DiamondRock Hospitality Co (DRH) FY 2024 MD&A

Item 7. Management’s Discussion and Analysis of Financial Condition and Results of Operations

The following discussion should be read in conjunction with the consolidated financial statements and related notes thereto included elsewhere in this report. This discussion contains forward-looking statements about our business. These statements are based on current expectations and assumptions that are subject to risks and uncertainties. Actual results could differ materially because of factors discussed in "Special Note About Forward-Looking Statements" and "Risk Factors" contained in this Annual Report on Form 10-K and in our other reports that we file from time to time with the SEC.

Overview

DiamondRock Hospitality Company (the “Company” or “we”) is a lodging-focused real estate company that owns a portfolio of premium hotels and resorts. As of December 31, 2024, we owned 37 hotels with 10,004 rooms located in 26 different markets in the U.S. The markets that we target are those that we believe align with our strategic objectives, which include investing in assets in destination markets with constrained supply trends, those that provide geographic diversity relative to our existing portfolio, and those markets that are considered to have high growth potential. Our hotels are concentrated in major urban markets and in destination resort locations and more than 60% of our hotels are operated under a brand owned by one of the leading global lodging brand companies (Marriott International, Inc., Hilton Worldwide, or IHG Hotels & Resorts). We are an owner, as opposed to an operator, of the hotels in our portfolio. As an owner, we receive all of the operating profits or losses generated by our hotels after we pay fees to the hotel managers and hotel brands, which are based on the revenues and profitability of the hotels.

We are a real estate investment trust (“REIT”) for U.S. federal income tax purposes. We conduct our business through a traditional umbrella partnership REIT, or UPREIT, in which our hotel properties are owned by our operating partnership, DiamondRock Hospitality Limited Partnership, or subsidiaries of our operating partnership. The Company is the sole general partner of our operating partnership and owns 99.5% of the limited partnership units (“common OP units”) of our operating partnership as of December 31, 2024. The remaining 0.5% of the common OP units are held by third parties and current and former executive officers of the Company. See Note 9 for additional disclosures related to common OP units.

Key Indicators of Financial Condition and Operating Performance

We use a variety of operating and other information to evaluate the financial condition and operating performance of our business. These key indicators include financial information that is prepared in accordance with U.S. Generally Accepted Accounting Principles (“U.S. GAAP”), as well as other financial information that is not prepared in accordance with U.S.

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GAAP. In addition, we use other information that may not be financial in nature, including statistical information and comparative data. We use this information to measure the performance of individual hotels, groups of hotels and/or our business as a whole. We periodically compare historical information to our internal budgets as well as industry-wide information. These key indicators include:

•Occupancy percentage;

•Average Daily Rate (“ADR”);

•Rooms Revenue per Available Room (“RevPAR”);

•Earnings Before Interest, Income Taxes, Depreciation and Amortization (“EBITDA”), Earnings Before Interest, Income Taxes, Depreciation and Amortization for real estate (“EBITDAre”), Adjusted EBITDA, and Hotel Adjusted EBITDA; and

•Funds From Operations (“FFO”) and Adjusted FFO.

Occupancy, ADR and RevPAR are commonly used measures within the hotel industry to evaluate operating performance. RevPAR, which is calculated as the product of ADR and occupancy percentage, is an important statistic for monitoring operating performance at the individual hotel level and across our business as a whole. We evaluate individual hotel RevPAR performance on an absolute basis with comparisons to budget and prior periods, as well as on a company-wide and regional basis. ADR and RevPAR include only room revenue. Room revenue comprised approximately 66% of our total revenues for the year ended December 31, 2024 and is dictated by demand, as measured by occupancy percentage, pricing, as measured by ADR, and our available supply of hotel rooms.

Our ADR, occupancy percentage and RevPAR performance may be impacted by macroeconomic factors such as U.S. economic conditions generally, inflation, interest rates, regional and local employment growth, personal income and corporate earnings, office vacancy rates and business relocation decisions, airport and other business and leisure travel, increased use of lodging alternatives, new hotel construction and the pricing strategies of our competitors. In addition, our ADR, occupancy percentage and RevPAR performance is dependent on the continued success of our hotels' global brands.

We also use EBITDA, EBITDAre, Adjusted EBITDA, Hotel Adjusted EBITDA, FFO and Adjusted FFO as measures of the financial performance of our business. See “Non-GAAP Financial Measures” for further discussion on these financial measures.

Our Hotels

The following table sets forth certain operating information for the year ended December 31, 2024 for each of the hotels we owned during 2024.

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________________

(1)The percentage change from 2023 RevPAR reflects the comparable period in 2023 to our 2024 ownership period.

(2)On February 19, 2025, we sold the Westin Washington D.C. City Center hotel to an unaffiliated third party for $92 million.

