An industry source says the portfolio, owned for seven years byWW Lodging Inc., is a guaranteed "north of $200,000" per key sale.Travelers know the properties well: the 325-room Best Western LakeBuena Vista at 2000 Hotel Plaza Blvd. in Lake Buena Vista, FL;355-room Radisson Fisherman's Wharf at 250 Beach St. and 45,000 sfof abutting waterfront retail; and 211-room Hilton Harbor Island at1960 Harbor Island Dr. in San Diego. And if the hotels weren't alltied to ground leases, the seller would be looking at a bareminimum of $250,000 per key for two of the three hotels, based onthe price of the dirt alone, the source tells GlobeSt.com.

"The key is the irreplaceable real estate they're sitting on,particularly Orlando and San Francisco," the hotel expert says,adding the Harbor Island hotel is difficult to access, but it'sstill San Diego. "There really isn't a dog there," the hotel brokerassesses. "They are interesting properties and all verydifferent."

The source says the ground leases will automatically eliminateone-third, maybe half, of the buying field because it creates afinancing hurdle. "It depends on how cooperative the landlordsare," he adds. But in the big picture, he stresses "the onlywrinkle is the leases."