PROPERTY AND EQUIPMENT

12 Months Ended

Dec. 31, 2020

Property, Plant and Equipment [Abstract]

The following table presents the composition of our property and equipment balances at year-end 2020 and 2019:


($ in millions)	At Year-End 2020		At Year-End 2019
Land	$	688	$	684
Buildings and leasehold improvements	1,045		1,100
Furniture and equipment	640		1,225
Construction in progress	29		196
	2,402		3,205
Accumulated depreciation	(888)		(1,301)
	$	1,514	$	1,904

We record property and equipment at cost, including interest and real estate taxes we incur during development and construction. We capitalize the cost of improvements that extend the useful life of property and equipment when we incur them. These capitalized costs may include structural costs, equipment, fixtures, floor, and wall coverings. We expense all repair and maintenance costs when we incur them. We compute depreciation using the straight-line method over the estimated useful lives of the assets (generally three to 40 years), and we amortize leasehold improvements over the shorter of the asset life or lease term. Our gross depreciation expense totaled $322 million in 2020, $346 million in 2019, and $256 million in 2018 (of which $109 million in 2020, $121 million in 2019, and $147 million in 2018 was included in the “Reimbursed expenses” caption of our Income Statements). Fixed assets attributed to operations located outside the U.S. were $679 million at year-end 2020 and $695 million at year-end 2019.

We recorded impairment charges for property and equipment, including leasehold improvements, and right-of-use assets on several U.S. & Canada leased hotels in 2020 and 2019 as discussed in Note 9.