RLJ's Stock Is Up 52% This Year. The Brand Bets Are the Story Nobody's Reading.
RLJ Lodging Trust is the hottest lodging REIT on the board right now, and Wall Street is calling it a momentum play. But the real engine behind that 52% run isn't momentum... it's a portfolio strategy built on premium-branded urban conversions that either validates everything I believe about brand positioning or is about to teach a very expensive lesson.