(3)On November 12, 2024, we acquired the 245-room AC Hotel Minneapolis Downtown located in Minneapolis, Minnesota for $30.5 million, including prorations and transaction costs. The acquisition was funded with corporate cash.

Outlook for 2025

U.S. economic growth is broadly projected to remain moderate in 2025, with persistent effects of monetary policy, elevated interest rates, and evolving consumer spending patterns influencing both businesses and households. While many economic forecasts suggest that the U.S. will continue to avoid a recession, growth is expected to be subdued, shaped by a cooling labor market, tighter credit conditions, and geopolitical uncertainties. Inflation has moderated but remains above the Federal Reserve’s long-term target, and the Federal Reserve has signaled a cautious approach in determining the pace and timing of future interest rate reductions, if any. While some easing is anticipated in 2025, the extent and impact of any rate cuts on capital markets, business investment, and consumer behavior remain uncertain. Travel demand is highly sensitive to changes in macroeconomic factors and even the threat of a modest slowdown creates a backdrop of uncertainty for the hospitality industry. Corporate and group travel demand is expected to remain steady, but persistent inflation, elevated operating costs, and

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shifts in consumer preferences may create headwinds for the industry. Additionally, elevated interest rates continue to impact real estate financing and transaction activity, influencing capital allocation decisions within the industry.

Our portfolio, which consists primarily of luxury and upper upscale hotels and resorts in major urban centers and desirable leisure destinations, is well positioned for continued resilient performance. More than 60% of our 2024 earnings came from our urban hotels, and we expect further recovery in group and corporate transient travel as businesses continue to refine their hybrid work models. Group meetings and events are anticipated to continue to drive revenue growth, supported by an evolving office environment where companies prioritize offsite meetings to foster collaboration and engagement. Corporate transient demand is expected to show incremental improvements, benefiting from higher office attendance and expanding business travel budgets. While drive-to-resort destinations remain attractive, shifting economic conditions and evolving travel patterns could lead to some moderation in leisure spending. Longer term, we believe robust secular demand for experiential leisure travel, low growth in directly competitive supply, and targeted investments to renovate and reposition destination hotels can extend and intensify our growth. We anticipate industry profitability will be challenged by elevated interest rates and cost pressures on labor, insurance and property taxes. We continue to work closely with our hotel managers to maximize revenue and identify operating efficiencies.

We expect the continued expansion of corporate travel demand will enable the industry to improve profits in 2025 and we enter the year with several favorable factors, including: (1) ownership of a high-quality portfolio, (2) expected internal growth from six recent and one additional in-process hotel rebranding or repositionings, (3) expected internal growth from the continuation of our asset management initiatives and return on investment projects, (4) conservative debt capital structure, and (5) liquidity of $584.3 million as of December 31, 2024.

Results of Operations

At December 31, 2024 and 2023, we owned 37 and 36 hotels, respectively. All properties owned during these periods have been included in our results of operations during the respective periods since their date of acquisition. Based on when a property was acquired, operating results for certain properties are not comparable for the year ended December 31, 2024 and 2023. The properties detailed for the non-comparable periods highlighted in the table below are hereinafter referred to as “non-comparable properties” and all other properties are referred to as “comparable properties”:

Comparison of the Year Ended December 31, 2024 to the Year Ended December 31, 2023

Revenue. Revenue consists of the following (in thousands):

Our total revenues increased $55.0 million from $1,074.9 million for the year ended December 31, 2023 to $1,129.9 million for the year ended December 31, 2024.

Rooms revenues increased by $25.2 million from the year ended December 31, 2023 to the year ended December 31, 2024, $4.1 million of which was due to the acquisition of the non-comparable properties. The remaining increase of $21.1 million was the result of improved occupancy at our resort hotels and increased ADR at our urban hotels.

The following are key hotel operating statistics for the years ended December 31, 2024 and 2023. The 2023 operating statistics reflect the period in 2023 comparable to our ownership period in 2024 for hotels acquired in 2024 and 2023.

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Food and beverage revenues increased $21.9 million from the year ended December 31, 2023 to the year ended December 31, 2024, of which $3.8 million was due to the acquisition of non-comparable properties. The remaining increase of $18.1 million was primarily due to increased banquet and catering revenues, driven by an increase in group business during the first half of the year.

Other revenues, which primarily represent spa, parking, resort fees and attrition and cancellation fees, increased $7.9 million from the year ended December 31, 2023 to the year ended December 31, 2024, $1.5 million of which was due to non-comparable properties. The remaining increase of $6.4 million was primarily due to increases in resort fees and parking revenues.

