246 | Transitional Transactions: Hotel brokers, investors prepare for a new normal

Hunter Hotel Advisors brokered the sales of more hotels in 2019 than in any year in its history.

Sellers and buyers that generated $1.2 billion under Hunter’s guidance were a mixed bag and included institutional firms, private investment groups and hotel companies.

Many hotel brokers expect to tally similar results, making 2019 one of the most active years in hotel transactions in the U.S.

Industry analysts we interviewed expect 2020 to be an even busier period of hotel investment in part because private investors will continue to recycle their capital and shop for places to stash their cash.

This episode of Lodging Leaders takes a look at the history of hotel transactions last year as well as the whole past decade, including the growth of REITs, the emergence of private equity and the expansion of ownership groups that aggressively grew their portfolios with branded select-service assets. We also explore what might lie ahead this year as hotels in many major markets experience a slowdown in business.

We talk to Teague Hunter, CEO of Hunter Hotel Advisors in Atlanta; Lou Plasencia, CEO of The Plasencia Group in Tampa, Florida; Daniel Lesser, president and CEO of LW Hospitality Advisors in New York City; Kevin Mallory, senior managing director of CBRE Hotels in Chicago; and Brian Waldman, executive vice president of investment for Peachtree Hotel Group in Atlanta.