PHOENIX-That almost frightening concept of “the new normal” has been accepted over the past year, and fortunately, that hasn’t destroyed deal-making and investing. In fact, it seems like investors have started to come out of their shells to make those deals and look for opportunity. This and more was discussed on the Hotel Investing Today panel. The panel, part of the Lodging Conference, was moderated by Michael Desiato, vice president and group publisher of ALM's Real Estate Media Group.

“The last two-and-a-half days have been back-to-back meetings with people looking for capital on deals,” said Bruce Lowrey, managing director for Rockbridge, “The lodging business itself has been pretty strong. There’s clearly a lot of distress out there, but there’s a re-emerging debt market, and transactions will continue to pick up. There's a sense of optimism.”

Peter Willis, executive vice president and chief investment officer of Chatham Lodging Trust, agreed, explaining “The meetings you’re seeing here are meaningful and filled with a quality of deals we’ve waited a long time to see.” In his experience working within a REIT, it’s been a challenge to build business. “There’s certainly a lot of capital chasing deals, but not enough deals to fill the level of capital.”