Hotel operating expenses. The operating expenses consisted of the following (in thousands):

Our hotel operating expenses increased $36.5 million from $781.8 million for the year ended December 31, 2023 to $818.2 million for the year ended December 31, 2024, $8.3 million of which was due to the acquisition of non-comparable properties. The remaining increase in hotel operating expenses was primarily due to higher occupancy levels and increased labor costs. Other property level expenses increased due to higher property tax assessments and insurance premiums.

Depreciation and amortization. Depreciation and amortization on our hotel buildings is generally recorded over a 40 year period subsequent to an acquisition. Depreciable lives of hotel furniture, fixtures and equipment are estimated as the time period between the acquisition date and the date that the hotel furniture, fixtures and equipment will be replaced. Our depreciation and amortization expense increased $2.3 million from $111.3 million for the year ended December 31, 2023 to $113.6 million for the year ended December 31, 2024, primarily due to the acquisition of the non-comparable properties.

Impairment losses. During the year ended December 31, 2024, we recorded impairment losses of $32.6 million related to the Westin Washington D.C. City Center and $1.6 million related to the write-off of construction in progress that was determined not to be recoverable. The impairment of the Westin Washington D.C. City Center was a result of our evaluation of the recoverability of the carrying amount of the hotel due to our determination in the fourth quarter of 2024 that it is more likely than not that the hotel will be sold before the end of its previously estimated useful life. The impairment adjusts the hotel's carrying amount to its estimated fair value less costs to sell. During the year ended December 31, 2023, we recorded an impairment loss of $0.9 million related to the write-off of construction in progress that was determined not to be recoverable.

Corporate expenses. Corporate expenses principally consist of employee-related costs, including base payroll, bonus, restricted stock and severance. Corporate expenses also include corporate operating costs, professional fees and directors’ fees. Our corporate expenses increased $20.9 million, from $32.0 million for the year ended December 31, 2023 to $52.9 million for the year ended December 31, 2024, primarily due to $20.4 million of severance expense recognized due to the leadership changes announced in April 2024.

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Business interruption insurance income. During the year ended December 31, 2023, we recognized $0.5 million of business interruption insurance income related to an electrical fire at the Hilton Garden Inn New York/Times Square Central that caused the hotel to be closed for seven days and $0.1 million related to an insurance claim at the Worthington Renaissance Fort Worth Hotel. No business interruption insurance income was recorded during the year ended December 31, 2024.

Interest expense. Our interest expense increased $0.4 million from $65.1 million for the year ended December 31, 2023 to $65.5 million for the year ended December 31, 2024, and was comprised of the following (in thousands):

(1)In October 2024, we extended the term on one of our ground leases, and, as a result, the lease classification changed from an operating lease to a finance lease.

The increase in interest expense is primarily the result of elevated interest rates offset by the reduction in mortgage related interest due to the payoff of our Courtyard Midtown mortgage loan in August 2024.

Income taxes. We recorded an income tax expense of $1.5 million in 2024 and income tax expense of $0.3 million in 2023. The increase in income tax expense was the result of a $1.0 million change in our valuation allowance included in our 2023 income tax provision as well as higher state tax expense in 2024. The 2024 income tax provision includes a change in our valuation allowance of $0.2 million.

Comparison of the Year Ended December 31, 2023 to the Year Ended December 31, 2022

Discussion of the comparison of the results of operations for the year ended December 31, 2023 to the year ended December 31, 2022 was included in our Annual Report on Form 10-K for the year ended December 31, 2023 on page 49 under Part II, Item 7 “Management’s Discussion and Analysis of Financial Condition and Results of Operations,” which was filed with the SEC on February 28, 2024.

Liquidity and Capital Resources

Our short-term liquidity requirements consist primarily of funds necessary to pay our scheduled debt service, near term debt maturities, operating expenses, ground lease payments, capital expenditures directly associated with our hotels, any share repurchases, distributions to our common and preferred stockholders, and the cost of acquiring additional hotels.

On August 6, 2024, we paid off $73.3 million outstanding on the Courtyard New York Manhattan/Midtown East mortgage loan using cash on hand. We have three mortgage loans that mature in the next twelve months. We are actively pursuing a financing transaction the proceeds of which will be used to repay the three mortgage loans that mature in 2025. In the case that we are unsuccessful with obtaining this new financing, we may repay such mortgage loans using cash on hand and our senior unsecured revolving credit facility. As of December 31, 2024, we had $400 million of borrowing capacity under our senior unsecured revolving credit facility.

Our mortgage debt agreements contain “cash trap” provisions that are triggered when the hotel’s operating results fall below a certain debt service coverage ratio. When these provisions are triggered, all of the excess cash flow generated by the hotel is deposited directly into cash management accounts for the benefit of our lenders until a specified debt service coverage ratio is reached and maintained for a certain period of time. Such provisions do not allow the lender the right to accelerate repayment of the underlying debt. As of December 31, 2024, we had no cash traps in place.

