PHOENIX — There is no shortage of drama in the hotel industry these days as evidenced by the programming at the 16^th annual Lodging Conference. The hot-button topics have included the troubled commercial mortgage-backed securities market, distressed property workouts and the art of hotel receivership. What follows are some memorable quotes from the three-day conference that wraps up today at the Arizona Biltmore.

David Berins, managing partner of hotel advisory firm Berins & Co. LLC, explaining why he thinks revenue per available room (RevPAR) is a bogus statistic:

“The RevPAR of a hotel running 80% occupancy at a $40 average rate is exactly the same as a hotel running 40% occupancy at an $80 average rate. Which hotel do you think is more profitable? And why would you care if your RevPAR was higher or lower than the other hotel? When you want to see how a hotel is doing against its competition, you have to use a metric that makes some sense. RevPAR is a badly distorted statistic in my opinion that our industry ought to give less weight to.”

Michael Leven, president and chief operating officer of the Las Vegas Sands Corp., expressing his frustration with the political leadership in Washington:

“On Feb. 1, I will be in this business 50 years. I have never, never seen a government as bad, as atrocious, as difficult and as dangerous as the government we have in the United States today [applause]. I’m not saying dangerous to the individual, but I’m saying dangerous to business.”

Click here for the rest of the story at National Real Estate Investor, a Penton Media Publication.