be hampered by several factors, many of which are outside of our control, including:

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The occurrence of any of these factors, individually or in combination, could prevent us from being able to obtain the external capital we require on terms that are acceptable to us, or at all, which could have a material adverse effect on our ability to finance our future growth and on our results of operations and financial condition.  Potential consequences of disruptions in U.S. and global equity and credit markets and, as a result, an inability for us to access external capital at times, and on terms, reasonably acceptable to us could include:

We operate in a highly competitive industry.

The lodging industry is highly competitive. Our principal competitors are other owners and investors in upper upscale and luxury full-service hotels, including other lodging REITs. Our hotels face strong competition for individual guests, group reservations and conference business from major hospitality chains with well-established and recognized brands as well as from other smaller hotel chains, independent and local hotel owners and operators. We compete for customers primarily based on brand name recognition and reputation, as well as location, room rates, property size and availability of rooms and conference space, quality of the accommodations, customer satisfaction, amenities and the ability to earn and redeem loyalty program points. New hotels may be constructed and these additions to supply create new competitors, in some cases without corresponding increases in demand for hotel rooms. Our competitors may have similar or greater commercial and financial resources which allow them to improve their hotels in ways that affect our ability to compete for guests effectively and adversely affect our revenues and profitability as well as limit or slow our future growth.

We also compete for hotel acquisitions with others that have similar investment objectives to ours. This competition could limit the number of investment opportunities that we find suitable for our business. It also may increase the bargaining power of hotel owners seeking to sell to us, making it more difficult for us to acquire new hotels on attractive terms or on the terms contemplated in our business plan.

There are inherent risks with investments in real estate, including their relative illiquidity.

Investments in real estate are inherently illiquid and generally cannot be sold quickly. For this reason, we cannot predict whether we will be able to sell any hotel that we desire to sell for the price or on terms acceptable to us, or the length of time needed to find a willing purchaser and to close on the sale of a hotel. Therefore, we may not be able to vary the composition of our portfolio promptly in response to changing economic, financial and investment conditions and dispose of hotels at opportune times or on favorable terms, which may adversely affect our cash flows and our ability to pay dividends to stockholders.

In addition, real estate ownership is subject to various risks, including:

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We have significant indebtedness and may incur additional indebtedness.

As of December 31, 2019, we and our subsidiaries had total indebtedness of approximately $3.8 billion. Our indebtedness requires us to commit a significant portion of our annual cash flow from operations to debt service payments, which reduces the availability of our cash flow to fund working capital, capital expenditures, expansion efforts, dividends and distributions and other general corporate needs. Additionally, our substantial indebtedness could:

If our cash flow and working capital are not sufficient to fund our expenditures or service our indebtedness, we will be required to raise additional funds through:

We cannot make any assurances that any of these sources of funds will be available to us or, if available, will be on terms that we would find acceptable or in amounts sufficient to meet our obligations or fulfill our business plan. Under certain circumstances, we would be required to use the cash generated by any or all the events described above to repay other indebtedness.

The terms of our indebtedness and preferred OP units place restrictions on us and on our subsidiaries and these restrictions reduce our operational flexibility and create default risks.

We are, and may in the future become, party to agreements and instruments that place restrictions on us and on our subsidiaries.  For instance, the covenants in the documents governing the terms of our senior notes and our credit facility restrict, among other things, our ability to:

In addition, certain covenants in our credit facility also require us and our subsidiaries to meet financial metrics. The restrictive covenants in the applicable indenture(s), the credit facility and the documents governing our other debt (including any mortgage debt we incur in the future) will reduce our flexibility in conducting our operations and will limit our ability to engage in activities that may be in our long-term best interest. Failure to comply with these restrictive covenants could result in an event of default that, if not cured or waived, could result in the acceleration of all or a substantial portion of our indebtedness. For a detailed description of the covenants and restrictions imposed by the documents governing our indebtedness, see Part II Item 7. “Management’s Discussion and Analysis of Financial Condition and Results of Operations—Financial Condition.”

An increase in interest rates would increase the interest costs on our credit facility and on our floating rate indebtedness and could impact adversely our ability to refinance existing indebtedness or to sell assets.

Interest payments for borrowings on our credit facility and the mortgages on certain non-consolidated properties are based on floating rates. As a result, an increase in interest rates will reduce our cash flow available for other corporate purposes, including investments in our portfolio. As of December 31, 2019, approximately 26% of our debt is subject to floating interest rates.

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Rising interest rates also could limit our ability to refinance existing indebtedness when it matures and increase interest costs on any indebtedness that is refinanced. We may from time to time enter into agreements such as floating-to-fixed interest rate swaps, caps, floors and other hedging contracts in order to fully or partially hedge against the cash flow effects of changes in interest rates for floating rate debt. These agreements expose us to the risk that other parties to the agreements will not perform or that the agreements will be unenforceable. In addition, an increase in interest rates could decrease the amount third parties are willing to pay for our hotels, thereby limiting our ability to dispose of them as part of our business strategy.

A portion of our long-term indebtedness, specifically $1 billion of credit facility term loans, bears interest at floating interest rates based on USD-LIBOR, which may be subject to regulatory guidance and/or reform that could cause interest rates under our current or future debt agreements to perform differently than in the past or cause other unanticipated consequences. The U.K. Financial Conduct Authority, which regulates LIBOR, has announced that it intends to stop encouraging or requiring banks to submit LIBOR rates after 2021, and it is unclear if LIBOR will cease to exist or if new methods of calculating LIBOR will evolve. If LIBOR ceases to exist or if the methods of calculating LIBOR change from their current form, interest rates on our current or future indebtedness may be adversely affected.

Our expenses may not decrease if our revenues decrease.

Many of the expenses associated with owning and operating hotels, such as debt-service payments, property taxes, insurance, utilities, and employee wages and benefits, are relatively inflexible. They do not necessarily decrease directly with a reduction in revenues at the hotels and may be subject to increases that are not tied to the performance of our hotels or the increase in the rate of inflation generally. Also, as of December 31, 2019, 22 of our hotels are subject to third-party ground leases, which generally require periodic increases in ground rent payments. Our ability to make these rent payments could be affected adversely if our hotel revenues do not increase at the same or a greater rate than the increases in rent payments under the ground leases. For further information on our ground leases, please see Exhibit 99.1 filed with this report.

Additionally, certain costs, such as wages, benefits and insurance, may exceed the rate of inflation in any given period. In the event of a significant decrease in demand, our hotel managers may not be able to reduce the size of hotel work forces in order to decrease wages and benefits. Our managers also may be unable to offset any fixed or increased expenses with higher room rates. Any of our efforts to reduce operating costs also could adversely affect the future growth of our business and the value of our hotels.

Our acquisition or disposition of hotels may have a significant effect on our business, liquidity, financial position and/or results of operations.

We may acquire hotels through various structures, including transactions involving portfolios, single assets, joint ventures and acquisitions of all or substantially all of the securities or assets of other REITs or similar real estate ownership entities. We anticipate that our acquisitions will be financed with a combination of methods and a variety of sources of external capital, including proceeds from Host Inc. equity offerings, issuance of limited partner interests of Host L.P., advances under our credit facility, the incurrence or assumption of indebtedness and proceeds from the sale of hotels. Our inability to access external sources of capital may limit our ability to finance acquisitions. For a discussion of factors that may limit our access to sources of capital, see “—We depend on external sources of capital for future growth; therefore, any disruption to our ability to access capital at times, and on terms reasonably acceptable to us, may affect adversely our business and results of operations.”  In addition, certain of these factors, such as disruption in the global capital markets, may limit the ability of purchasers to finance their acquisition of our hotels and therefore our ability to use disposition proceeds to finance our acquisitions.