Our long-term liquidity requirements consist primarily of funds necessary to pay for the costs of acquiring additional hotels, renovations and other capital expenditures that need to be made periodically to our hotels, scheduled debt payments, debt maturities, certain redemptions of limited operating partnership units (“common OP units”), ground lease payments, share

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repurchases, and making distributions to our common and preferred stockholders. We expect to meet our long-term liquidity requirements through various sources of capital, including cash provided by operations, borrowings, issuances of additional equity, including common OP units, and/or debt securities and proceeds from property dispositions. Our ability to incur additional debt is dependent upon a number of factors, including the state of the credit markets, our degree of leverage, the value of our unencumbered assets and borrowing restrictions imposed by existing lenders. Our ability to raise capital through the issuance of additional equity and/or debt securities is also dependent on a number of factors including the current state of the capital markets, investor sentiment and our intended use of proceeds. We may need to raise additional capital if we identify acquisition opportunities that meet our investment objectives and require liquidity in excess of existing cash balances. Our ability to raise funds through the issuance of equity securities depends on, among other things, general market conditions for hotel companies and REITs and market perceptions about us.

Our Financing Strategy

Since our formation in 2004, we have been committed to a conservative capital structure with prudent leverage. Our outstanding debt consists of fixed interest rate mortgage debt, unsecured term loans and periodic borrowings on our senior unsecured credit facility. We have a preference to maintain a significant portion of our portfolio as unencumbered in order to provide balance sheet flexibility. We expect that our strategy will enable us to maintain a balance sheet with an appropriate amount of debt throughout all phases of the lodging cycle. We believe that it is prudent to reduce the inherent risk of highly cyclical lodging fundamentals through a low leverage capital structure.

We prefer a relatively simple yet efficient capital structure. We generally structure our hotel acquisitions to be straightforward and to fit within our capital structure; however, we will consider a more complex transaction, such as the issuance of common OP units in connection with the acquisition of Cavallo Point, The Lodge at the Golden Gate, if we believe that the projected returns to our stockholders will significantly exceed the returns that would otherwise be available.

We believe that we maintain a reasonable amount of debt. As of December 31, 2024, we had $1.1 billion of debt outstanding with a weighted average interest rate of 5.21% and a weighted average maturity date of approximately 1.7 years, assuming all extension options available in our debt agreements are exercised. We have three mortgage loans that mature in the next twelve months. We are actively pursuing a financing transaction the proceeds of which will be used to repay the three mortgage loans that mature in 2025. In the case that we are unsuccessful with obtaining this new financing, we may repay such mortgage loans using cash on hand and our senior unsecured revolving credit facility. We expect that our weighted average interest rate will increase as we refinance our debt at less favorable rates. As of December 31, 2024, 34 of our 37 hotels are unencumbered by mortgage debt. We remain committed to our core strategy of prudent leverage.

The following table outlines the timing and extent of our debt principal maturities and estimated interest payments for our mortgage debt and unsecured term loans as of December 31, 2024 (in thousands), assuming all extension options available in our debt agreements are exercised.

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(1)The interest expense for our variable rate unsecured term loans is calculated based on the rate as of December 31, 2024 of 5.79%.

Information about our financing activities is available in Note 5 to the accompanying consolidated financial statements.

ATM Program

In August 2024, our board of directors approved an “at-the-market” equity offering program (the “Current ATM Program”), pursuant to which we may issue and sell shares of our common stock from time to time, having an aggregate offering price of up to $200.0 million. Prior to the implementation of the Current ATM Program, we had a $200.0 million ATM

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program (the “Prior ATM Program”), which is no longer active. We did not sell any shares under the Current ATM Program or the Prior ATM Program during the years ended December 31, 2024 and 2023.

Share Repurchase Program

In May 2024, our board of directors authorized the repurchase of up to $200.0 million of our common stock under a new share repurchase program, which replaced our prior share repurchase program that was authorized in September 2022. The timing and actual number of shares repurchased will depend on a variety of factors, including price and general business and market conditions. The new share repurchase program does not obligate us to acquire any particular amount of shares, and may be suspended or discontinued at any time at our discretion. The new share repurchase program will expire on May 1, 2026. During the year ended December 31, 2024, we repurchased 3,114,876 shares of common stock at an average price of $8.33 per share for an aggregate purchase price of $26.0 million. Information about our share repurchase program is in Note 9 to the accompanying consolidated financial statements.

Short-Term Borrowings

Other than borrowings under our senior unsecured credit facility, discussed below, we do not utilize short-term borrowings to meet liquidity requirements.

