As this will be my first loan, I'm looking to work with an established hard money company who can do the underwriting, servicing, etc.

So I'm curious from others if the paid mentorship programs have provided a quick-start way to their first 2-3 deals which then helps get you a track record and establish a team.

Establish your objectives and adjust your investing plan accordingly.

Basic work might be okay again you want to establish clearly the move-in condition and tenant responsibility.Pictures are a good way to supplement the checklist before and after move-in. 

Once you establish a routine and a few systems you will see it is very easy to self-manage.

Hard Rock Hotel (Downtown San Diego) has offered investment ownership opportunities for certain rooms within their establishment... has anybody had experience with this or horror stories of such investments?

We do have some investors that mainly buy TK as a means to easily scale & diversify their portfolio across multiple cash flow markets where they don't have their own team established, or don't want to take the time, risk & money it requires to build their own team in a new market! 

Investigate areas with strong growth potential and rental demand, and take into account regional real estate market trends.Networking: Attend local real estate events, sign up for internet discussion groups, and establish relationships with seasoned investors.

This is easy stuff - you don't like the rules of one establishment, stop whining and go somewhere else. 

If I wanted to do high stakes gambling I would go to Vegas and get free drinks not pay so gurus to blow smoke.