We routinely are actively engaged in the process of identifying, analyzing and negotiating possible transactions for acquiring hotels. We cannot provide any assurances that we will be successful in consummating future acquisitions on favorable terms or that we will realize the benefits that we anticipate from such acquisitions. Our failure to realize the intended benefits from one or more acquisitions could have a significant adverse effect on our business, liquidity, financial position and/or results of operations. These adverse effects may occur because the performance of the hotel does not support the additional indebtedness and related interest expense that we incurred as a result of the acquisition. In addition, hotels and entities that we have acquired, or may in the future acquire, may be subject to unknown or contingent liabilities for which we may have no recourse, or only limited recourse, against the sellers.  In general, the representations and warranties provided in the transaction agreements may not survive long enough for us to become aware of such liabilities and to seek recourse against our sellers and indemnification covering representations and warranties often is limited and subject to various materiality thresholds, a significant deductible or an aggregate cap on losses. As a result, there is no guarantee that we will recover any amounts with respect to losses due to breaches by the sellers of their representations and warranties. The total amount of costs and expenses that may be incurred with respect to liabilities associated with acquired hotels and entities may exceed our expectations, plus we may experience other unanticipated adverse effects, all of which may affect adversely our revenues, expenses, operating results and financial condition. Finally, indemnification agreements between us and the sellers typically provide that the sellers will retain certain limited liabilities relating to the hotels and entities acquired by us. While the sellers generally are contractually obligated to pay all losses and other expenses relating to such retained liabilities without regard to survival limitations, materiality thresholds, deductibles or caps on losses, there can be no guarantee that such arrangements will not require us to incur losses or other expenses in addition to those incurred by the sellers.

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We also are actively engaged in the process of identifying, analyzing and negotiating possible transactions for disposing of certain of our hotels. Under current market conditions, based on our experience, we expect that any future sale of our hotels may be effected through any of several structures, including sale transactions involving portfolios or single assets, joint ventures with third parties and distributions of hotels to our security holders. We anticipate that any potential purchaser of our hotels may finance its purchase through a combination of methods, including cash or the issuance to us of its securities or those of one of its affiliates. Therefore, to maximize the value of hotels that we may in the future decide to sell, we may consider a range of transaction structures that we determine under the circumstances to be in our best interest. We cannot provide any assurances that we will successfully conclude any transaction to dispose of any one or more of our hotels or that the terms of any such transaction will maximize the value of hotels being sold.

We may not achieve the value we anticipate from new hotel developments or value enhancement projects at our existing hotels.

We currently are, and in the future may be, involved in the development or redevelopment of hotels, timeshare units or other alternate uses of portions of our existing hotels, including the development of retail, office or apartments, and including through joint ventures. There are risks inherent in any new development, including:

In addition, to the extent that developments are conducted through joint ventures, this creates additional risks, including the possibility that our partners may not meet their financial obligations or will develop business interests, policies or objectives that are inconsistent with ours. See “—We may acquire hotels in joint ventures with third parties that could result in conflicts.”

Any of the above factors could affect adversely our and our partners’ ability to complete the developments on schedule and consistent with the scope that currently is contemplated, or to achieve the intended value of these projects. For these reasons, there can be no assurances of the value to be realized by us from these transactions or any future similar transactions.

We do not control our hotel operations and we are dependent on the managers of our hotels.

To maintain our status as a REIT, we are not permitted to operate or manage any of our hotels. As a result, we, through our taxable REIT subsidiaries, have entered into management agreements with third-party managers to operate our hotels. For this reason, we are unable to directly implement strategic business decisions with respect to the daily operation and marketing of our hotels, such as decisions with respect to the setting of room rates, food and beverage pricing and certain similar matters. Although we consult with our hotel operators with respect to strategic business plans, the hotel operators are under no obligation to implement any of our recommendations with respect to these matters. While we monitor the hotel managers’ performance, we have limited recourse under our management agreements if we believe that the hotel managers are not performing adequately. The cash flow from our hotels may be affected adversely if our managers fail to provide quality services and amenities or if they or their affiliates fail to maintain a quality brand name.  Because our management agreements are long-term in nature, we also may not be able to terminate these agreements if we believe the manager is not performing adequately.

From time to time, we have had, and continue to have, disputes with the managers of our hotels over their performance and compliance with the terms of our management agreements. We generally resolve issues with our managers through discussions and negotiations. However, if we are unable to reach satisfactory results through discussions and negotiations, we may choose to litigate the dispute or submit the matter to third-party dispute resolution. Failure by our hotel managers to fully perform the duties agreed to in our management agreements or the failure of our managers to adequately manage the risks associated with hotel operations could affect adversely our results of operations.

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In addition, our hotel managers or their affiliates manage, and in some cases own, have invested in, or provided credit support or operating guarantees, to hotels that compete with our hotels, all of which may result in conflicts of interest. As a result, our hotel managers have in the past made, and may in the future make, decisions regarding competing lodging facilities that are not or would not be in our best interest.

Furthermore, our management agreements for our brand managed properties generally have provisions that can restrict our ability to sell, lease or otherwise transfer our hotels, unless the transferee is not a competitor of the manager and the transferee assumes the related management agreements and meets other specified conditions. Our ability to finance or sell our hotels, depending upon the structure of the transactions, may require the manager’s consent. Similarly, decisions with respect to the repositioning of a hotel, such as the outsourcing of food and beverage outlets, also may require the manager’s consent.

The properties managed by Marriott International account for most of our revenues and operating income. Adverse developments in Marriott’s business and affairs or financial condition could have a material adverse effect on us.

Approximately 68% of our hotels (as measured by 2019 revenues) are managed or franchised by Marriott International. We rely on Marriott’s personnel, expertise, technical resources and information systems, proprietary information, good faith and judgment to manage and maintain our hotel operations efficiently, effectively, profitably and in compliance with the terms, responsibilities and duties of our management agreements and all applicable laws and regulations. Any adverse developments in Marriott’s business and affairs or financial condition could impair its ability to manage our hotels and could have a material adverse effect on us. See, for example, “Cyber threats and the risk of data breaches or disruptions of our managers’ or our own information technology systems could materially adversely affect our business” for a discussion of the database security breach disclosed by Marriott and its possible effects on our business and hotel operations.

We are subject to risks associated with the employment of hotel personnel, particularly with hotels that employ unionized labor.

Our third-party managers are responsible for hiring, maintaining and managing the labor force at each of our hotels. We do not directly employ or manage employees at our consolidated hotels (other than employing, but not managing, directing or supervising, the employees at our three hotels in Brazil). However, we remain subject to many of the costs and risks generally associated with the hotel labor force, particularly at those hotels with unionized labor. From time to time, hotel operations may be disrupted because of strikes, lockouts, public demonstrations or other negative actions and publicity. We also may incur increased legal costs and indirect labor costs because of disputes involving our third-party managers and their labor force or other events. The resolution of labor disputes or re-negotiated labor contracts could lead to increased labor costs, a significant component of our hotel operating costs, either by increases in wages or benefits or by changes in work rules that raise hotel operating costs. As we are not the employer nor bound by any collective bargaining agreement, we do not negotiate with any labor organization, and it is the responsibility of each property’s manager to enter into such labor contracts. Our ability, if any, to have any meaningful impact on the outcome of these negotiations is restricted by and dependent on the individual management agreement covering a specific hotel and we may have little ability to control the outcome of these negotiations.

Our hotels have an ongoing need for renovations and potentially significant capital expenditures in order to remain competitive in the marketplace, to maintain brand standards or to comply with applicable laws or regulations. The timing and costs of such renovations or improvements may result in reduced operating performance during construction and may not improve the return on these investments.