Senior Unsecured Credit Facility and Unsecured Term Loans

We are party to a Sixth Amended and Restated Credit Agreement that provides us with a $400 million senior unsecured revolving credit facility and two term loan facilities in the aggregate amount of $800 million. The revolving credit facility matures on September 27, 2026, which we may extend for an additional year upon the payment of applicable fees and satisfaction of certain standard conditions. The term loan facilities consist of a $500 million term loan that matures on January 3, 2028 and a $300 million term loan that matures on January 3, 2026. In September 2024, we exercised our option to extend the maturity of our $300 million term loan from January 3, 2025 to January 3, 2026. We have the right to increase the aggregate amount of the facilities to $1.4 billion upon the satisfaction of certain standard conditions. As of December 31, 2024, we had $400 million of borrowing capacity under our senior unsecured revolving credit facility.

Additional information about the credit and term loan facilities, including a summary of significant covenants, can be found in Note 5 to the accompanying consolidated financial statements.

Sources and Uses of Cash

As of December 31, 2024, we had $81.4 million of unrestricted corporate cash and $47.4 million of restricted cash, and no outstanding borrowings on our senior unsecured credit facility.

Our net cash provided by operations was $224.4 million for the year ended December 31, 2024. Our cash from operations generally consists of the net cash flow from hotel operations, offset by cash paid for corporate expenses, interest payments, and other working capital changes. The decrease in cash provided by operations was primarily driven by timing differences related to collections from our hotel managers and severance payments related to our previously announced leadership changes.

Our net cash used in investing activities was $112.1 million for the year ended December 31, 2024, which consisted of $81.6 million of capital expenditures and $30.5 million paid for the acquisition of the AC Hotel Minneapolis Downtown.

Our net cash used in financing activities was $150.7 million for the year ended December 31, 2024, which consisted of $25.6 million of distributions paid to holders of common stock and common units, $9.8 million of distributions paid to holders of preferred stock, $9.1 million of scheduled mortgage debt principal payments, $73.3 million of repayments of mortgage debt, $6.9 million paid to repurchase shares upon the vesting of restricted stock for the payment of tax withholdings obligations, and $26.0 million paid to repurchase shares under our share repurchase program.

We currently anticipate our significant sources of cash for the year ending December 31, 2025 will be the net cash flow from hotel operations, proceeds from the sale of the Westin Washington D.C. City Center, and proceeds from debt financings or sales of debt securities. We expect our estimated uses of cash for the year ending December 31, 2025 will be scheduled debt service and maturity payments, potential acquisitions of hotel properties, capital expenditures, operating costs, ground lease payments, corporate expenses, distributions to preferred and common stockholders, and potential share repurchases.

Dividend Policy

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We intend to distribute to our stockholders dividends at least equal to our REIT taxable income to avoid paying corporate income tax and excise tax on our earnings (other than the earnings of our taxable REIT subsidiaries, which are all subject to tax at regular corporate rates) and to qualify for the tax benefits afforded to REITs under the Code. In order to qualify as a REIT under the Code, we generally must make distributions to our stockholders each year in an amount equal to at least:

•90% of our REIT taxable income determined without regard to the dividends paid deduction and excluding net capital gains, plus

•90% of the excess of our net income from foreclosure property over the tax imposed on such income by the Code, minus

•any excess non-cash income.

The timing and frequency of distributions will be authorized by our board of directors and declared by us based upon a variety of factors, including our financial performance, restrictions under applicable law and our current and future loan agreements, our debt service requirements, our capital expenditure requirements, the requirements for qualification as a REIT under the Code and other factors that our board of directors may deem relevant from time to time.

We have declared the following dividends to holders of our common stock and distributions to holders of common OP units and LTIP units for the years ended December 31, 2024 and 2023, and through the date of this report:

We have declared the following dividends to holders of our Series A Preferred Stock for the years ended December 31, 2024 and 2023, and through the date of this report:

Capital Expenditures

The management and franchise agreements for each of our hotels provide for the establishment of separate property improvement reserves to cover, among other things, the cost of replacing and repairing furniture, fixtures and equipment at our hotels and other routine capital expenditures. Contributions to the property improvement fund are calculated as a percentage of hotel revenues. In addition, we may be required to pay for the cost of certain additional improvements that are not permitted to be funded from the property improvement reserves under the applicable management or franchise agreement. As of

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December 31, 2024, we have set aside $44.7 million for capital projects in property improvement funds, which are included in restricted cash on our consolidated balance sheets.

We invested approximately $81.6 million in capital improvements at our hotels during the year ended December 31, 2024. Completed projects in 2024 included the following:

•Hotel Champlain Burlington: We completed the rebranding and repositioning of the Hilton Burlington Lake Champlain to Hotel Champlain Burlington, a Curio Collection by Hilton in July 2024. The transformation of the 258-room hotel represents a strong return-on-investment opportunity and included the creation of new lifestyle community spaces, a new all-day cafe, an upgraded state-of-the-art fitness center, and a new signature seafood restaurant, Original Skiff Fish & Oysters, in partnership with a local award-winning chef.

