ATLANTA, January 19, 2011—Officials of the upcoming Hunter Hotel Investment Conference, one of the four major national annual hotel investment conferences, today unveiled its agenda noting that it will focus primarily on strategies hoteliers can use to take full advantage of the rebounding hotel economy.  The 23^rd annual event will take place on March 6-8, 2011, at the Atlanta Marriott Marquis in Georgia.

“Registration is strong, reflecting the rebounding hotel economy and the resultant positive attitude,” said Bob Hunter, CEO of Hunter Realty and conference co-chair.  “Owners are telling us they are anxious to step away from their hotels, where they have been hunkered down to survive the hard downturn.  They want to talk to other owners and hear industry experts help them determine how best to proceed to take full advantage of what they anticipate to be the beginning of a long-awaited turnaround. 

“In most sectors of the industry, there are growing signs of new activity; renovations are being considered and more real estate deals are getting done.  After two years of kicking the can down the road, people are ready to kick-start their hotels and acquisition activities.  We believe this will spark more deals to be initiated at this year’s conference than any in the past few years.”

“We are getting particularly strong positive response to the topics of hotel real estate values and finance,” said Lee Hunter, Conference co-chair.  “The speakers and timely topics, plus the networking opportunities, are very compelling at this phase of the cycle.”

• Special Servicers:  Are they shifting gears?—Special servicers are signaling changes that are expected to put a lot more hotel real estate on the market.  A panel of leading special servicers will discuss their outlook for the industry and how they are adapting their approach toward hotels and hotel owners.

• Financing—After two-plus-years of essentially being absent, financiers are beginning to inject money back into the hotel industry.  One “main tent” and two break-out sessions will discuss finance trends and what to expect from hotel lenders in 2011.

• Value:  What’s my hotel worth?—With the industry in recovery but a significant number of hotels still in default, nailing down value is more tricky than at any time in the past decade.  Experts will discuss changing values and the current two classes of buyers—REIT-ville versus Reality-ville—and their strategies for success.

• Innovative Redevelopment—For some 20 years, the hotel industry has tried to find a way to modernize exterior-corridor hotels.  Many brands have banned them, and there are thousands of exterior-corridor properties around the country, many still in great locations.  One creative owner may have found the “silver bullet” when he recently converted a two-story, exterior corridor property into a three-story, interior one and earned a top flag for the 40-plus-year-old hotel.  The session, featuring the owner, architect, contractor and franchisor, will outline how it was done and how it could fit other situations.