Cambria proves to be the engine of Choice’s growth

Pictured: the latest Cambria prototype design.
With all the fanfare over Choice Hotels International’s recent Radisson Hotels Americas acquisition, you could be forgiven for overlooking the group’s Cambria Hotels brand, but this division is reaping dividends.
Design-forward Cambria is propelling Choice forward, doubling the size of its portfolio in the last five years and now located in nearly 75% of its top US domestic markets.
Tripling franchise
In the group’s recent Q2 2022 results it reported that the upscale brand currently has 60 units open and 65 in the domestic pipeline, including 21 projects under active construction. Plus 14 agreements for its new prototype, designed to build the right sized Cambria for the right market, were signed as of the end of the quarter.
For the first half of 2022, Cambria tripled the number of domestic franchise agreements awarded, compared to the same period of 2021.
Plus, both Cambria and its sister boutique hotel brand Ascend Hotel Collection have delivered a 17% global CAGR in their portfolios since 2012.
Southern skew
The TOPHOTELPROJECTS database has records of 26 Cambria projects in progress, representing 3,556 rooms in total.
All are four star developments in the US, with California and Texas topping the state stakes, both with four hotels, and Tennessee close behind on three.
Seven of these hotels will be opening in 2022, while the pipeline will peak at 13 in 2023, before a further two join the ranks in 2024. The remaining four have yet to obtain a definitive opening schedule.
Notable projects include Cambria Hotel Downtown Los Angeles, adding 180 rooms to the portfolio in Q3 2023; the 100-key Cambria Hotel Downtown Minneapolis arriving in Q2 2023; and the 124-room Cambria Hotel Downtown Atlanta due to precede them both in the fourth quarter of this year.
Overall Choice
With Choice’s overall pipeline standing at 910 hotels as of 30 June 2022, Cambria developments represent 7% of the total. The entire group is expecting to add nearly 84,000 rooms to its portfolio over the coming years, a 12% quarter on quarter increase from Q1’s 75,000 keys.
Choice intends to build on momentum in the upscale segment through the addition of globally recognised brands like the $657 million Radisson Americas deal, which closed this week, bringing nine brands, 624 hotels and around 68,000 rooms under its umbrella.
Many TOPHOTELNEWS articles draw on exclusive information from the TOPHOTELPROJECTS construction database. This subscription-based product includes details of thousands of hotel projects around the world, along with the key decision-makers behind them. Please note, our data may differ from records held by other organisations. Generally, the database focuses on four- and five-star schemes of significant scale; tracks projects in either the vision, pre-planning, planning, under-construction, pre-opening or newly opened phase; and covers newbuilds, extensions, refurbishments and conversions.
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