Uprisings and protests of oppressed people throughout the world, including the recent Middle East freedom revolutions, underscore how advantaged Americans are. The U.S. has always been the gold standard and beacon of freedom to which the rest of the world looks. Wikipedia says, “The American Dream is a national ethos of the United States in which freedom includes a promise of the possibility of prosperity and success.” The recent economic downturn and resultant job losses has created for many a temporary resetting of what the American Dream promises. However, Americans rallied from the depths of the Great Depression and as the current economic recovery gives way to expansion, history will most likely show the U.S. has and will always be the land of opportunity.

As the son of parents who immigrated to the U.S. during World War II, I consider myself tremendously fortunate to be an American citizen. Growing up in a free society has allowed me and 76 million other baby boomers an opportunity to enjoy a higher standard of living than our parents, as well as to pave the way for an even higher standard of living for our children.

The recent formation of my own firm, LW Hospitality Advisors, has caused me to pause and reflect how privileged I am to live in this great country. The U.S. hotel business has been good to me. As a teenager, I worked as a busboy and waiter at Kutsher's Country Club in the Catskill Mountains of New York. Subsequent to my graduation in 1979 from the School of Hotel Administration at Cornell University, I trained throughout all facets of the front office and food and beverage operations at the 2000-plus-room New York Hilton Hotel, truly an amazing lodging learning laboratory. Since being Steve Rushmore’s first hire in 1981 when he founded Hospitality Valuation Services, now known as HVS International, I have enjoyed a 30-year career successfully launching and developing three hotel real estate service platforms at various premier global commercial real estate service firms.

During our first two months in business, LWHA has experienced rapid growth, and I cannot imagine anything less for the foreseeable future. What a beautiful country America is! No different than the children of Patels from India, many of whom have made their mark on the U.S. lodging industry, I, too, have worked hard, but I too am extremely privileged to be a citizen of a free and democratic nation called the United States of America, a/k/a: the land of opportunity.

Daniel H. Lesser, president & CEO of LW Hospitality Advisors, brings more than 30 years of expertise in a wide range of hospitality operational, investment counseling, valuation, advisory and transactional services. He provides services to corporate, institutional, and individual clients as well as public agencies on all facets of hospitality real estate including: litigation support and expert testimony, site evaluation, highest and best use analysis, appraisals for mortgage, acquisition, and portfolio management, workout strategies, operational analysis, property tax assessment appeal evaluations, economic impact studies, deal structuring and fairness opinions. Most recently, Lesser created and served as the Senior Managing Director-Industry Leader of the Hospitality & Gaming Valuation Advisory Services Group at CB Richard Ellis Hotels. Prior to joining CBRE, he founded and led the Hospitality & Gaming Group at Cushman & Wakefield and was a founding member of the team at HVS International. He can be reached at 212.300.6684 x 101 or daniel.lesser@lwhadvisors.com.