I would like a book or program recommendations in order to learn how to purchase and manage the extended stay hotel.

Sit back and wait for the market conditions to flip to where those strategies would work for me, or adapt to the current market.  

I'm planning on buying a LTR at the moment, likely small multifamily. markets are hard too.

Cleveland would be a great market for you.

So, I’m curious how you are managing to find your deals, whether you are buying at auctions or via marketing direct to sellers.

I bought a condo in Norman Oklahoma 3 years ago and due to the rental market, I have struggled to get another.

I highly recommend investing in a property management software, such as Hospitable, for syncing your calendar, automating messaging, and scheduling cleans, as well as a dynamic pricing tool, such as PriceLabs, for optimizing your pricing based on market demand, local events, and seasonality. 

Personally, I would never live in PHX, but that is all personal biases (I prefer seasons and greenery), and clearly lots of people choose to live in PHX.At the end of the day, I would argue market selection almost only comes into play when you are talking assets that cater to institutional buyers that have to get investment committee sign off. 

The property's strong market demand made it an ideal candidate for a profitable fix-and-flip project.

You may want to get in touch with @Sharon Vornholt who has done a lot of marketing in this niche.