XML 54 R10.htm IDEA: XBRL DOCUMENT v3.20.1
Organization and Description of Business
3 Months Ended
Mar. 31, 2020
Organization, Consolidation and Presentation of Financial Statements [Abstract]  
Organization and Description of Business
Organization and Description of Business
Braemar Hotels & Resorts Inc., together with its subsidiaries (“Braemar”), is a Maryland corporation that invests primarily in high revenue per available room (“RevPAR”) luxury hotels and resorts. High RevPAR, for purposes of our investment strategy, means RevPAR of at least twice the then-current U.S. national average RevPAR for all hotels as determined by Smith Travel Research. Braemar has elected to be taxed as a real estate investment trust (“REIT”) under the Internal Revenue Code of 1986, as amended (the “Code”). Braemar conducts its business and owns substantially all of its assets through its operating partnership, Braemar Hospitality Limited Partnership (“Braemar OP”). In this report, the terms the “Company,” “we,” “us” or “our” refers to Braemar Hotels & Resorts Inc. and, as the context may require, all entities included in its condensed consolidated financial statements.
We are advised by Ashford Hospitality Advisors LLC (“Ashford LLC” or the “Advisor”) through an advisory agreement. Ashford LLC is a subsidiary of Ashford Inc. All of the hotel properties in our portfolio are currently asset-managed by Ashford LLC. We do not have any employees. All of the services that might be provided by employees are provided to us by Ashford LLC.
We do not operate any of our hotel properties directly; instead we employ hotel management companies to operate them for us under management contracts. Remington Hotels, a subsidiary of Ashford Inc. after November 6, 2019, manages three of our thirteen hotel properties. Third-party management companies manage the remaining hotel properties.
Ashford Inc. also provides other products and services to us or our hotel properties through certain entities in which Ashford Inc. has an ownership interest. These products and services include, but are not limited to project management services, debt placement services, audio visual services, real estate advisory services, insurance claims services, hypoallergenic premium rooms, watersport activities, travel/transportation services and mobile key technology.
The accompanying condensed consolidated financial statements include the accounts of wholly-owned and majority-owned subsidiaries of Braemar OP that as of March 31, 2020, own thirteen hotel properties in six states, the District of Columbia and the U.S. Virgin Islands (“USVI”). The portfolio includes eleven wholly-owned hotel properties and two hotel properties that are owned through a partnership in which Braemar OP has a controlling interest. These hotel properties represent 3,722 total rooms, or 3,487 net rooms, excluding those attributable to our partner. As a REIT, Braemar is required to comply with limitations imposed by the Internal Revenue Code related to operating hotels. As of March 31, 2020, twelve of our thirteen hotel properties were leased by wholly-owned or majority-owned subsidiaries that are treated as taxable REIT subsidiaries (“TRS”) for federal income tax purposes (collectively the TRS entities are referred to as “Braemar TRS”). One hotel property, located in the USVI, is owned by our USVI TRS. Braemar TRS then engages third-party or affiliated hotel management companies to operate the hotel properties under management contracts. Hotel operating results related to the hotel properties are included in the condensed consolidated statements of operations.
As of March 31, 2020, ten of the thirteen hotel properties were leased by Braemar’s wholly-owned TRS and the two hotel properties majority-owned through a consolidated partnership were leased to a TRS wholly-owned by such consolidated partnership. Each leased hotel is leased under a percentage lease that provides for each lessee to pay in each calendar month the base rent plus, in each calendar quarter, percentage rent, if any, based on hotel revenues. Lease revenue from Braemar TRS is eliminated in consolidation. The hotel properties are operated under management contracts with Marriott International, Inc. (“Marriott”), Hilton Worldwide (“Hilton”), Accor Management US Inc. (“Accor”), Hyatt Hotels Corporation (“Hyatt”), Ritz-Carlton, Inc., a subsidiary of Marriott (“Ritz-Carlton”) and Remington Hotels, which are eligible independent contractors under the Internal Revenue Code.