•Westin San Diego Bayview: We completed a comprehensive renovation of the hotel's guestrooms during the second quarter of 2024.

•Bourbon Orleans Hotel: We completed a comprehensive renovation of the hotel's guestrooms during the third quarter of 2024.

We expect to spend approximately $85 to $95 million in capital improvements at our hotels in 2025, which includes the completion of certain projects that commenced in 2024. Significant projects in 2025 include the following:

•Orchards Inn Sedona: We commenced the repositioning of Orchards Inn as the Cliffs at L'Auberge on November 1, 2024. The repositioning will integrate the hotel with the adjacent L'Auberge de Sedona and include construction of a new pool connecting the two properties, renovation of the guestrooms and creation of a new arrival experience and new outdoor event space. We expect to complete the project in 2025.

•Hilton Garden Inn New York/Times Square Central: The Company expects to complete a renovation of the hotel's guestrooms during the first quarter of 2025.

•Kimpton Hotel Palomar Phoenix: The Company expects to commence a renovation of the hotel's guestrooms during the second quarter of 2025.

•Courtyard New York Manhattan/Midtown East: The Company expects to commence a renovation of the hotel's guestrooms during the fourth quarter of 2025.

Non-GAAP Financial Measures

We use the following non-GAAP financial measures that we believe are useful to investors as key measures of our operating performance: EBITDA, EBITDAre, Adjusted EBITDA, Hotel Adjusted EBITDA, FFO and Adjusted FFO. These measures should not be considered in isolation or as a substitute for measures of performance in accordance with U.S. GAAP. EBITDA, EBITDAre, Adjusted EBITDA, Hotel Adjusted EBITDA, FFO and Adjusted FFO, as calculated by us, may not be comparable to other companies that do not define such terms exactly as the Company.

Use and Limitations of Non-GAAP Financial Measures

Our management and Board of Directors use EBITDA, EBITDAre, Adjusted EBITDA, Hotel Adjusted EBITDA, FFO and Adjusted FFO to evaluate the performance of our hotels and to facilitate comparisons between us and other lodging REITs, hotel owners who are not REITs and other capital intensive companies. The use of these non-GAAP financial measures has certain limitations. These non-GAAP financial measures as presented by us, may not be comparable to non-GAAP financial measures as calculated by other real estate companies. These measures do not reflect certain expenses or expenditures that we incurred and will incur, such as depreciation, interest and capital expenditures. We compensate for these limitations by separately considering the impact of these excluded items to the extent they are material to operating decisions or assessments of our operating performance. Our reconciliations to the most comparable U.S. GAAP financial measures, and our consolidated statements of operations and comprehensive income and consolidated statements of cash flows, include interest expense, capital expenditures, and other excluded items, all of which should be considered when evaluating our performance, as well as the usefulness of our non-GAAP financial measures.

These non-GAAP financial measures are used in addition to and in conjunction with results presented in accordance with U.S. GAAP. They should not be considered as alternatives to operating profit, cash flow from operations, or any other operating performance measure prescribed by U.S. GAAP. These non-GAAP financial measures reflect additional ways of viewing our operations that we believe, when viewed with our U.S. GAAP results and the reconciliations to the corresponding U.S. GAAP financial measures, provide a more complete understanding of factors and trends affecting our business than could be obtained absent this disclosure. We strongly encourage investors to review our financial information in its entirety and not to rely on a single financial measure.

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EBITDA and EBITDAre

EBITDA represents net income (calculated in accordance with U.S. GAAP) excluding: (1) interest expense; (2) provision for income taxes, including income taxes applicable to sale of assets; and (3) depreciation and amortization. The Company computes EBITDAre in accordance with the National Association of Real Estate Investment Trusts ("Nareit") guidelines, as defined in its September 2017 white paper "Earnings Before Interest, Taxes, Depreciation and Amortization for Real Estate." EBITDAre represents net income (calculated in accordance with U.S. GAAP) adjusted for: (1) interest expense; (2) provision for income taxes, including income taxes applicable to sale of assets; (3) depreciation and amortization; (4) gains or losses on the disposition of depreciated property including gains or losses on change of control; (5) impairment write-downs of depreciated property and of investments in unconsolidated affiliates caused by a decrease in value of depreciated property in the affiliate; and (6) adjustments to reflect the entity's share of EBITDAre of unconsolidated affiliates.

