Sunstone Hotel Investors is a REIT that owns a portfolio of 14 upper upscale and luxury hotels with roughly 7,000 rooms across convention, urban, and resort destinations. Notable properties include the Hilton San Diego Bayfront, Wailea Beach Resort in Maui, Four Seasons Napa Valley, Montage Healdsburg, and the newly converted Andaz Miami Beach. Sunstone does not operate its hotels directly — all properties are managed by third-party operators including Marriott, Hyatt, Four Seasons, Hilton, and Montage under long-term management agreements. Sunstone's role is that of an active owner, setting strategy and overseeing capital allocation while leaving day-to-day operations to the managers. Revenue flows through a TRS Lessee structure and is driven primarily by RevPAR (occupancy times average daily rate), plus meaningful ancillary revenue from food and beverage, spa, and resort fees. Hotel-level margins are sensitive to labor costs, which tend to rise 4–6% annually. Sunstone's growth strategy centers on portfolio recycling — acquiring hotels where it can add value through repositioning or brand conversion, then selling when returns peak and redeploying proceeds into new acquisitions or share repurchases. Since 2022, Sunstone has sold over $600M of assets and acquired roughly $600M, while also repurchasing nearly $300M of stock. As a REIT, Sunstone distributes at least 90% of taxable income to shareholders, funding growth through asset sales, debt, and equity issuance.