COVID-19, Management’s Plans and Liquidity
In December 2019, a novel strain of coronavirus (COVID-19) was identified in Wuhan, China, which subsequently spread to other regions of the world, and has resulted in significant travel restrictions and extended shutdown of numerous businesses in every state in the United States. In March 2020, the World Health Organization declared COVID-19 to be a global pandemic. Since late February, we have experienced a significant decline in occupancy and RevPAR and we expect the significant occupancy and RevPAR reduction associated with COVID-19 to continue as we are experiencing significant reservation cancellations as well as a significant reduction in new reservations relative to prior expectations. The prolonged presence of the virus has resulted in health or other government authorities imposing widespread restrictions on travel and other businesses. The hotel industry and our portfolio have experienced the postponement or cancellation of a significant number of business conferences and similar events. Following the government mandates and health official orders, the Company temporarily suspended operations at 11 of its 13 hotels and dramatically reduced staffing and expenses at its hotels that remain operational. Operations will remain suspended until state and local government restrictions and requirements are lifted and the Company can be confident that reopening the hotels will not jeopardize the health and safety of guests, hotel employees and local communities. COVID-19 has had a significant negative impact on the Company’s operations and financial results to date. The full financial impact of the reduction in hotel demand caused by the pandemic and suspension of operations at the Company’s hotels cannot be reasonably estimated at this time due to uncertainty as to its severity and duration. The Company expects that the COVID-19 pandemic will have a significant negative impact on the Company’s results of operations, financial position and cash flow in 2020. As a result, in March 2020, the Company fully drew down on its $75 million secured revolving credit facility, suspended the quarterly cash dividend on its common shares for the first quarter of 2020 and likely the remainder of 2020, reduced planned capital expenditures and reduced the compensation of its board of directors, and, working closely with its hotel managers, significantly reduced its hotels’ operating expenses. The Company’s advisor adopted a remote-work policy at its corporate office in an effort to protect the health and safety of its employees and does not anticipate these policies to have any adverse impact on its ability to continue to operate its business.
As of March 31, 2020, the Company maintained unrestricted cash of $141.8 million. All of the Company’s property-level debt is non-recourse. Although the Company was in compliance with all its debt covenants as of March 31, 2020, subsequent to March 31, 2020 the Company did not make at least one interest payment on nearly all of its mortgage and mezzanine loans, which constituted an “Event of Default” as such term is defined under the applicable loan documents. Further, the Company triggered an "Event of Default," as defined under the secured revolving credit facility agreement as a result of the Company being in default on mortgage and mezzanine loans with an aggregate principal amount in excess of $200 million. Pursuant to the terms of the applicable mortgage loan, such an Event of Default caused an automatic increase in the interest rate on its outstanding loan balance for the period such Event of Default remains outstanding. Following an Event of Default, the Company’s lenders can generally elect to accelerate all principal and accrued interest payments that remain outstanding under the applicable mortgage loan and foreclose on the applicable hotel properties that are security for such loans. Additionally, subsequent to March 31, 2020, the Company did not make rental payments under two ground leases that are paid monthly. The Company is actively negotiating the terms for forbearance agreements or waivers with its lenders and landlords. Based on these factors, the Company has determined that there is substantial doubt about the Company’s ability to continue as a going concern within one year after the date the financial statements are issued. U.S. generally accepted accounting principles requires that in making this determination, the Company cannot consider any remedies that are outside of the Company’s control and have not been fully implemented. As a result, the Company could not consider future potential fundraising activities, whether through equity or debt offerings, dispositions of hotel properties or the likelihood of obtaining forbearance agreements as we could not conclude they were probable of being effectively implemented. Any forbearance agreement will most likely lead to increased costs, increased interest rates, additional restrictive covenants and other possible lender protections. In addition to or in lieu of obtaining forbearance agreements as described above, the Company could turn over the hotels securing the mortgage loans to the respective lenders.
The consolidated financial statements have been prepared assuming that the Company will continue as a going concern and do not include any adjustments that might result from the outcome of this uncertainty.