We will need to make capital expenditures in order to remain competitive with other hotels, to maintain the economic value of our hotels and to comply with applicable laws and regulations. We also are required by our hotel management agreements, and may be required under future loan agreements, to make agreed upon capital expenditures to our hotels. In addition, the timing of these improvements can affect hotel performance, particularly if the improvements require closure of a significant number of rooms or other features of the hotels, such as ballrooms, meeting space and restaurants. These capital improvements reduce the availability of cash for other purposes and are subject to cost overruns and delays. In addition, because we depend on external sources of capital, we may not have the necessary funds to invest and, if we fail to maintain our hotels in accordance with brand standards set by our managers, they may terminate the management agreement. Moreover, we may not necessarily realize a significant, or any, improvement in the performance of the hotels at which we make these investments.

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A large proportion of our hotels are located in a limited number of large urban cities and, accordingly, we could be disproportionately harmed by adverse changes to these markets, a natural disaster or the threat of a terrorist attack.

Hotels in the following cities and markets represented approximately 71% of our 2019 revenues: New York, Washington, D.C., San Diego, San Francisco, Boston, Florida, Hawaii, Atlanta, and Los Angeles. An economic downturn, an increase in hotel supply in these cities and markets, a natural disaster, a terrorist attack or similar disaster in any one of these cities and markets likely would cause a decline in hotel demand and adversely affect occupancy rates, the financial performance of our hotels in these cities and markets and our overall results of operations. For example, in September 2017, our operations in Florida and Houston were impacted negatively by Hurricanes Irma and Harvey. In 2013, decreased U.S. government demand for hotel rooms (approximately 5% of our business) in markets such as Washington, D.C. had a negative impact on our results of operations.

The threat of terrorism also may negatively impact hotel occupancy and average daily rate, due to resulting disruptions in business and leisure travel patterns and concerns about travel safety. Hotels in major metropolitan areas, such as the major cities that represent our largest markets, may be particularly adversely affected due to concerns about travel safety. The possibility of future attacks may hamper business and leisure travel patterns and, accordingly, the performance of our business and our operations.

The ownership of hotels outside the United States will expose us to risks related to owning hotels in those international markets.

As of December 31, 2019, we own directly five hotels located outside the United States. We also are party to a joint venture that owns a non-controlling interest in seven hotels and an office building in India. Our international hotels accounted for approximately 2% of our 2019 revenues. We may have difficulty managing entry into new geographic markets where we have limited knowledge and understanding of the local economy, an absence of business relationships in the area, or unfamiliarity with local governmental and permitting procedures and regulations. There are risks inherent in conducting business outside the United States, which include:  

Any of these factors could affect adversely our ability to obtain all of the intended benefits of our international operations. If we do not effectively manage and successfully integrate the international hotels into our organization, our operating results and financial condition may be adversely affected.

We may acquire hotels in joint ventures with third parties that could result in conflicts.

We have made investments in joint ventures and are exploring further investment opportunities. We may, from time to time, invest as a co-venturer in other entities owning hotels instead of purchasing them directly. We also may sell interests in existing hotels to a third party as part of forming a joint venture with the third party. Investments in joint ventures may involve risks not present were a third party not involved, including the possibility that partners or co-venturers might become bankrupt or fail to fund their share of required capital contributions. Co-venturers often share control over the operations of a joint venture. Actions by a co-venturer also could subject the hotels to additional risks as a result of the following and other unforeseen circumstances:

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For certain joint ventures, we might not be able to take action without the approval of our joint venture partners. Disputes between us and our partners or co-venturers may result in litigation or arbitration that would increase our expenses and may negatively impact hotel operations.

Although our joint ventures may generate positive cash flow, in some cases they may be unable to distribute cash flows to the joint venture partners due to tax laws or other restrictions on our ability to repatriate non-U.S. earnings in a tax efficient manner.  Additionally, in some cases our joint venture partners share control over distributions and may choose to retain capital in the joint venture rather than to distribute it. Because our ability to generate cash flow from our joint ventures depends in part on their ability to distribute capital to us, our failure to receive distributions from our joint ventures could reduce our cash flow return on these investments.

The growth of internet reservation channels could adversely affect our business.

A significant percentage of hotel rooms for individual or “transient” customers are booked through internet travel intermediaries. Search engines and peer-to-peer inventory sources also provide online travel services that compete with our hotels. If bookings shift to higher cost distribution channels, including these internet travel intermediaries, it could materially impact our revenues and profitability. Additionally, as intermediary bookings increase, they may be able to obtain higher commissions, reduced room rates or other significant contract concessions from the brands and hotel management companies managing and operating our hotels. Also, although internet travel intermediaries traditionally have competed to attract transient business rather than group and convention business, in recent years they have expanded their business to include marketing to large group and convention business. If that expansion continues, it could both divert group and convention business away from our hotels and increase our cost of sales for group and convention business. Consolidation of internet travel intermediaries, and the entry of major internet companies into the internet travel bookings business, also could divert bookings away from the websites of our hotel managers and increase our cost of sales.

Some potential losses are not covered by insurance.

We carry comprehensive insurance coverage for general liability, property, business interruption, cyber threats, terrorism and other risks with respect to all our hotels and other properties. In a limited number of instances, properties may instead be insured under the hotel manager’s policies. As of February 2020, all consolidated hotels currently are covered under the company’s insurance. These policies offer coverage features and insured limits that we believe are customary for similar types of properties. Generally, our “all-risk” property policies provide coverage that is available on a per-occurrence basis and that, for each occurrence, has an overall limit, as well as various sub-limits, on the amount of insurance proceeds we can receive. Sub-limits exist for certain types of claims, such as service interruption, debris removal, expediting costs, landscaping replacement and natural disasters such as earthquakes, floods and hurricanes, and may be subject to annual aggregate coverage limits. The dollar amounts of these sub-limits are significantly lower than the dollar amounts of the overall coverage limit. In this regard, hotels in certain of our markets, including California, Florida, Hawaii, Houston, New Orleans and Seattle, have in the past been and continue to be particularly susceptible to damage from natural disasters and the applicable sublimits are significantly lower than the total value of the hotels we own in states where natural disasters are possible. Recovery under the applicable policies also is subject to substantial deductibles and complex calculations of lost business income. There is no assurance that this insurance, where maintained, will fully fund the re-building or restoration of a hotel that is impacted by an earthquake, hurricane, or other natural disaster, or the income lost as a result of the damage. Our property insurance policies also provide that all of the claims from each of our properties resulting from a particular insurable event must be combined for purposes of evaluating whether the aggregate limits and sub-limits provided in our policies have been exceeded and, in the case where the manager of one of our hotels provides this coverage, any such claims will be combined with the claims of other owners participating in the manager’s program for the same purpose. Therefore, if an insurable event occurs that affects more than one of our hotels, the claims from each affected hotel will be added together to determine whether the aggregate limit or sub-limits, depending on the type of claim, have been reached. Each affected hotel only may receive a proportional share of the amount of insurance proceeds provided for under the policy if the total value of the loss exceeds the aggregate limits available. For example, if a hurricane were to cause widespread damage to Florida or up the East Coast, claims from each of our hotels would be aggregated against the policy limit or sub-limit and likely would exceed the applicable limit or sub-limit. We may incur losses in excess of insured limits and we may be even less likely to receive complete coverage for risks that affect multiple properties, such as earthquakes, hurricanes, or certain types of terrorism.

