Summary of Significant Accounting Policies (Policies)

12 Months Ended

Dec. 31, 2012

Summary of Significant Accounting Policies

Basis of Presentation

        Basis of Presentation.    These consolidated financial statements include the accounts of HPT and its subsidiaries, all of which are 100% owned directly or indirectly by HPT. All intercompany transactions and balances have been eliminated. Certain reclassifications have been made to the prior year's financial statements to conform to the current year's presentation. Certain hotels previously classified as properties held for sale at December 31, 2011 have been reclassified to real estate properties, at cost in our consolidated balance sheets due to a change from held for sale status. See Note 12 for further information regarding these hotels.

        We have determined that each of our taxable REIT subsidiaries, or TRSs, is a variable interest entity, or VIE, as defined under the Consolidation Topic of the Financial Accounting Standards Board, or FASB, Accounting Standards Codification^TM, or the Codification. We have concluded that we must consolidate each of our TRSs because we are the entity with the power to direct the activities that most significantly impact such VIEs' performance and we have the obligation to absorb the majority of the potential variability in gains and losses of each VIE, with the primary focus on losses, and are therefore, the primary beneficiary of each VIE.

        We account for our investment in Affiliates Insurance Company, or AIC, using the equity method of accounting. Significant influence is present through common representation on the boards of trustees or directors of us and AIC. Our Managing Trustees are also owners of Reit Management & Research LLC, or RMR, which is the manager of us and AIC, and each of our Trustees is a director of AIC. See Note 8 for a further discussion of our investment in AIC.

Real Estate Properties

        Real Estate Properties.    We record real estate properties at cost less impairments, if any. We record the cost of real estate acquired at the fair value of building, land, furniture, fixtures and equipment, and, if applicable, acquired in place leases, above or below market leases and customer relationships. We allocate the excess, if any, of the consideration over the fair value of the assets acquired to goodwill. We depreciate real estate properties on a straight line basis over estimated useful lives of up to 40 years for buildings and improvements and up to 12 years for personal property and we amortize finite lived intangible assets over the shorter of their useful lives or the term of the associated lease.

        We regularly evaluate whether events or changes in circumstances have occurred that could indicate an impairment in the value of our real estate properties. If there is an indication that the carrying value of a property is not recoverable, we estimate the projected undiscounted cash flows of the asset to determine if an impairment loss should be recognized. We determine the amount of an impairment loss by comparing the historical carrying value of the property to its estimated fair value. We estimate fair value by evaluating recent financial performance and projecting discounted cash flows of properties using standard industry valuation techniques. In addition to consideration of impairment upon the events or changes in circumstances described above, we regularly evaluate the remaining lives of our real estate properties. If we change estimated lives, we depreciate or amortize the carrying values of affected assets over the revised remaining lives. In connection with our decision to remove certain hotels from held for sale status in the first quarter of 2012, we recorded an $889 loss on asset impairment. See Note 12 for further information regarding these hotels.

Goodwill

        Goodwill.    Goodwill is the excess of the allocated acquisition cost over the estimated fair value of assets we acquired and liabilities we assumed at the time of acquisition. We recorded in purchase accounting $7,658 of goodwill in connection with our January 31, 2012 acquisition of the entities which own the Royal Sonesta Hotel Boston in Cambridge, MA, or the Cambridge Hotel, and lease the Royal Sonesta Hotel New Orleans in New Orleans, LA, or the New Orleans Hotel. See Notes 4 and 8 for further information regarding these transactions. We review goodwill for impairment annually or more frequently if events or changes in circumstances exist. If our review indicates that the carrying value of goodwill exceeds its estimated fair value, we reduce the carrying value of goodwill to its estimated fair value. We evaluate goodwill for impairment at the reporting unit level, which we determined to be the portfolio of 20 hotels included in the agreement we refer to as Sonesta No. 1, by comparing the estimated fair value of the reporting unit as determined by its projected discounted cash flows and standard industry valuation techniques, with its carrying value. Our annual impairment review of goodwill as of December 31, 2012 indicated the carrying value of goodwill exceeded its estimated fair value and we recorded a $7,658 loss on asset impairment to write off its carrying value.

