The 37th annual Hunter Conference was held at the Signia by Hilton Atlanta from March 16–18. Hospitality professionals from across the industry converged at the event, which featured ample opportunities for networking and numerous educational sessions, including “Inside the Business of the FIFA World Cup” and “Our Government. Our Business”. The conference delivered many key takeaways, both for attendees and various members of the industry.
Key Takeaways
Success in the hotel industry requires persistence and resilience, with speakers emphasizing that challenges like raising capital, understanding markets, and driving profitability are inherently difficult and demand grit. While the environment remains uncertain, there is cautious optimism, with signs of demand recovery, moderating inflation, and improving margins suggesting better conditions ahead.
Tony Ressler, co-founder, executive chairman, and director of Ares Management Corporation and principal owner and governor of the NBA’s Atlanta Hawks, highlighted the principle, “You can’t fail if you don’t quit,” to his success. Hilton President and Chief Executive Officer Chris Nassetta pointed to data that fueled his optimism for demand recovery and the moderation of inflation in the future.
Hotel deal activity is recovering but remains well below past peaks—up modestly to $25B, still far behind 2022 and 2019 levels. Weak revenue growth and ongoing cost pressures are keeping cash flows and margins under strain, with values down 20–25 percent from their peak. While interest rates have eased slightly and lending conditions are improving, buyers remain cautious, and sellers are not under strong pressure to transact. The bid-ask gap is narrowing, and although capital improvements are being delayed, brands may begin enforcing them more strictly.
New hotel construction is at a decade low due to high costs, labor constraints, and economic uncertainty, making buying existing assets more attractive than building new ones. Developers remain cautious, as future room rates may not justify new projects, though targeted builds can still work in select markets. Meanwhile, conversion activity is at a 10-year high, as owners reposition aging properties and brands refresh their portfolios, with success depending on acquiring assets at the right price and managing renovation costs effectively.
Debt financing for hotels is becoming more favorable, with increased lender competition driving tighter spreads and lower borrowing costs. Loan activity is balancing between acquisitions and refinancing, signaling a potential pickup in deal flow. However, the equity environment remains constrained, as capital is tied up in underperforming pre-pandemic investments, limiting new investment until assets are sold and funds are freed up.
After a weak 2025, RevPAR growth is beginning to show modest improvement, with early 2026 performance exceeding expectations. Demand has lagged despite solid GDP growth, and while limited supply growth has helped, occupancy and rate gains have remained soft—especially in lower-tier segments and international travel. Forecasts for 2026 remain cautious, but recent trends suggest slightly stronger growth may be possible, supported by favorable economic conditions and major events, though geopolitical and cost risks persist.
Key Quotes From the Hunter Conference
“In the hotel world, Wall Street is very negative…they have been net sellers in the last two years. Bet they will be the biggest sellers this year. Blackstone, Brookfield, and REITs all have been sellers. They have been renovating hotels and collecting paychecks, but they’re now at capitulation. The hotel is getting older, and it did not work as planned. The buyers are going to be Main Street. That has been the case for the last couple years, and I think this only continues. Many owners on Main Street are seeing components come together for RevPAR growth in the years ahead. But all Wall Street can see is flat RevPAR and margin creep,” said Teague Hunter, chief executive officer of Hunter Hotel Advisors.
“In the past year, we did underwrite 50 deals and only bought six. The quality assets are at or slightly above replacement costs. But at that sweet spot of maybe 15 hotels, the sellers were only real sellers of one of them. There are opportunities in terms of value, though. We are underwriting conservatively. We didn’t go in with high expectations for 2026. But we have bought some. We have not had much competition on the buy side. If you want to buy, you are a bit of a supermodel out there,” said Bo Patel, chief operating officer at Coury Hospitality.
“This is as difficult of an equity raising climate as I have seen in my 35 years. Equity once was plentiful and easy to come by, and you had to find the debt. But now it has flipped the other way around,” said Robert Leven, chief investment officer and principal at Procaccianti Companies.
“We are seeing a shift from refinance-driven to acquisition-driven activity. Last year, 90 percent of our activity was for refinancing. Today, it is more like 50/50. That tells you transactions are going to start to happen soon,” said Ankur Shah (Access Point Financial)
