MIAMI—The Holiday Inn Express & Suites Fort Lauderdale, a 156-room hotel in Plantation, Florida, has traded hands. Vista Hospitality Company sold the hotel to Waramaug LS Hotels free and clear of debt.

HFF associate director Michael Weinberg, along with director Max Comess and associate director Paul Hsu, led the team representing the seller. Financial terms of the deal were not disclosed.

“We are seeing strong demand throughout Florida and the rest of the country for high-quality limited- and select-service assets with top brands,” Weinberg tells GobeSt.com. In 2013, HFF financed or sold 78 hotels and resorts, which included many select-service hotels. Sale prices and loan proceeds ranged from $5 million to more than $500 million.

The hotel is located at 1701 North University Drive, less than five miles from Sawgrass Mills Mall and the BB&T Center. It is close to major offices and headquarters for companies including Motorola, American Express, and AT&T. Renovated in 2011, the hotel includes 3,600 square feet of meeting space and amenities including an outdoor pool, fitness center, and business center.

“The seller did a masterful job on the renovations and ramping up the asset's performance to get us to a point where there was strong demand from investors,” Weinberg says. “We chose a highly qualified, well-capitalized buyer that performed exactly as they promised they would. This was a great execution for both parties.”