Although the hospitality market may not be generally positive, reaction to the third-annual RealShare HOTEL INVESTMENT SUMMIT was. About 300 of the nation’s leading hotel owners, investors, developers, lenders, brand reps and brokers attended the event September 10th at the Marriott Marquis on Times Square for networking as well as survival skills and market forecasts from more than 50 high-level speakers.

Throughout the day, we heard many positive informal comments, comments reiterated formally in our post-event survey. Biff Hawkey of Hostmark labeled us an “excellent compact conference with great price/value.” Nelson Migdal of Greenberg Traurig observed that the “turnout was great.” Jerry H. Herman of DLA Piper wrote that RealShare HOTEL INVESTMENT SUMMIT was a “very substantive conference—well worth the day” and Cole Fach of Buffalo Lodging Associates agreed, commenting it was “worth the dollars and effort.”

Check out some of the highlights of the event , as captured by our photographer, Michael Ian.

RealShare HOTEL INVESTMENT SUMMIT was also featured in Incisive Media’s GlobeSt.com—read "RTC Sequel May Be in Hotels’ Future," a RealShare DISPATCH report from Real Estate New York Editor Paul Bubny as well as "Live Together or Die Alone" by GlobeSt.com Managing Editor Ryan Clark.

We hope to see you at RealShare HOTEL INVESTMENT SUMMIT next year or sooner at one of our other upcoming RealShare conferences nationwide.

In his keynote address, Ross Woods of Hotel Investment Strategies described several compelling reasons to invest in hotels.     

J.P. Ford of Lodging Econometrics described a significant decline of single, portfolio and M&A hotel transactions this year.       

The event’s morning Power Panel session, “Real-Life Buyers and Lenders,” concluded that special servicers can’t keep up with the influx of distressed hotel assets.       

Daniel Lesser, senior director at CB Richard Ellis, makes a point during the “Investing in Distressed Hotels and Loans” panel.     

Michael Cahill, CEO and Founder of HREC - Hospitality Real Estate Counselors, revealed that 85% of hotel lenders do not believe they have sufficiently marked down their hotel debt exposure.           

During the event’s concluding panel, special servicers described how they restructure loans, determine which assets to foreclose on and how to best deal with troubled hotel loans.