Intangible Assets and Liabilities

        Intangible Assets and Liabilities.    Intangible assets consist primarily of acquired trademarks and tradenames, the acquired leasehold interest in the New Orleans Hotel and acquired below market ground leases. Intangible liabilities consist of acquired above market ground leases. We include intangible assets in other assets, net, and intangible liabilities in accounts payable and other liabilities in our consolidated balance sheets.

        At December 31, 2012 and 2011, our intangible assets and liabilities were as follows:

	As of December 31,
	2012		2011
Assets:
Tradenames and trademarks	$	89,375	$	89,375
Below market ground leases, net of accumulated amortization of $23,369 and $21,198, respectively		25,708		27,879
New Orleans hotel leasehold interest, net of accumulated amortization of $1,723 and zero, respectively		19,858		—
Other, net of accumulated amortization of $901 and zero, respectively		3,212		—
	$	138,153	$	117,254
Liabilities:
Above market ground leases, net of accumulated amortization of $6,164 and $5,511, respectively	$	8,514	$	5,139

        We amortize above and below market ground leases and the New Orleans Hotel leasehold interest on a straight line basis over the term of the associated lease (20 and 14 years on a weighted average basis for intangible assets and liabilities, respectively). For the years ended December 31, 2012, 2011 and 2010, amortization relating to intangible assets was $4,796, $2,171 and $2,172, respectively, and amortization relating to intangible liabilities was $653, $695 and $726, respectively. As of December 31, 2012, we estimate future amortization relating to intangible assets and liabilities as follows:

	Below Market Ground Leases & Other		New Orleans Hotel Leasehold Interest		Above Market Ground Leases
2013	$	2,589	$	1,798	$	(2,892	)
2014		2,488		1,798		(2,484	)
2015		2,297		1,798		(653	)
2016		2,268		1,798		(653	)
2017		2,268		1,798		(653	)
Thereafter		17,010		10,868		(1,179	)
	$	28,920	$	19,858	$	(8,514	)

        We do not amortize our indefinite lived trademarks and tradenames, but we review the assets at least annually for impairment and reassess their classification as indefinite lived assets. In addition, we regularly evaluate whether events or changes in circumstances have occurred that could indicate impairment in value. We determine the amount of an impairment loss, if any, by comparing the carrying value of the intangible asset to its estimated fair value.

Cash and Cash Equivalents

        Cash and Cash Equivalents.    We consider highly liquid investments with original maturities of three months or less at date of purchase to be cash equivalents.

Restricted Cash

        Restricted Cash.    Restricted cash, or FF&E reserve escrows, consists of amounts escrowed pursuant to the terms of our management agreements and leases to fund periodic renovations and improvements at our hotels.

Deferred Financing Costs

        Deferred Financing Costs.    We capitalize costs incurred to borrow and we amortize those costs as interest expense over the term of the related borrowing. Deferred financing costs were $15,062 and $12,542 at December 31, 2012 and 2011, respectively, net of accumulated amortization of $29,397 and $30,364, respectively, and are included in other assets, net, in our consolidated balance sheets. We estimate that future amortization of deferred financing fees with respect to our loans as of December 31, 2012 will be approximately $4,081 in 2013, $3,892 in 2014, $2,838 in 2015, $1,526 in 2016, $812 in 2017 and $1,913 thereafter.

Revenue Recognition

        Revenue Recognition.    We report hotel operating revenues for managed hotels in our consolidated statements of income and comprehensive income. We generally recognize hotel operating revenues, consisting primarily of room and food and beverage sales, when services are provided. Our share of the net operating results of our managed hotels in excess of the minimum returns due to us, or additional returns, are generally determined annually. We recognize additional returns due to us under our management agreements at year end when all contingencies are met and the income is earned. We earned no additional returns in 2012, 2011 and 2010.

        We recognize rental income from operating leases on a straight line basis over the term of the lease agreements except for one lease in which there is uncertainty regarding the collection of future rent increases. See Note 5 for further information regarding this lease. Rental income includes $252, $4,807, and $0 of adjustments necessary to record rent on a straight line basis in 2012, 2011 and 2010, respectively.

