Last week's GlobeSt.com Quick Poll, with approximately 200 votes cast, shows that 60% of readers think things will get crazier for hotel distress, while the other 40% believe we've seen the worst. Paul Sexton, vice president with Hospitality Real Estate Counselors in Orlando and a 20-year veteran of hotel real estate, gives his thoughts on the matter.

"On the operations side of the equation, we've probably seen the worst of it. Rooms sold actually rose 2.6% in January, occupancies have bottomed out and there is a realistic expectation that revPAR will swing positive by the third or fourth quarter of this year. Because most operators did an excellent job of cutting costs, cash flow will show huge improvements once revenues go positive.

"If you are on the transaction side of the equation, however, things will definitely get crazier. The simple truth is that that the industry was over-financed during the boom years, values have fallen off significantly and only a very small fraction of distressed properties have cleared the market.