Mark Gordon, Sonnenblick-Goldman managing director and principal, tells GlobeSt.com that more than 20 lenders competed for the loan, which was arranged by New York City-based Sonnenblick-Goldman Co. on behalf of Walton Street Capital. The lender was an undisclosed domestic investment bank.

"The hotel industry is very much in vogue currently and as a result of the relatively few loan defaults that have occurred in the last 24 months, the lending community has rethought its position," Gordon says of the intense lender competition. "It's really a great time to be a hotel borrower."

Gordon says the high level of lender interest was a result of the borrower's strong reputation, the hotel's solid performance record and the continued growth of the hospitality industry in the Phoenix area. That combination, he says, created fierce competition which enabled his firm to structure an extremely attractive loan package.Walton Street Capital will use the money to pay down existing debt from its initial loan for the four-year-old hotel, he says.