In addition, there are other risks, such as certain environmental hazards, that may be deemed to fall completely outside the general coverage limits of our policies or may be uninsurable or too expensive to justify coverage. We also may encounter challenges with an insurance provider regarding whether it will pay a particular claim that we believe to be covered under our policy. Should a loss in excess of insured limits or an uninsured loss occur, or should we be unsuccessful in obtaining coverage from an insurance carrier, we could lose all or a part of the capital we have invested in a hotel, as well as the anticipated future revenues from the hotel. In that event, we might nevertheless remain obligated for any mortgage debt or other financial obligations related to the hotel.

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Full insurance recovery for terrorist acts may not be possible.  

We generally obtain terrorism insurance to cover property damage caused by acts of terrorism under separate standalone policies of insurance as well as policies on U.S. hotels which currently are subject to U.S. federal government cost sharing as provided in the Terrorism Risk Insurance Program Reauthorization Act (“TRIP”), which has been extended through December 31, 2027. We also have terrorism insurance under our general liability program and in our program for directors’ and officers’ coverage. We may not be able to recover fully under our existing terrorism insurance policies for losses caused by some types of terrorist acts, and no U.S. legislation or regulations ensure that we will be able to obtain terrorism insurance in adequate amounts or at acceptable premium levels in the future.

In addition, insurance coverage for nuclear, biological, chemical and radiological (“NBCR”) perils is extremely limited. TRIP distinguishes between “direct insurers” (those which write policies directly insuring commercial businesses) and “reinsurers” (those which issue policies to direct insurers, absorbing some of the risk in the direct insurers’ policies). TRIP requires direct insurers to offer terrorism insurance, except for NBCR perils, and most direct insurers have been unwilling to provide NBCR coverage, even with government reimbursement. TRIP does not require reinsurers to provide any terrorism coverage. Any damage related to war and to NBCR incidents, therefore, is excluded under our policies covering our U.S. hotels. Moreover, our foreign hotels also are not covered against NBCR perils. We obtain a certain amount of property insurance coverage on our U.S. hotels for NBCR perils through our wholly-owned subsidiary that acts as our direct insurer against such perils to the extent of reimbursement under TRIP. The U.S. Treasury Department must certify an event as terrorism, or no coverage will be forthcoming under TRIP. We ultimately are responsible for any loss borne by our insurance subsidiary.

As a result of the above, there remains uncertainty regarding the adequacy and cost of terrorism coverage that will be available to protect our interests in the event of terrorist attacks that impact our hotels.    

Cyber threats and the risk of data breaches or disruptions of our managers’ or our own information technology systems could materially adversely affect our business.

Our third party hotel managers are dependent on information technology networks and systems, including the internet, to access, process, transmit and store proprietary and customer information. These complex networks include reservation systems, vacation exchange systems, hotel management systems, customer databases, call centers, administrative systems, and third party vendor systems. These systems require the collection and retention of large volumes of personally identifiable information of hotel guests, including credit card numbers and passport numbers. Our hotel managers may store and process such proprietary and customer information both on systems located at the hotels that we own and other hotels that they operate and manage, their corporate locations and at third-party owned facilities, including, for example, in a third-party hosted cloud environment. These information networks and systems have been and continue to be vulnerable to threats such as system, network or internet failures; computer hacking or business disruption; cyber-terrorism; viruses, worms or other malicious software programs; and employee error, negligence or fraud. These threats can be introduced in any number of ways, including through third parties accessing our hotel managers’ information networks and systems. The risks from these cyber threats are significant and, as discussed below, Marriott International experienced a material data security breach involving the acquired Starwood guest reservation database.

2018 Marriott Guest Reservation Database Security Breach. In November 2018, Marriott International disclosed its discovery of a data security breach involving the acquired Starwood guest reservation database. Marriott’s investigation determined that there was unauthorized access to the database, which contained guest information relating to reservations at Starwood properties, on or before September 10, 2018 and that there had been unauthorized access to the Starwood network since 2014. Marriott disclosed that an unauthorized party had copied and encrypted information and took steps towards removing it. Marriott believes it contains information on up to approximately 383 million guests who made a reservation at a Starwood property. As of this date, Marriott has been named as a defendant in approximately one hundred lawsuits arising out of the database breach and also has been named as a subject of investigations in progress by various Federal, state and foreign governmental authorities.

We rely on the security systems of our managers to protect proprietary and hotel customer information from these threats. Any compromise of our managers’ networks could result in a disruption to our managers’ operations, such as the disruption in fulfilling guest reservations, delayed bookings or sales, or lost guest reservations. Any of these events could, in turn, result in disruption of the operations of the hotels that we own that are managed by them, in increased costs and in potential litigation and liability. All our major hotel management companies and a majority of our third-party operators maintain insurance against cyber threats. However, these policies provide varying limits and may be subject to sub-limits for certain types of claims, and it is not expected that these policies will provide a total recovery of all potential losses. In addition, public disclosure, or loss of customer or proprietary information, such as disclosed by Marriott in November 2018, may result in damage to the manager’s reputation and a loss of confidence among hotel guests and result in reputational harm for the hotels owned by us and managed by them, which may have a material adverse effect on our business, financial condition and results of operations. Because of ongoing litigation and investigations by various state, Federal

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and foreign regulators, it is too early to determine the extent of the damage to Marriott’s reputation because of the Starwood database breach and the level to which hotel guests may opt to book with other hotel companies because of security concerns for their personally identifiable information. Because approximately 68% of our hotels (as measured by 2019 revenues) are managed or franchised by Marriott, any material adverse effects to Marriott’s ability to attract and retain hotel guests will have a material adverse effect on our future business, financial condition and results of operations.

In addition to the information technologies and systems of our managers used to operate our hotels, we have our own corporate technologies and systems that are used to access, store, transmit, and manage or support a variety of our business processes. There can be no assurance that the security measures we have taken to protect the contents of these systems will prevent failures, inadequacies or interruptions in system services or that system security will not be breached through physical or electronic break-ins, computer viruses, and attacks by hackers. Disruptions in service, system shutdowns and security breaches in the information technologies and systems we use, including unauthorized disclosure of confidential information, could have a material adverse effect on our business, our financial reporting and compliance, and subject us to liability claims or regulatory penalties, which amounts could be significant.  

We currently maintain cyber insurance, which includes coverage for third-party liability (damages and settlements to third parties) and first-party loss (costs incurred by us in response to a network security or privacy event). Third-party coverages include defense and damages for alleged libel and slander in electronic media, privacy breach liability and related fines and penalties assessed by regulators. First-party coverages include costs incurred by us in remediating a network security event, loss of income/extra expense due to loss of use of computer systems, costs of data recovery, and cyber extortion. This policy also includes excess coverage for most of our smaller, independent hotel operators, who generally carry lower coverage limits than our major operators, in the event that the insurance carried by these smaller, independent operators is insufficient to cover cyber related damages relating to hotel operations. However, as with the operator’s coverage, our policy is subject to limits and sub-limits for certain types of claims and we do not expect that this policy will cover all the losses that we could experience from these exposures.  

Litigation judgments or settlements could have a significant adverse effect on our financial condition.

We are involved in various legal proceedings in the ordinary course of business and are defending these claims vigorously; however, no assurances can be given as to the outcome of any pending legal proceedings. We believe, based on currently available information, that the results of such proceedings, in the aggregate, will not have a material adverse effect on our financial condition, but might be material to our operating results for any period, depending, in part, upon the quantum of our operating results for such period. We also could become the subject of future claims by the operators of our hotels, individuals or companies who use our hotels, our investors, our joint venture partners or regulating entities and these claims could have a significant adverse effect on our financial condition and results of operations.

We depend on our key personnel.

We have approximately 175 employees and our continued success depends on the efforts and abilities of our executive officers and other key personnel. None of our key personnel have employment agreements and we do not maintain key person life insurance for any of our executive officers. These individuals are important to our business and strategy and to the extent that any of them departs and is not replaced with a qualified substitute, such person’s departure could have a significant adverse effect our operations and financial condition.