We believe EBITDA and EBITDAre are useful to an investor in evaluating our operating performance because they help investors evaluate and compare the results of our operations from period to period by removing the impact of our capital structure (primarily interest expense) and our asset base (primarily depreciation and amortization, and in the case of EBITDAre, impairment and gains or losses on dispositions of depreciated property) from our operating results. In addition, covenants included in our debt agreements use EBITDA as a measure of financial compliance. We also use EBITDA and EBITDAre as measures in determining the value of hotel acquisitions and dispositions.

FFO

The Company computes FFO in accordance with standards established by Nareit, which defines FFO as net income (calculated in accordance with U.S. GAAP) excluding gains or losses from sales of properties and impairment losses, plus real estate related depreciation and amortization. The Company believes that the presentation of FFO provides useful information to investors regarding its operating performance because it is a measure of the Company's operations without regard to specified non-cash items, such as real estate related depreciation and amortization and gains or losses on the sale of assets. The Company also uses FFO as one measure in assessing its operating results.

Adjustments to EBITDAre and FFO

We adjust EBITDAre and FFO when evaluating our performance because we believe that the exclusion of certain additional items described below provides useful supplemental information to investors regarding our ongoing operating performance and that the presentation of Adjusted EBITDA and Adjusted FFO when combined with U.S. GAAP net income, EBITDAre and FFO, is beneficial to an investor's complete understanding of our consolidated and property-level operating performance. We adjust EBITDAre and FFO for the following items:

•Non-Cash Lease Expense and Other Amortization: We exclude the non-cash expense incurred from the straight line recognition of expense from our ground leases and other contractual obligations and the non-cash amortization of our favorable and unfavorable contracts, originally recorded in conjunction with certain hotel acquisitions. We exclude these non-cash items because they do not reflect the actual cash amounts due to the respective lessors in the current period and they are of lesser significance in evaluating our actual performance for that period.

•Cumulative Effect of a Change in Accounting Principle: The Financial Accounting Standards Board promulgates new accounting standards that require or permit the consolidated statement of operations and comprehensive income to reflect the cumulative effect of a change in accounting principle. We exclude the effect of these adjustments, which include the accounting impact from prior periods, because they do not reflect the Company’s actual underlying performance for the current period.

•Gains or Losses from Early Extinguishment of Debt: We exclude the effect of gains or losses recorded on the early extinguishment of debt because these gains or losses result from transaction activity related to the Company’s capital structure that we believe are not indicative of the ongoing operating performance of the Company or our hotels.

•Hotel Acquisition Costs: We exclude hotel acquisition costs expensed during the period because we believe these transaction costs are not reflective of the ongoing performance of the Company or our hotels.

•Severance Costs: We exclude corporate severance costs, or reversals thereof, incurred with the termination of corporate-level employees and severance costs incurred at our hotels related to lease terminations or structured

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severance programs because we believe these costs do not reflect the ongoing performance of the Company or our hotels.

•Hotel Manager Transition and Hotel Pre-Opening Costs: We exclude the transition costs associated with a change in hotel manager and the pre-opening costs associated with the redevelopment or rebranding of a hotel because we believe these items do not reflect the ongoing performance of the Company or our hotels.

•Other Items: From time to time we incur costs or realize gains that we consider outside the ordinary course of business and that we do not believe reflect the ongoing performance of the Company or our hotels. Such items may include, but are not limited to, the following: lease preparation costs incurred to prepare vacant space for marketing; management or franchise contract termination fees; gains or losses from legal settlements; costs incurred related to natural disasters; and gains on property insurance claim settlements, other than income related to business interruption insurance.

In addition, to derive Adjusted FFO, we exclude any unrealized fair value adjustments to interest rate swaps and the portion of our non-cash ground lease expense recognized as interest expense. We exclude these non-cash amounts because they do not reflect the underlying performance of the Company.

Hotel Adjusted EBITDA

We believe that Hotel Adjusted EBITDA provides our investors with a useful financial measure to evaluate our hotel operating performance, excluding the impact of our capital structure (primarily interest), our asset base (primarily depreciation and amortization), and our corporate-level expenses. With respect to Hotel Adjusted EBITDA, we believe that excluding the effect of corporate-level expenses provides a more complete understanding of the operating results over which individual hotels and third-party management companies have direct control. We believe property-level results provide investors with supplemental information on the ongoing operational performance of our hotels and effectiveness of the third-party management companies operating our business on a property-level basis. Hotel Adjusted EBITDA margins are calculated as Hotel Adjusted EBITDA divided by total hotel revenues.

