Christopher Morrow, senior vice president of Wilcox Hospitality Group, tells GlobeSt.com that the deal closed in 15 days after Wilcox grabbed the lead in the buyer's line-up because it had independent financing rather than go with the owner's marketing offer to carry the mortgage. "We were able to jump to the front of the line," he says.

Morrow isn't talking about the price or the amount financed by Mercantile Bank & Trust in Dallas. According to the Dallas Central Appraisal District, the 20-year-old hotel at 4325 W. John Carpenter Freeway near the Dallas-Fort Worth International Airport is assessed at close to $2.9 million.

Wilcox is teaming its capital with that of high net-worth individuals from North Texas to structure an opportunistic hotel group that is keying in on advantageous buys in major markets. Morrow says offers are being packaged for properties in California, Florida, Tennessee and Illinois, specifically Chicago. "We're seeing 20 to 30 deals a week," he says. Seven months ago, the group bought a hotel in Fort Worth.

The Days Inn acquisition from owner-operator Don Dreiske of Dallas delivered a property with an immediate upside. The $48 per day rate is going to the mid-$50 range, Morrow says of the plan by the new management team, DePalma Hotel Corp. of Arlington. As for the other numbers, RevPAR last year was $26 and occupancy was 52%, Morrow confides.

The national flag, a full renovation two years ago and an airport-area location also were key dealmakers. The hotel property, 3.3 acres at Texas 114 and Esters Boulevard, is a trio of three-story buildings that includes with a 5,057-sf leased restaurant and 2,100 sf of leased office space. "We're very optimistic about this," he says. "It should be a very nice investment.