Hotels Take Back Travel
Best of
@favoritetakes
−1.0%
since Sep 29
The idea
I think travel is drifting back to hotels from short-term rentals, and it's structural: cleaning fees made rentals pricier, cities are cutting rental supply, and loyalty points keep pulling guests back. To play it I hold the big fee-collecting brands, hotel REITs that feel rate gains directly, booking platforms shifting search traffic, and a small sleeve of suppliers to busier hotels. I keep a modest cash buffer since this plays out over years, not weeks, and I'd rethink it if occupancy and rate trends stall out.
What it owns
- These hotel brands earn a fee on every room booked under their flags, so more hotel stays means more fee revenue without owning buildings. · Hilton WorldwideIts loyalty program matches what rentals cannot offer, and its fee-based model means each extra hotel stay adds revenue with little extra cost., Marriott InternationalIt collects a fee on every room booked under its flags, so traveler shifts from rentals back to hotels flow through Marriott brands without requiring building ownership., Wyndham Hotels & ResortsIts economy and midscale franchises are the natural landing spot for budget travelers who weigh rental cleaning fees., InterContinental Hotels GroupIts Holiday Inn and midscale flags sit where the rental cleaning fee comparison stings most for budget travelers., Hyatt HotelsIt leans upscale and resort-heavy, segments where hotels compete on service that a rental host cannot match., Choice Hotels InternationalIt runs economy and midscale brands on a pure franchise-fee model, so recaptured budget travelers show up directly in royalties.37%
- These REITs own the actual hotels, so rising occupancy and room rates flow straight into their rents and dividends. · Host Hotels & ResortsIt owns the actual buildings, so it keeps every extra dollar of room rate gains as travelers shift from rentals to hotels., Ryman Hospitality PropertiesIts large convention hotels serve group travel, a segment vacation rentals never competed for and that fills rooms in big blocks., Park Hotels & ResortsIt owns big-city hotels in markets where regulators squeezed short-term rental supply, so it gains if urban room rates keep rising., Apple Hospitality REITIt owns hundreds of select-service hotels across the country, the everyday rooms travelers switch into from rentals., Sunstone Hotel InvestorsIt owns resort and coastal properties where vacation rentals were the main competition, so it gains if vacationers pick hotels.26%
- As travelers search hotels instead of rentals, the big booking sites take a cut of every reservation that shifts back. · Booking HoldingsIts inventory is overwhelmingly hotels, so as searches shift from rental sites back to hotel rooms, more traffic lands on its pages., Expedia GroupIt owns both hotels and Vrbo, but hotel bookings are the bigger and higher-margin piece, so the shift back to hotels helps it on balance., Trip.com GroupIt is the hotel booking gateway for Asia, where hotels never lost as much ground to rentals and travel keeps recovering.18%
- Busier hotels spend more on the software, hygiene, and distribution services these companies sell. · EcolabIt sells cleaning and hygiene products into hotels, so busier hotels mean more consumables ordered., AgilysysIt sells point-of-sale and property management software to hotels, and fuller hotels invest more in the systems that run them., Sabre CorporationIt runs the distribution plumbing that routes hotel rooms to booking channels, so more hotel bookings means more transactions through its network.12%
- Cash7%