The following table is a reconciliation of our U.S. GAAP net income to EBITDA, EBITDAre, Adjusted EBITDA and Hotel Adjusted EBITDA (in thousands):

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The following table is a reconciliation of our U.S. GAAP net income to FFO and Adjusted FFO (in thousands):

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Critical Accounting Estimates and Policies

Our consolidated financial statements include the accounts of DiamondRock Hospitality Company and all consolidated subsidiaries. The preparation of financial statements in conformity with U.S. GAAP requires management to make estimates and assumptions that affect the reported amount of assets and liabilities at the date of our financial statements and the reported amounts of revenues and expenses during the reporting period. While we do not believe the reported amounts would be materially different, application of these policies involves the exercise of judgment and the use of assumptions as to future uncertainties and, as a result, actual results could differ materially from these estimates. We evaluate our estimates and judgments, including those related to the impairment of long-lived assets, on an ongoing basis. We base our estimates on experience and on various assumptions that are believed to be reasonable under the circumstances. All of our significant accounting policies are disclosed in the notes to our consolidated financial statements. The following represent certain critical accounting policies that require us to exercise our business judgment or make significant estimates:

Investment in Hotels

Property and equipment are recorded at cost. Costs of improvements that extend the economic life or improve service potential, which generally includes significant improvements, renovations and replacements, are capitalized, while repairs and maintenance are expensed as incurred.

Acquisitions of hotel properties are generally accounted for as acquisitions of a group of assets and recorded at relative fair value based upon total accumulated cost of the acquisition. The acquisition cost is allocated to land, buildings, improvements, furniture, fixtures and equipment, as well as identifiable intangible and lease assets and liabilities. In making estimates of fair values for purposes of allocating purchase price we evaluate several factors, including but not limited to

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comparable sales, expected future cash flows discounted at risk adjusted rates as well as industry and Company data. Direct acquisition-related costs are capitalized as a component of the acquired assets.

Depreciation is recorded using the straight-line method over the assets' estimated useful lives, which are generally as follows: 15 to 40 years for buildings and improvements; 1 to 10 years for furniture, fixtures and equipment; and 3 to 5 years for computer equipment and acquired software.

We evaluate the carrying value of our property and equipment for indicators of impairment. Indicators of impairment that may cause a review include, but are not limited to, adverse changes in the demand for lodging at the properties, current or projected losses from operations, and an expectation that the property is more likely than not to be sold significantly before the end of its useful life. When such indicators exist, we perform an analysis to determine the recoverability of the asset group by comparing the estimated undiscounted future cash flows, including the proceeds from the ultimate disposition of a hotel, less costs to sell, to the net carrying value of the asset group. If the carrying value of the asset group is not recoverable and it exceeds the estimated fair value of the asset group, we recognize an impairment loss in our consolidated statement of operations and comprehensive income for the amount by which the carrying value exceeds the estimated fair value. We allocate the impairment loss related to the asset group among the various assets within the asset group pro rata based on the relative carrying values of the respective assets.

We will classify a hotel as held for sale in the period that we have made the decision to dispose of the hotel, a binding agreement to purchase the property has been signed under which the buyer has committed a significant amount of nonrefundable cash and no significant financing or other contingencies exist which could cause the transaction to not be completed in a timely manner. If these criteria are met, we will record an impairment loss if the fair value less costs to sell is lower than the carrying amount of the hotel and related assets and will cease recording depreciation expense. We will classify the assets and related liabilities as held for sale on the balance sheet.

Upon the sale or retirement of a fixed asset, the cost and related accumulated depreciation are removed from the Company’s accounts and any resulting gain or loss is included in the statements of operations and comprehensive income.

Inflation

Operators of hotels, in general, possess the ability to adjust room rates daily to reflect the effects of inflation. Generally, our management companies may adjust room rates daily, excluding previous contractually committed reservations. However, competitive pressures or other factors may limit the ability of our management companies to raise room rates. Inflation may also affect our expenses and cost of capital improvements, including, without limitation, by increasing the costs of labor, employee-related benefits, food, commodities and other materials, taxes, property and casualty insurance and utilities.

During 2024, inflation levels began to decrease, but remained elevated relative to the years preceding 2021. While the Federal Reserve made several cuts to interest rates in the second half of 2024 in response to decreases in inflation levels, it continues to indicate that it will remain cautious in determining whether to hold its benchmark rate at current levels or continue to slowly ease interest rates throughout 2025. Any increases in interest rates, especially if coupled with reduced government spending and volatility in financial markets, may have the effect of further increasing economic uncertainty, and increasing the cost of new indebtedness and servicing our outstanding variable rate debt.

Seasonality

The periods during which our hotels experience higher revenues vary from property to property, depending principally upon location and the customer base served. Accordingly, we expect some seasonality in our business. Volatility in our financial performance from the seasonality of the lodging industry could adversely affect our financial condition and results of operations.

New Accounting Pronouncements Not Yet Adopted

See Note 2 to the accompanying consolidated financial statements for additional information relating to recently issued accounting pronouncements.