The main objective of this study is to examine the performance of hotel stocks and lodging real estate investment trusts (REITs) by estimating the recent Fama-French five-factor model (including investment and profitability factors) with an additional momentum factor during the 2000–2015 period. Using multifactor models, results show that lodging REITs underperform hotel stocks in the United States, while the opposite is true in Japan. Our findings indicate that the momentum factor is significant in explaining variation of lodging returns in both the United States and Japan. Smaller lodging firms are generating higher returns than larger firms in the United States and Japan, on average. Operating profitability is strongly associated with average returns of hotel stocks and REITs in the United States. However, it seems that the investment factor plays an insignificant role in the asset pricing of lodging industry stocks and REITs. We find no evidence of the effectiveness of adding profitability and investment factors in Japan. Our results offer valuable investment insights that help lodging investors better understand the nature of their investments. Also, findings of the current study would benefit hotel owners who are considering both organizational structures (i.e., REITs vs. C-corps) and portfolio managers who are considering lodging for diversification purposes.