Meanwhile, PKF Hospitality Research, taking a longer view, predicts that the luxury segment will see an occupancy decline of 10% to 61.1% in 2009, with ADR going from $288.71 to $264.38, a drop of 8.4%. RevPAR will take a 17.6% dive, decreasing from $195.98 in '08 to $161.52 this year.

For upper-upscale, the numbers aren't much better. Occupancy is forecast to dip 11.6% to 60.7%, while ADR is expected to take a 9.2% plunge to $145.18 from $159.88 in 2008. RevPAR will edge down to $88.12 from $109.79 in 2008, a decline of nearly 20%.So how is a luxury hotel operator and/or developer to survive? GlobeSt.com recently spoke with Anthony O'Brien, Montreal-based senior vice president at Playground Limited Partnership, a division of Intrawest, which operates 11 ski and beach resorts in Canada and the US. He oversees the sales and marketing teams for the condo hotels and condos at all of those North American resorts. Clearly, the marketplace is quite different today, necessitating new strategies, he says. But location still matters.

And in today's credit starved environment, a developer is almost obligated to help prospective buyers get the needed financing to buy a condo hotel unit. "The rules of the game have changed significantly, and for us it's about having relationships with a number of financing partners to ensure we have products for each customer that comes through the door.