Choice Considers Best Way to Expand Into High-End Hotels

The mix of affordably priced, drive-to hotels that gave Choice Hotels a leg up during the pandemic isn’t enough for company leaders. They want to elbow more into high-end lodging.

Choice wasn't far behind the extended-stay hotel sector, which drew investor interest early in the pandemic due to its ability to stay open when so many other hotels faced temporary closures. Choice was the first major hotel brand during the recovery to outperform 2019 levels.

Choice’s portfolio, dominated by brands like Comfort and Econo Lodge, was well-poised to seize upon drive-to leisure travel as well as road warrior business travel — healthcare workers, infrastructure teams, and other groups that can't rely on remote work technology to conduct business — that continued throughout the health crisis. 

It is curious then that leaders at Choice Hotels are pushing more financial resources into beefing up the company’s presence in higher-end hotels. The company earmarked $750 million of its corporate balance sheet to grow its Cambria brand, one of Choice’s two upscale brands along with the Ascend Hotel Collection. But leaders at Choice Hotels are also looking to go a step further — and higher. 

“We’ve discussed it internally, and we have a mergers and acquisi