The properties are in the Boston, Hartford, Connecticut, Minneapolis, Dallas, Orlando and Nashville markets.

In the future, says Peter Willis, chief investment officer at Chatham, "We are going to acquire more upscale, extended-stay hotels and premium-branded select service hotels, such as more Homewood Suites, Residence Inns, Marriott Courtyards and Hampton Inns."

"We are buying (hotels with) depressed earnings, so we believe that the cycle is turning and we will benefit from improving conditions in the marketplace," says Willis. "Speaking just about the hotels we've just acquired, from the time we put them under contract last November, until the closing, we saw improving RevPar," he says."Some of the improvement is a function of just how deeply depressed things had gotten," says Willis, so year-over-year comparisons, look good.