I was in construction management for about 30 years in and around Dallas, Texas. 

At that time I started taking on larger construction projects for pay on the side.

What is the quality of the construction?

As someone else pointed out , far more constructive that mindlessly thumbing through instagram, Facebook or Twitter !!

Just closed a construction loan on Friday for 300k, 0% down, 5%, 12 months, no points, no prepayment fee's.

As someone who lost over $100k in new construction (you can listen to my podcast on BP if you want to hear more about it, in my signature below), and about the same as you if you factor lost appreciation, losing that kind of money is a very tough lesson.

I think you need to look very, very carefully at the local job market and the key employers as well as growth and new construction inventory. 

I've been paying cash, $250K for the land and about $500K for the construction.

My PM's construction company has currently been doing subway tile, however I noticed the hotel I was at was using shower walls and I thought they looked nice. 

Construction is hard work, but pays decent and will teach you skills you can carry over into real estate investing.