Years ago, I was selling a hotel on the outskirts of Nashville way before Nashville became what it is today. Back then it was just a dirty nasty town with many bad areas. So, this hotel I was selling was a dog, I mean butt ugly, poorly constructed, very little income and in a bad part of town. My staff wrote a presentation book on the hotel that made it look like an investment paradise.

I have this client named Johnny Walker (not the whiskey guy) who owned some hotels and a tour company. He looked at the book we had written and said, I quote, “Keith, you’re pushing a dog.” I asked him what he was talking about, and he told me that the hotel was a dog, and my book was like trying to make a pig look good by putting lipstick on it.

So, the term “dog” for a bad hotel was born that day. I am proud to say that I have sold many dogs (if Dave Akridge is reading this, he managed most of them. ha) over the years and can still remember some that I would not even spend the night in. The second hotel I ever sold was called the Red Inn off Chandler Road here in Atlanta. It was so bad the Atlanta cops would not even respond to a call there because they were out gunned. One time in Charlotte I drove around the back of hotel I was selling for a bank only to see a drug ring selling drugs in the parking lot. I almost stripped the transmission out trying to back up. Ha

Anyway, I found that the best approach with a dog hotel is to tell all the bad news up front as compared to letting the buyer find out later. They respect you a little more if you tell them what a dog it is upfront. I don’t much work on dogs anymore because I let the young brokers do it. Let’s face it, I am too old to run and fight so its best to just stay away. KT