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North American Limited-Service Lodging

North American Limited-Service Lodging includes Courtyard, Fairfield Inn, SpringHill Suites, Residence Inn, TownePlace Suites, and Marriott ExecuStay.

2007 COMPARED TO 2006
Across our North American Limited-Service Lodging segment, we added 156 properties (17,517 rooms) and 16 properties (1,853 rooms) left the system in 2007. The properties that left the system were primarily associated with our Fairfield Inn brand.

In 2007, RevPAR for comparable company-operated North American limited-service properties increased by 4.8 percent to $89.18. Occupancy for these properties decreased by 0.4 percentage points to 72.7 percent, and average daily rates increased by 5.4 percent to $122.63.

The $81 million increase in segment results, as compared to 2006, primarily reflects an $83 million increase in base management, incentive management, and franchise fees, a $5 million increase in owned, leased, and other revenue net of direct expenses, a $2 million increase in gains and other income, and a $2 million increase in joint venture equity earnings, partially offset by $11 million of higher general, administrative, and other expenses.

In 2007, we recognized $15 million of incentive management fees that were calculated based on prior years' results but not earned and due until 2007 as compared to the recognition of no similar fees in 2006. The additional increase in fees is largely due to higher RevPAR, driven by rate increases, which increased base management and franchise fees, and to productivity improvements, which increased property-level margins and incentive management fees. Additionally, growth in the number of rooms contributed to the increase in base management and franchise fees. The $5 million increase in owned, leased, and other revenue net of direct expenses is primarily a result of hotel franchise agreement termination fees of $6 million received in 2007, which were associated with properties, primarily our Fairfield Inn brand, that left our system and $1 million of similar fees in 2006. The $11 million increase in general, administrative, and other expenses in 2007 primarily reflects the impact of unit growth and development and the write-off of $3 million of deferred contract acquisition costs.

2006 COMPARED TO 2005
Across our North American Limited-Service Lodging segment, we added 91 properties (11,329 rooms) and 28 properties (3,647 rooms) left the system in 2006. The properties that left the system were primarily associated with our Fairfield Inn brand.

In 2006, RevPAR for comparable company-operated North American limited-service properties increased by 9.1 percent to $84.41. Occupancy for these properties decreased by 0.8 percentage points to 73.3 percent, and average daily rates increased by 10.4 percent to $115.24.

The $77 million increase in segment results for 2006 primarily reflects a $77 million increase in base management, incentive management, and franchise fees, $27 million of lower general, administrative, and other expenses, and $6 million of increased equity results, partially offset by a $14 million decrease in owned, leased, and other revenue net of direct expenses and a $19 million decrease in gains and other income. The increase in fees is largely due to higher RevPAR, driven by rate increases, which impacted property-level house profits and, to a lesser extent, to 2006 productivity improvements and the growth in the number of rooms. Stronger performance at our renovated Courtyard properties, versus nonrenovated properties, also contributed to the increase in segment results over the prior year. The decrease in owned, leased, and other revenue net of direct expenses reflects lower lease revenue as a result of our sale, late in 2005, of a portfolio of land underlying 75 Courtyard hotels, partially offset by improved owned and leased results in 2006 reflecting stronger demand.

The decrease in general, administrative, and other expenses of $27 million is attributable to the recognition of expenses in 2005 totaling $11 million associated with our bedding incentive program, a $6 million litigation charge and a $3 million guarantee charge. Improved equity results in 2006 versus 2005 reflect the impact of a stronger demand environment in 2006, new joint ventures and the impact of owning a 50 percent interest in the Courtyard Joint Venture through the first quarter of 2005 versus owning a 21 percent interest thereafter. For additional information regarding the Courtyard Joint Venture, see the "Courtyard Joint Venture" caption in the "Liquidity and Capital Resources" section in "Management's Discussion and Analysis of Financial Condition and Results of Operations" of our 2005 Form 10-K. Gains and other income decreased by $19 million in 2006 as a result of the 2005 sale of a portfolio of land that generated gains and other income of $17 million, a $10 million gain in 2005 associated with the repayment, before maturity, to us of the loan we made to the Courtyard Joint Venture, partially offset by higher other real estate and other gains of $4 million in 2006 and increased income of $4 million in 2006 associated with cost method joint ventures.

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