Mark Brugger, president and CEO of DiamondRock Hospitality Co. (NYSE: DRH), participated in a video interview at Nareit’s REITworld: 2018 Annual Conference in San Francisco.
Brugger said that DiamondRock is dedicating more money to repositioning internally, as well as “upside potentials that are locked inside the portfolio.”
Two examples include the “reinventing” of Hotel Rex in San Francisco, where the REIT will invest about $100,000 per room; and the Vail Marriott, which Brugger says is in a prime location among the Ritz-Carlton, Arrabelle, and Four Seasons. Overall, DiamondRock has 30 hotels and about 10,000 hotel rooms, totaling $3.5 billion in assets, Brugger said.
“Those are the kind of the projects we’re working on the internal front: investing [in] creative ideas where we can transform our properties and create additional value for our shareholders,” he said.
Brugger also said DiamondRock thinks that small resorts will be one of the best performing property types and segments over the next couple years.
Turning to sustainability matters, he added that the company increased its GRESB score about 22 points from 2017 to 2018. “We are committed over the next several years to reduce our emissions by 25 percent, our water usage by 25 percent,” he said.