Devastating fires on Maui in August did not directly damage Host Hotels & Resorts' properties there, but the lingering impact to Hawaiian tourism has muddied the full-year performance picture for Host executives.

The Bethesda, Maryland-based hotel real estate investment trust has four resorts in Hawaii, including three on Maui: the Hyatt Regency Maui Resort and Spa, the Andaz Maui at Wailea Resort and the Fairmont Kea Lani, Maui. None of Host's Maui properties were damaged by the mid-August fires that ravaged the town of Lahaina, killing nearly 100 people.

Host's resorts did experience a surge of cancellations, but that hit to demand was lessened by business from first responders and displaced residents housed by the Federal Emergency Management Agency, Host President and CEO Jim Risoleo said. Host's Hyatt Regency Maui Resort and Spa welcomed back guests this week as Hawaii allowed tourists to return to west Maui starting Nov. 1.

Host anticipates full-year comparable hotel revenue per available room growth between 7.25% and 8.75%. Risoleo said that wide gap, particularly with less than two months left in 2023, is due to the uncertainty of how quickly tourists will return to Host's Maui resorts.

"Let me start by saying that were it not for Maui, I think our guidance range for the full year would have been tighter than it is, but we have a wide range at this point in time because of some of the uncertainties surrounding how Maui is going to recover," he said. "The west side of Maui, Kaanapali, just reopened to tourists on Nov. 1. ... It's going to take some time to see the cadence of how people are going to come back to the west side, and I do believe it will take some time as well for people to get comfortable rebooking their stay down in the Wailea area, where our other two resorts are."

Despite the disruption, Risoleo said Host is fully in support of the island's recovery efforts. The company has donated more than $250,000 to relief organizations.

"We did see a lot of cancellations in the fourth quarter due to some pronouncements that were made by the governor — and we fully support the reconstruction and relief efforts because what happened on Maui is just a terrible, horrible disaster. And we fully support the fact that you've got to take care of the people first and that's what's happened," he said.

Host didn't make a big hotel purchase in the third quarter, but Risoleo said he hopes the REIT will be a net buyer in 2024.

"We have the ability to allocate capital across many fronts, as you saw us do in the third quarter, and sitting here at 2.1-times leverage, the ability to do deals all-cash and get them done quickly. It's something that I don't think ... anyone else in this market can do today," Risoleo said. "What we're seeing today, though, is still a fairly significant bid-ask spread in the marketplace. There just isn't a lot of quality product in the pipeline. We are talking to a lot of people, a lot of hotel owners, and we'll just have to wait and see how pricing trends as we get into 2024."

Risoleo pointed to Host's acquisition of The Phoenician in 2015 as the type of deal he is keen to pursue again.

"A great example of an asset that has performed extremely well for us that needed to be repositioned is The Phoenician. We bought that asset in 2015 and completely reimagined the property and invested $120 million to reposition it, including new amenities and a new spa and fitness center, new lobby bar and a complete renovation of all guestrooms," he said. "And the asset is doing exceptionally well. If I can find another Phoenician, that is something that we would certainly be interested and excited about doing."

He also wouldn't rule out Host pursuing larger portfolio acquisitions, if the price is right.

Host reached an agreement with Hyatt Hotels Corp. to overhaul six of its Hyatt-affiliated hotels:

• Grand Hyatt Atlanta in Buckhead;
• Grand Hyatt Washington in Washington, D.C.;
• Manchester Grand Hyatt San Diego;
• Hyatt Regency Austin in Austin, Texas;
• Hyatt Regency Washington on Capitol Hill in Washington, D.C.; and
• Hyatt Regency Reston in Reston, Virginia.

Host's total investment to transform the six Hyatt hotels is estimated between $550 million and $600 million over the next three to four years, Risoleo said.

"Suffice it to say that we and Hyatt both believe that these properties were in need of a transformational, comprehensive renovation," he said. "We were going to undertake work at all six of these hotels. About two-thirds of the work that we agreed to with Hyatt was in return for the enhanced owner priorities and the $40 million guaranteed to support disruption [during renovations]."

Host recently completed a similar capital renovation program with Marriott International, overhauling 16 Marriott-affiliated hotels in its portfolio.

"We have a very high degree of comfort given the performance of the assets in the Marriott program," Risoleo said, adding that some of the hotels that underwent significant renovations are still stabilizing in markets such as New York City.

During the third quarter, Host Hotels & Resorts reported revenue of $1.2 billion, up 2.1% over the third quarter of 2022, according to its earnings release.

Host's third-quarter net income was $113 million — which was down 2.6% year over year — and adjusted earnings before interest, taxes, depreciation and amortization for real estate was $361 million, up from $328 million a year ago.

The company's portfolio achieved third-quarter RevPAR of $201.32, which was up 1.8% year over year. Average daily rate was $280.24, which was 1% behind the third quarter of 2022. Hotel occupancy was 71.8%, up 2.1% from the same quarter in 2022.

As of publication time, Host's stock was trading at $16.25 per share, up 1.25% year to date. The Nasdaq Composite Index was up 26.9% for the same period.

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