Exchange rate fluctuations could affect adversely our financial results.

Currency exchange rate fluctuations could affect our results of operations and financial position. We generate revenues and expenses in such foreign currencies as the Canadian dollar, the Brazilian real and the Indian rupee. Although we may enter into foreign exchange agreements with financial institutions and/or obtain local currency mortgage debt to reduce our exposure to fluctuations in the value of these and other foreign currencies, these transactions, if entered into, will not eliminate entirely that risk. To the extent that we are unable to match revenues received in foreign currencies with expenses paid in that same currency, exchange rate fluctuations could have a negative impact on our results of operations and financial condition. Additionally, because our consolidated financial results are reported in U.S. dollars, if we generate revenues or earnings in other currencies, the conversion of such amounts to U.S. dollars can result in an increase or decrease of the amount of our revenues or earnings because of exchange rate fluctuations.

Similarly, changes in the exchange rates of foreign currencies against the U.S. dollar can result in increases or decreases in demand at our U.S. hotels from international travelers coming to the United States. Because of the concentration of our hotels in major U.S. cities with large numbers of international travelers to the United States, we may have more exposure to fluctuations in international travel to the United States than other lodging companies without hotels located as heavily in these markets.

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Applicable REIT laws may restrict certain business activities.

As a REIT, each of Host Inc. and its subsidiary REIT is subject to various restrictions on the types of revenues it can earn, assets it can own and activities in which it can engage. Business activities that could be restricted by applicable REIT laws include, but are not limited to, developing alternative uses of real estate and the ownership of hotels that are not leased to a taxable REIT subsidiary (“TRS”), including the development and/or sale of timeshare or condominium units or the related land parcels. Due to these restrictions, we anticipate that we will continue to conduct certain business activities, including, but not limited to, those mentioned above, in one or more of our TRS. Our TRS are taxable as regular C corporations and are subject to federal, state, local, and, if applicable, foreign taxation on their taxable income.

Environmental problems are possible and can be costly.

Our hotels are subject to requirements and potential liabilities under various foreign and U.S. federal, state and local environmental laws, ordinances and regulations. Unidentified environmental liabilities could arise and have a material adverse effect on our financial condition and performance. Additionally, even after we have sold a hotel, we may be liable for environmental liabilities that occurred during our ownership. Federal, state and local laws and regulations relating to the protection of the environment may require a current or previous owner or operator of real estate to investigate and remediate hazardous or toxic substances or petroleum product releases at the property. The owner or operator may be required to pay a governmental entity or third parties for property damage, and for investigation and remediation costs incurred by the parties in connection with the contamination. These laws typically impose clean-up responsibility and liability without regard to whether the owner or operator knew of or caused the presence of the contaminants. Even if more than one person may have been responsible for the contamination, each person covered by the environmental laws may be held responsible for all the clean-up costs incurred. In addition, third parties may sue the owner or operator of a site for damages and costs resulting from environmental contamination emanating from that site. Environmental laws also govern the presence, maintenance and removal of toxic or hazardous substances. These laws require that owners or operators of buildings properly manage and maintain these substances and notify and train those who may come into contact with them and undertake special precautions. These laws may impose fines and penalties on building owners or operators who fail to comply with these requirements and may allow third parties to seek recovery from owners or operators for personal injury associated with exposure to toxic or hazardous materials.

We face possible risks associated with natural disasters and the physical effects of climate change.

We are subject to the risks associated with natural disasters and the physical effects of climate change, which can include more frequent or severe storms, droughts, hurricanes and flooding, any of which could have a material adverse effect on our hotels, operations and business. Over time, our coastal markets are expected to experience increases in storm intensity and rising sea levels causing damage to our hotels. As a result, we could become subject to significant losses and/or repair costs that may or may not be fully covered by insurance. Other markets may experience prolonged variations in temperature or precipitation that may limit access to the water needed to operate our hotels or significantly increase energy costs, which may subject those hotels to additional regulatory burdens, such as limitations on water usage or stricter energy efficiency standards.  Climate change also may affect our business by increasing the cost of (or making unavailable) property insurance on terms we find acceptable in areas most vulnerable to such events, increasing operating costs at our hotels, such as the cost of water or energy, and requiring us to expend funds as we seek to repair and protect our hotels against such risks. There can be no assurance that climate change will not have a material adverse effect on our hotels, operations or business.

Compliance with other government regulations can be costly.

Our hotels are subject to various other forms of regulation, including Title III of the Americans with Disabilities Act (“ADA”), building codes and regulations pertaining to fire and life safety. Under the ADA, all public accommodations are required to meet certain federal rules related to access and use by disabled persons and we incur capital expenditures to make our hotels accessible. In addition, we have committed to provide, and certain local laws and contracts between our hotel managers and the hotel workers’ union require our hotels to provide, our managers’ employees with safety devices, sometimes known as “panic buttons.” We fund the capital necessary to ensure that employees at our hotels will be equipped with these safety devices. These and other laws and regulations may be changed from time-to-time, or new regulations adopted, resulting in additional costs of compliance, including potential litigation. A determination that we are not in compliance with these laws and regulations could result in a court order to bring the hotel into compliance, imposition of civil penalties in cases brought by the Justice Department, or an award of attorneys’ fees to private litigants. Compliance with these laws and regulations could require substantial capital expenditures. Any increased costs could have a material adverse effect on our business, financial condition or results of operations.

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In addition, the operations of our foreign hotels are subject to a variety of United States and international laws and regulations, including the United States Foreign Corrupt Practices Act (“FCPA”). We have policies and procedures designed to promote compliance with the FCPA and other anti-corruption laws, but we cannot assure that we will continue to be found to be operating in compliance with, or be able to detect violations of, any such laws or regulations. In addition, we cannot predict the nature, scope or effect of future regulatory requirements to which our foreign hotels might be subject and the manner in which existing laws might be administered or interpreted.

Risks of Ownership of Host Inc.’s Common Stock

There are limitations on the acquisition of Host Inc. common stock and changes in control.

Host Inc.’s charter and by-laws, the partnership agreement of Host L.P., and the Maryland General Corporation Law (the “MGCL”) contain a number of provisions, the exercise or existence of which could delay, defer or prevent a transaction or a change in control that might involve a premium price for Host Inc.’s stockholders or Host L.P.’s unitholders, including the following:

Stock acquired or held in violation of the ownership limit will be transferred automatically to a trust for the benefit of a designated charitable beneficiary, and the intended acquirer of the stock in violation of the ownership limit will not be entitled to any distributions thereon, to vote those shares of stock or to receive any proceeds from the subsequent sale of the stock in excess of the lesser of the price paid for the stock or the amount realized from the sale. A transfer of shares of Host Inc.’s stock to a person who, as a result of the transfer, violates the ownership limit may be void under certain circumstances, and, in any event, would deny that person any of the economic benefits of owning shares of Host Inc.’s stock in excess of the ownership limit. These restrictions will not apply if Host Inc.’s Board of Directors determines that it no longer is in Host Inc.’s best interests to continue to qualify as a REIT or that compliance with the restrictions on transfer and ownership no longer is required for Host Inc. to qualify as a REIT.

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Host Inc. is subject to the Maryland business combination statute. Our bylaws contain a provision exempting us from the control share provisions of the MGCL. There can be no assurance that this bylaw provision exempting us from the control share provisions will not be amended or eliminated at any time in the future.

Shares of Host Inc.’s common stock that are or become available for sale could affect the share price of Host Inc.’s common stock.