        We determine percentage rent due to us under our leases annually and recognize it at year end when all contingencies are met and the rent is earned. We earned percentage rental income of $4,338, $1,879 and $1,450 in 2012, 2011 and 2010, respectively.

        We own all the FF&E reserve escrows for our hotels. We report deposits by our third party tenants into the escrow accounts as FF&E reserve income. We do not report the amounts which are escrowed as FF&E reserves for our managed hotels as FF&E reserve income.

Per Common Share Amounts

        Per Common Share Amounts.    We compute per common share amounts using the weighted average number of common shares outstanding during the period. We had no dilutive common share equivalents during the periods presented.

Use of Estimates

        Use of Estimates.    The preparation of financial statements in conformity with United States generally accepted accounting principles, or GAAP, requires us to make estimates and assumptions that affect reported amounts. Actual results could differ from those estimates. Significant estimates in our consolidated financial statements include the allowance for doubtful accounts, purchase price allocations, useful lives of real estate and impairment.

Segment Information

        Segment Information.    As of December 31, 2012, we have two reportable business segments: hotel and travel center real estate investments.

Income Taxes

        Income Taxes.    We have elected to be taxed as a REIT under the Internal Revenue Code of 1986, as amended, or the Internal Revenue Code, and, as such, are generally not subject to federal and most state income taxation on our operating income provided we distribute our taxable income to our shareholders and meet certain organization and operating requirements. We are subject to income tax in Canada, Puerto Rico and certain states despite our REIT status. Further, we lease our managed hotels to our wholly owned TRSs that, unlike most of our subsidiaries, file a separate consolidated tax return and are subject to federal, state and foreign income taxes. Our consolidated income tax provision (or benefit) includes the income tax provision (or benefit) related to the operations of our TRSs and certain state and foreign income taxes incurred by us despite our REIT status.

        The Income Taxes Topic of the Codification prescribes how we should recognize, measure and present in our consolidated financial statements uncertain tax positions that have been taken or are expected to be taken in a tax return. Deferred tax benefits are recognized to the extent that it is "more likely than not" that a particular tax position will be sustained upon examination or audit. To the extent the "more likely than not" standard has been satisfied, the benefit associated with a tax position is measured as the largest amount that has a greater than 50% likelihood of being realized upon settlement. Our tax returns filed for the 2009 through 2012 tax years are subject to examination by taxing authorities. We classify interest and penalties related to uncertain tax positions, if any, in our consolidated statements of income and comprehensive income as a component of general and administrative expense.

New Accounting Pronouncements

        New Accounting Pronouncements.    In January 2012, we adopted FASB Accounting Standards Update No. 2011-04, Amendments to Achieve Common Fair Value Measurements and Disclosure Requirements in U.S. GAAP and IFRS. This update clarified the application of existing fair value measurement requirements. This update also required reporting entities to disclose additional information regarding fair value measurements categorized within Level 3 of the fair value hierarchy. This update was effective for interim and annual reporting periods beginning after December 15, 2011. The implementation of this update did not cause any material changes to the disclosures in, or presentation of, our consolidated financial statements.

        In January 2012, we adopted FASB Accounting Standards Update No. 2011-05, Presentation of Comprehensive Income. This update eliminates the prior option to report other comprehensive income and its components in the statement of shareholders' equity. This update is intended to enhance comparability between entities that report under GAAP and to provide a more consistent method of presenting non-owner transactions that affect an entity's equity. The update was effective for interim and annual reporting periods beginning after December 15, 2011. The implementation of this update did not cause any changes to our condensed consolidated financial statements other than the presentation of the consolidated statements of comprehensive income.

        In July 2012, the FASB issued Accounting Standards Update No. 2012-02, Testing Indefinite-Lived Intangible Assets for Impairment. This update gives companies the option to first perform a qualitative assessment to determine whether it is more likely than not that an indefinite-lived intangible asset is impaired. The update is effective for interim and annual reporting periods beginning after September 15, 2012 with early adoption permitted. The implementation of this update is not expected to cause any changes to our consolidated financial statements.