Purpose – This research aims to explore the underlying factors that affect investors’ investment decision on hotel REITs. Through this experiment, we will have a better understanding on what matters to hotel REITs investors when making investment decision. Research method – Due to the lack of primary data, we designed a survey to collect first hand responses from investors. We received a total of 74 responses from investors, including but not limited to students, industry professionals and fund managers, etc. Among all, there are 27 responses recorded through online survey and 47 responses are recorded through paper survey. Findings – Investors have two objectives when investing in lodging REITs – seeking for high return or reducing risk profile via diversification. This research reveals that the each investor has idiosyncratic investment preference. When investing in a lodging REIT, investor will not solely look at the performance at the REITs’ firm level but also examine the characteristics at property level. For investors who seek high return, they are keen on hotel average daily rate (ADR) and occupancy rate. For investors who seek for risk diversification, they take consideration of other factors such as location, brand and operating cost, etc. Although these factors are part of REITs’ firm investment criteria, they do not appear to have significant impact on investors’ decision.