We have in the past issued and may in the future issue additional shares of common stock to raise the capital necessary to finance hotel acquisitions, fund capital expenditures, refinance debt or for other corporate purposes. Sales of a substantial number of shares of Host Inc.’s common stock, or the perception that sales could occur, could affect adversely prevailing market prices for Host Inc.’s common stock. In addition, limited partners of Host L.P. who redeem their units and receive, at Host Inc.’s election, shares of Host Inc. common stock will be able to sell those shares freely. As of December 31, 2019, there are approximately 7.5 million Host LP OP units outstanding that are owned by third parties and are redeemable, which represents approximately 1% of all outstanding OP units. Further, shares of Host Inc.’s common stock have been and will be issued or reserved for issuance from time to time under our employee benefit plans.

Our earnings and cash dividends will affect the market price of shares of Host Inc.’s common stock.

We believe that the market value of a REIT’s equity securities is based primarily upon the market’s perception of the REIT’s growth potential and its current and potential future cash dividends, whether from operations, sales, acquisitions, development or refinancing, and secondarily is based upon the value of the underlying assets. For that reason, shares of Host Inc.’s common stock may trade at prices that are higher or lower than its net asset value per share. To the extent that we retain operating cash flow for investment purposes, working capital reserves or other purposes, rather than paying dividends using such cash flow to stockholders, these retained funds, while increasing the value of our underlying assets, may impact negatively the market price of Host Inc.’s common stock. Our failure to meet the market’s expectation of future earnings and cash dividends likely would affect adversely the market price of Host Inc.’s common stock.

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Federal Income Tax Risks

Adverse tax consequences would occur if Host Inc. or its subsidiary REIT fails to qualify as a REIT.

We believe that Host Inc. has been organized and has operated in such a manner as to qualify as a REIT under the Code, commencing with its taxable year beginning January 1, 1999, and Host Inc. currently intends to continue to operate as a REIT during future years. In addition, Host Inc. owns, through Host L.P., one entity that also has elected to be treated as a REIT. As the requirements for qualification and taxation as a REIT are extremely complex and interpretations of the federal income tax laws governing qualification and taxation as a REIT are limited, no assurance can be provided that Host Inc. currently qualifies as a REIT or will continue to qualify as a REIT or that Host Inc.’s subsidiary REIT qualifies as a REIT or will continue to qualify as a REIT. If our subsidiary REIT were to fail to qualify as a REIT, it is possible that Host Inc. would fail to qualify as a REIT unless it (or the subsidiary REIT) could avail itself of certain relief provisions. If Host Inc. or its subsidiary REIT were to fail to qualify as a REIT, and any available relief provisions did not apply, the non-qualifying REIT would not be allowed to take a deduction for dividends paid to its stockholders in computing its taxable income, and it would be subject to federal and state corporate income tax on its taxable income. Any such corporate income tax liability could be substantial and would reduce the non-qualifying REIT’s cash available for, among other things, operations and dividends to its stockholders. In addition, if Host Inc. were to fail to qualify as a REIT, it would not be required to pay dividends to its stockholders. Moreover, unless entitled to statutory relief, the non-qualifying REIT could not qualify as a REIT for the four taxable years following the year during which REIT qualification was lost.

To qualify as a REIT, Host Inc. is required to satisfy the requirements of several asset and gross income tests. Our ability to satisfy the asset tests depends upon our analysis of the characterization and fair market values of our assets, some of which assets are not susceptible to a precise determination of fair market value, and for which we will not obtain independent appraisals. Our compliance with the REIT asset and gross income tests requirements also depends upon our ability to successfully manage the composition of our gross income and assets on an ongoing basis. Accordingly, there can be no assurance that the U.S. Internal Revenue Service (the “IRS”) will not contend that our hotel leases, interests in subsidiaries, or interests in the securities of other issuers will not cause a violation of the REIT gross income and asset tests requirements.

Any determination that Host Inc. or its subsidiary REIT does not qualify as a REIT will have a material adverse effect on our results of operations and could reduce materially the value of Host Inc.’s common stock. The additional corporate income tax liability of Host Inc. or the subsidiary REIT for the year, or years, in which it does not qualify as a REIT would reduce its cash flow available for investment, debt service or dividends to stockholders. Furthermore, the entity not qualifying as a REIT no longer would be required to pay dividends to its stockholders as a condition to REIT qualification, and any dividends paid to stockholders would be taxable as ordinary C corporation dividends to the extent of its current and accumulated earnings and profits. This means that, if Host Inc. were to fail to qualify as a REIT, Host Inc.’s stockholders currently taxed as individuals would be taxed on dividends at capital gain tax rates and Host Inc.’s corporate stockholders generally would be entitled to the dividends received deduction with respect to such dividends, subject in each case to applicable limitations under the Code. Host Inc.’s failure to qualify as a REIT also would cause an event of default under Host L.P.’s credit facility, which default could lead to an acceleration of the amounts due thereunder, which, in turn, would constitute an event of default under Host L.P.’s outstanding debt securities.

If our hotel managers do not qualify as “eligible independent contractors,” or if our hotels are not “qualified lodging facilities,” Host Inc. will fail to qualify as a REIT.

Each hotel with respect to which our TRS pays rent must be a “qualified lodging facility.” A “qualified lodging facility” is a hotel, motel, or other establishment more than one-half of the dwelling units in which are used on a transient basis, including customary amenities and facilities, provided that no wagering activities are conducted at or in connection with such facility by any person who is engaged in the business of accepting wagers and who legally is authorized to engage in such business at or in connection with such facility. We believe that all the hotels leased to our TRS are qualified lodging facilities. However, the REIT provisions of the Code provide only limited guidance for making determinations of whether a hotel is considered a qualified lodging facility, and there can be no assurance that our hotels will be so considered in all cases.

If our hotel managers do not qualify as “eligible independent contractors,” Host Inc. and our subsidiary REIT likely will fail to qualify as a REIT for federal income tax purposes. Each of the hotel management companies that enters into a management contract with our TRS must qualify as an “eligible independent contractor” under the REIT rules in order for the rent paid to Host Inc. and its subsidiary REIT by our TRS to be qualifying gross income for the REIT gross income tests requirements. Among other requirements, in order to qualify as an eligible independent contractor, a hotel manager cannot own more than 35% of our outstanding shares (by value) and no person or group of persons can own more than 35% of our outstanding shares and the ownership interests of the hotel manager, taking into account only owners of more than 5% of our shares and, with respect to ownership interests in such hotel managers that are publicly traded, only owners of more than 5% of such ownership interests. Complex ownership attribution rules apply for purposes of these 35% ownership thresholds. Although we monitor ownership of our shares by our hotel managers and their owners, and certain provisions of our charter are designed to prevent ownership of our shares in violation of these rules, there can be no assurance that these ownership limits will not be exceeded.

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The size of our TRS is limited and our transactions with our TRS will cause us to be subject to a 100% excise tax on certain income or deductions if such transactions are not conducted on arm’s-length terms.

A REIT may own up to 100% of the equity interests of an entity that is a C corporation for federal income tax purposes if the entity is a TRS. A TRS may own assets and earn gross income that would not be considered as qualifying assets or as qualifying gross income if owned or earned directly by a REIT, including revenues from hotel operations. Both the REIT and its C corporation subsidiary must jointly elect to treat such C corporation subsidiary as a TRS. A C corporation of which a TRS directly or indirectly owns more than 35% of the voting power or value of its stock or securities automatically will be treated as a TRS. For taxable years beginning after December 31, 2017, no more than 20% (25% for taxable years beginning after July 30, 2008 and on or before December 31, 2017) of the value of a REIT’s assets may consist of stock or securities of one or more TRS. Beginning in 2018, a TRS may be eligible to elect out of new interest expense limitation rules enacted in December 2017 by the Tax Cuts and Jobs Act.

