Doing what we love

Welcome to Hotel Investment Today and my next chapter covering the hotel world after more than 28 years as editor in chief with HOTELS. It is a welcome change and energizing to create something new and narrowly niched for the hotel investment community. I only hope it serves you well as we report, analyze and interpret the news, developments and evolving trends of the hotel investment world.

Along with The BHN Group President Jeff Higley, Chief Operating Officer Jonathon Zink and Managing Editor Mary Scoviak – all long-time collaborator, friends and joys to work with – we launched Hotel Investment Today last week at ALIS and were very encouraged by the warm reception and initial support we received. The site is now loaded with content, both ALIS- and investment trend-driven. If you have not already done so, I encourage you to go to the home page and subscribe to our thrice-weekly newsletter.

More than anything, we are here to serve your needs with the utmost editorial integrity. So, please, reach out to me at anytime with questions, comments, ideas and leads. In fact, if you have a news distribution lists, please add me at jweinstein@burba.com, as well as Mary at mscoviak@burba.com.

Never one to be satisfied, the team will always strive to break more news, get more exclusive interviews, provide great commentary and thought leadership, and do our best to interpret the news to help you better do your jobs. If we can do that, I know Hotel Investment Today will serve its purpose and become a must read.

Having just returned from ALIS, I would describe the mood as more optimistic than expected. Of course, the comps are easy right now and there are concerns about macroeconomics headwinds around the corner, but leadership told me with conviction that business is predominantly better than expected and with a few exceptions demand is holding up nicely. Consensus for a soft landing seems to be building momentum.

Of course, getting deals done appears to be more of a wait-and-see proposition for the moment. But barring a deep recession, insiders said money is expected to start moving and assets churning within the next few months. Interest rates are expected to stabilize and perhaps decline toward fall, which should increase liquidity and appetites to transact.

All of that said, the mood of 2,600-plus registrants was upbeat, hoteliers and investors were happy to be out and mingling once again, and all seemed much more akin to pre-COVID expectations. Compare that to a few years ago and you can’t help but have more pep in your step.

So, please, follow us here, subscribe to the newsletter, and follow us on LinkedIn as we do what we love—play a role in one of the world’s oldest and gracious professions, hotelkeeping.