With hotels enjoying 15-year occupancy highs, owners are pumping big bucks into long-needed upgrades. According to a recent survey by renovation contractor Cicero's Development, more than 40% of North American hotel operators are planning a major renovation within the next year.

"In general, the hospitality industry is at an all-time high," Cicero founder Sam Cicero Sr. tells GlobeSt. "Our survey showed the highest levels of planned short-term hotel renovations we've seen since the mid-2000s."

Apple Hospitality REIT, one of the largest upscale hotel REITs in the country, is among the most recent to announce a 166-room makeover plan at its Hilton Garden Inn in Schaumburg, IL (pictured), which will be completed by mid-January.

Cicero says demand will remain strong for about a year, before leveling off at the end of 2016 or near the beginning of 2017. "We are almost at the peak of the cycle," he says. [GS]