Our TRS will pay federal corporate income tax and applicable state and local corporate income tax and, if applicable, foreign corporate income tax on its taxable income. The Tax Cuts and Jobs Act reduces the U.S. statutory corporate income tax rate from a maximum rate of 35% to a flat rate of 21% effective January 1, 2018. The after-tax net income of our TRS will be available for distribution to us as a taxable dividend to the extent of its earnings and profits, but it is not required to be so distributed. We believe that the aggregate value of the stock and securities of our TRS has been and will continue to be less than 20% (25% for taxable years beginning after July 30, 2008 and on or before December 31, 2017) of the value of our total assets (including our TRS stock and securities). Furthermore, we monitor the value of our investments in our TRS for the purpose of ensuring compliance with TRS ownership limitations. There can be no assurance, however, that we will be able to comply with the 20% (25% for taxable years beginning after July 30, 2008 and on or before December 31, 2017) value limitation discussed above.

Rent paid to Host Inc. and its subsidiary REIT by our TRS cannot be based on its net income or profits for such rents to qualify as “rent from real property.” We receive “percentage rent” from our TRS that is calculated based on the gross revenues of the hotels subject to leases - not based on net income or profits of such hotels. If the IRS determines that the rent paid pursuant to our leases with our TRS are excessive, the deductibility thereof by the TRS may be challenged, and we could be subject to a 100% excise tax on “re-determined rent” or “re-determined deductions” to the extent that such rent exceeds an arm’s-length amount. We believe that our rent and other transactions between our REITs and their TRS are based on arm’s-length amounts and reflect normal business practices, but there can be no assurance that the IRS will agree with our belief.

Despite the REIT status of each of Host Inc. and its subsidiary REIT, we remain subject to various taxes.

Notwithstanding Host Inc.’s status as a REIT, Host Inc. and certain of its subsidiaries (including our subsidiary REIT) are subject to federal, state, local and foreign corporate taxes on their net income, gross receipts, net worth, and property, in certain cases. Host L.P. is obligated under its partnership agreement to pay all such taxes (and any related interest and penalties) incurred by Host Inc.

Dividends payable by REITs do not qualify for the reduced tax rates available for some dividends.

The maximum tax rate applicable to “qualified dividend income” payable by U.S. stockholders that are individuals, trusts and estates is 20%. Dividends payable by REITs, however, generally are not eligible for these reduced rates. Under the Tax Cuts and Jobs Act, however, U.S. stockholders that are individuals, trusts and estates generally may deduct up to 20% of the ordinary dividends (e.g., dividends not designated as capital gain dividends or as qualified dividend income) received from a REIT for taxable years beginning after December 31, 2017 and before January 1, 2026. Although this deduction reduces the effective tax rate applicable to certain dividends paid by REITs (generally a reduction to 29.6% assuming the stockholder is subject to the maximum individual income tax rate of 37%), such tax rate still is higher than the tax rate applicable to C corporation dividends that constitute qualified dividend income. Accordingly, investors who are individuals, trusts and estates may perceive investments in REITs to be relatively less attractive than investments in the stocks of non-REIT C corporations that pay dividends, which could adversely affect the value of the shares of REITs.

Legislative or other actions affecting REITs could have a negative effect on us.

New legislation, treasury regulations, administrative interpretations or court decisions could change significantly the tax laws with respect to an entity’s qualification as a REIT or the federal income tax consequences of its REIT qualification. If Host Inc. or its subsidiary REIT were to fail to qualify as a REIT, and any available relief provisions did not apply, the non-qualifying REIT would not be allowed to take a deduction for dividends paid to its stockholders in computing its taxable income, and it would be subject to federal and state corporate income tax on its taxable income at regular corporate income tax rates. Moreover, unless entitled to statutory relief, the non-qualifying REIT could not qualify as a REIT for the four taxable years following the year during which REIT qualification was lost.

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The Tax Cuts and Jobs Act has significantly changed the U.S. federal income taxation of U.S. businesses and their owners, including REITs and their stockholders. Changes made by the Tax Cuts and Jobs Act that could affect us and our stockholders include:

Many of these changes are effective immediately, without any transition periods or grandfathering for existing transactions. The legislation is unclear in many respects and could be subject to potential amendments and technical corrections, as well as interpretations and implementing regulations by the Treasury and IRS, any of which could lessen or increase the impact of the legislation. Proposed regulations have been issued with respect to many of these law changes, but the regulations, once finalized, could be much different from those proposed. In addition, it is unclear how these U.S. federal income tax changes will affect state and local taxation, which often uses federal taxable income as a starting point for computing state and local tax liabilities. While some of the changes made by the Tax Cuts and Jobs Act may adversely affect the Company in one or more reporting periods and prospectively, other changes may be beneficial.

Risks Relating to Redemption of OP Units

A holder who offers its OP units for redemption may have adverse tax consequences.

A limited partner who elects to redeem its OP units will be treated for federal and state income tax purposes as having sold the OP units. The sale of these OP units is a taxable event and the limited partner will be treated as realizing an amount equal to the sum of (1) the value of the common stock or cash it receives, and (2) the amount of the qualified nonrecourse liabilities of Host L.P. allocated to the redeemed OP units. The gain or loss recognized by the limited partner is measured by the difference between the amount realized thereby and the tax basis in the OP units redeemed (which tax basis includes the amount of the qualified nonrecourse liabilities of Host L.P. allocated to the redeemed OP units). It is possible that the amount of gain and/or the tax liability related thereto that the limited partner recognizes and pays could exceed the value of the common stock or cash received.

Differences between an investment in shares of Host Inc. common stock and Host L.P. OP units may affect redeemed limited partners.

If a limited partner elects to redeem its OP units, we will determine whether such limited partner receives cash or shares of Host Inc.’s common stock in exchange for the OP units. Although an investment in shares of Host Inc.’s common stock is substantially similar to an investment in Host L.P. OP units, there are some differences.  These differences include form of organization, management structure, voting rights, liquidity and federal and state income taxation, some of which differences may be material to investors.

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We have received no written comments regarding our periodic or current reports from the staff of the Securities and Exchange Commission that remain unresolved.

See Part 1 Item 1. “Business—Our Consolidated Hotel Portfolio” above for a discussion of our hotels.

We are involved in various legal proceedings in the ordinary course of business including, but not limited to, disputes involving hotel-level contracts, employment litigation, compliance with laws such as the Americans with Disabilities Act, tax disputes and other general matters. We are defending these claims vigorously; however, no assurances can be given as to the outcome of any pending legal proceedings. We believe, based on currently available information, that the results of such proceedings, in the aggregate, will not have a material adverse effect on our financial condition, but might be material to our operating results for any period, depending, in part, upon the operating results for such period. We record a liability when a loss is considered probable and the amount can be reasonably estimated.

None.

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INFORMATION ABOUT OUR EXECUTIVE OFFICERS

In the following table, we set forth certain information regarding those persons currently serving as executive officers of Host Inc. as of February 20, 2020. As a partnership, Host L.P. does not have executive officers.

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PART II

Host Inc.’s common stock is listed on the New York Stock Exchange and trades under the symbol “HST.”

As of February 20, 2020, there were 17,593 holders of record of Host Inc.’s common stock. However, because many of the shares of our common stock are held by brokers and other institutions on behalf of stockholders, we believe that there are considerably more beneficial owners of our common stock than record holders. As of February 20, 2020, there were 1,202 limited partners (in addition to Host Inc.). OP units are redeemable for cash, or, at our election, for Host Inc. common stock.

