Hotel market ready for buyers

Florida hotels will be a great buy for investors who can sort out the many distressed debt issues created by the commercial real estate crisis and recession-driven revenue reductions, a new report said. HREC Investment Advisors, a national hotel brokerage, said investors continue to show interest in Florida due to a long-term positive outlook for the market. There are 79 distressed hotels within the state’s major markets, totaling $1.2 billion, based on Real Capital Analytics research. Among the most notable properties are the Fontainebleau and Royal Palm, both in Miami Beach, the Sheraton Orlando Downtown and the Bray & Gillespie Management portfolio in Daytona Beach. In Orlando, the second-largest hotel market in the country, occupancy fell below 55 percent in early October, according to Smith Travel Research. [GlobeSt]