If there's information out there, you want it.

I've spent my whole life in real estate, whether it's in our hotels or looking at the competition, and it's my curse to walk into every room and not be drawn to the flaws and have the little imperfections drive me crazy - because they didn't need to happen.

I'm kind of a closet redneck.

I avoided the spotlight when I was a kid. I always knew, 'Hey, it wasn't me. I didn't do anything.' If there was a camera around, I hid from it.

Some people like to paint and sing. We like to create and build.

Look: invest in what you understand, what's foreseeably going to offer real value and returns, not necessarily what's trendy.

What makes us unique is that we actually build things. Unlike most hotel companies who just manage and have no experience building, designing, and developing a hotel, we started off on the opposite track. We started off building. We're construction guys first and foremost.

I think people are often surprised, but I never defined myself as, 'I'm the business guy who has to supersede what my father has done.'

If I want to hand one of my old shotguns that I've had for 50 years to my grandkid one day, I have to go through a federal transfer? It's crazy.

When I spent time with my father, it wasn't playing ball in the back yard. I came to his office and listened to him do business or sat in on meetings. I walked job sites. On Saturday, we'd see my grandfather in Queens for a couple hours, and then he'd say, 'Let's go collect rent!'