Investors who opted for a hotel sojourn have been sleeping well. Hotel real-estate investment trusts have outperformed the US market over the past six months. Marriott International is up 52 per cent, while some smaller stocks have tripled. That bounce-back, in part, reflects the dire prognosis for the sector earlier this year. Revenue per available room was running down 20 per cent, with declines for luxury properties about twice that for economy options. Hotel owners had to slash operating costs to keep up, and the sector faced an intimidating pipeline of debt to refinance.

The latter problem still lurks in the background. US hotel groups have $41bn of syndicated bank debt coming due by 2014, according to Freshfields Bruckhaus Deringer, out of a global total of $76bn. The sector faces distress, particularly among private owners. But more favourable markets have allowed Reits such as Sunstone and DiamondRock to strengthen balance sheets. Investors, however, should still ask themselves why the listed hotel sector – a volatile industry that lags output significantly during downturns – managed to enter the past two slumps with higher leverage ratios than its non-hotel Reit peers.