Pencil Sharpening May Prevent Falling Off Cliff

A panel discussed trends, financing, markets and supply at the Lodging Conference last week.

PHOENIX—The owners, lenders and investors forum was the final session at the Lodging Conference held at the Arizona Biltmore last week. The session moderator was Michael Desiato, vice president and group publisher, ALM/Real Estate MediaGroup. Panelists were Richard A. Hightower, managing director and research analyst at Evercore ISI, Nelson Knight, executive vice president and chief investment officer of Apple Hospitality REIT Inc., Jay Stein, chief executive officer of Dream Hotel Group, Michael Tall, president and COO of Charlestowne Hotels, and Jon S. Wright, president and CEO of Access Point Financial.

The discussion centered on near-term and long-range trends in hotel investment, financing, up-and-coming markets, supply and brand outlook. The group kicked off the session by talking about cycles and what they are seeing in the market these days that may be causes of concern.