Stockholder Return Performance

The following graph compares the five-year cumulative total stockholder return on the common stock of Host Inc. against the cumulative total returns of the Standard & Poor’s Corporation Composite 500 Index and the National Association of Real Estate Investment Trust (“NAREIT”) Lodging Index. The graph assumes an initial investment of $100 in the common stock of Host Inc. and in each of the indexes, and also assumes the reinvestment of dividends.

Comparison of Five-Year Cumulative Stockholder Returns 2014 – 2019

This performance graph shall not be deemed “filed” for purposes of Section 18 of the Securities Exchange Act of 1934, as amended, or incorporated by reference into any filing of Host Inc. or Host L.P. (or any of their respective subsidiaries) under the Securities Act of 1933, as amended, except as shall be expressly set forth by specific reference in such filing.

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Fourth Quarter 2019 Host Inc. Purchases of Equity Securities

On February 22, 2017, Host Inc. announced a program to repurchase up to $500 million of common stock and on August 5, 2019, we announced an increase in the repurchase program from $500 million to $1 billion. The common stock may be purchased from time to time depending upon market conditions, and repurchases may be made in the open market or through private transactions or by other means, including principal transactions with various financial institutions, like accelerated share repurchases, forwards, options and similar transactions, and through one or more trading plans designed to comply with Rule 10b5-1 under the Securities Act of 1934, as amended. The program does not obligate us to repurchase any specific number of shares or any specific dollar amount and may be suspended at any time at our discretion.

_____________

There is no established public trading market for our OP units and transfers of OP units are restricted by the terms of Host L.P.’s partnership agreement. The number of holders of record of Host L.P.’s common OP units on February 20, 2020 was 1,202. The number of outstanding common OP units as of February 20, 2020 was 698,514,143 of which 691,037,305 were owned by Host Inc.

Fourth Quarter 2019 Host L.P. Purchases of Equity Securities

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The following table presents certain selected historical financial data which has been derived from audited consolidated financial statements of Host Hotels & Resorts, Inc. for the five years ended December 31, 2019 and should be read in conjunction with the consolidated financial statements and related notes and Part II Item 7. “Management’s Discussion and Analysis of Financial Condition and Results of Operations”:

The following table presents certain selected historical financial data which has been derived from audited consolidated financial statements of Host Hotels & Resorts, L.P. for the five years ended December 31, 2019 and should be read in conjunction with the consolidated financial statements and related notes and Part II Item 7. “Management’s Discussion and Analysis of Financial Condition and Results of Operations”:

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The following discussion should be read in conjunction with the consolidated financial statements and related notes included elsewhere in this report. This discussion focuses on our financial condition and results of operations for the year ended December 31, 2019 as compared to the year ended December 31, 2018. For a discussion and analysis of the year ended December 31, 2018, compared to the same period in 2017 please refer to Management’s Discussion and Analysis of Financial Condition and Results of Operations included in Part II Item 7 of our Annual Report on Form 10‑K for the year ended December 31, 2018, filed with the SEC on February 26, 2019.

Overview

Host Inc. operates as a self-managed and self-administered REIT that owns hotels and conducts operations through Host L.P., of which Host Inc. is the sole general partner and of which it holds approximately 99% of its common OP units as of December 31, 2019. The remainder of Host L.P.’s common OP units are owned by various unaffiliated limited partners. Host Inc. has the exclusive and complete responsibility for Host L.P.’s day-to-day management and control.

Host Inc. is the largest lodging REIT in NAREIT’s composite index and one of the largest owners of luxury and upper upscale hotels. As of February 20, 2020, we own 80 hotels in the United States, Canada and Brazil and have minority ownership interests in an additional 10 hotels through joint ventures in the United States and in India. These hotels are operated primarily under brand names that are among the most respected and widely recognized in the lodging industry. Most of our hotels are located in central business districts of major cities, near airports and in resort/conference destinations.  

Our customers fall into three broad groups: transient business, group business and contract business, which accounted for approximately 61%, 35%, and 4%, respectively, of our 2019 room sales. Transient business broadly represents individual business or leisure travelers. Business travelers make up the majority of transient demand at our hotels. Therefore, we will be significantly more affected by trends in business travel than by trends in leisure demand. For a discussion of our customer categories, see “ – Our Customers”.

Understanding Our Performance

Our Revenues and Expenses. Our hotels are operated by third-party managers under long-term agreements, pursuant to which they typically earn base and incentive management fees based on the levels of revenues and profitability of each individual hotel. We provide operating funds, or working capital, which the managers use to purchase inventory and to pay wages, utilities, property taxes and other hotel-level expenses. We generally receive a cash distribution from our hotel managers each month, which distribution reflects hotel-level sales less property-level operating expenses (excluding depreciation).

Operations from our domestic portfolio account for approximately 98% of our total revenues and 2% relate to our five hotels in Canada and Brazil. The following table presents the components of our hotel revenues as a percentage of our total revenues:

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Hotel operating expenses represent approximately 98% of our total operating costs and expenses. The following table presents the components of our hotel operating expenses as a percentage of our total operating costs and expenses:

The expense components listed above are based on those presented in our consolidated statements of operations. It also is worth noting that wage and benefit costs are spread among various line items. Taken separately, these costs represent approximately 58% of our rooms, food and beverage, and other departmental and support expenses.

Key Performance Indicators. The following key performance indicators commonly are used in the hospitality industry and we believe provide useful information to management and investors in order to compare our performance with the performance of other REITS:

RevPAR changes that are driven by occupancy have different implications on overall revenue levels, as well as incremental operating profit, than do changes that are driven by average room rate. For example, increases in occupancy at a hotel will lead to increases in rooms revenues and ancillary revenues, such as food and beverage revenues, as well as additional incremental costs (including housekeeping services, utilities and room amenity costs). RevPAR increases due to higher room rates, however, will not result in additional room-related costs, except those charged as a percentage of revenues. As a result, changes in RevPAR driven by increases or decreases in average room rates have a greater effect on profitability than do changes in RevPAR caused by occupancy levels.

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In discussing our operating results, we present RevPAR and certain other financial data on a comparable hotel basis. Comparable hotels are those hotels that we have owned for the entirety of the reporting periods being compared and which operations have been included in our consolidated results. Beginning January 1, 2020, comparable hotels will also include hotels immediately upon acquisition, on a pro forma basis, which will include operating results for periods prior to our ownership, based on actual results obtained from the manager. Comparable hotels do not include the results of properties acquired or sold, or that incurred business interruption due to significant property damage or large scale capital improvements. We also present RevPAR separately for our comparable consolidated domestic and international (both on a nominal and constant dollar basis) hotels. We provide RevPAR results in constant currency due to the consolidated hotels that we own in Canada and Brazil and the effect that exchange rates have on our reporting. We use constant currency because we believe it is useful to investors as it provides clarity on how the hotels are performing in their local markets. For all other measures (net income, operating profit, EBITDA, FFO, etc.), our discussion refers to nominal US$, which is consistent with the presentation of our financial statements under U.S. generally accepted accounting principles (“GAAP”).

We also evaluate the performance of our business through certain non-GAAP financial measures. Each of these non-GAAP financial measures should be considered by investors as supplemental measures to GAAP performance measures such as total revenues, operating profit, net income and earnings per share. We provide a more detailed discussion of these non-GAAP financial measures, how management uses such measures to evaluate our financial condition and operating performance and a discussion of certain limitations of such measures in “—Non-GAAP Financial Measures.” Our non-GAAP financial measures include:

Summary of 2019 Operating Results

The following table reflects certain line items from our audited consolidated statements of operations and the significant operating statistics for the two years ended December 31, 2019 (in millions, except per share and hotel statistics):

Historical Income Statement Data:

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Comparable Hotel Data: